Marina Louw

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Biography

Marina Louw was born in South Africa, and was raised in the beautiful country near South Africa’s National Kruger Park. As a young child, Marina needed no exterior art influence to spark the artistic flame within her – the passion to capture the beautiful things she saw was with her from a very early age.

Marina studied literature for two years at university, and received a diploma in Fashion Design. She worked as a fashion designer for a time before following her passion and becoming a self-taught artist. While Marina’s art is inspired by the everyday world that surrounds her, her previous career as a fashion designer has influenced her art, inspiring her to infuse the patterns and textures of textiles into her paintings.

Marina prefers to create her startlingly beautiful images using acrylic paints. “They are as impatient as I am, and also very spontaneous and full of surprises.” Indeed, the artist describes her works as spontaneous, expressive, and even moody. Her creative style involves very little planning and a lot of spontaneity, leaving the end result to chance. As Marina puts it, she works from “. . . a mess of colours to find the subject, depending upon the mood.” She prefers to work in the early morning, and describes her working style as “. . . messy and disorganized, but with a method somewhere in the madness.”

“Art is an extension of me,” says Marina. “It comforts me, and I would like to be able to dare to put a bit more of my soul out there.” She cherishes the opportunity to work with and appreciate that which is right in front of her, and hopes that her viewers will connect with her paintings in the same way, appreciating the beauty and immediacy of the moment and the mood.

Marina’s favorite artists are Anna Stangl, Siegfried Anzinger, Bernhard Piga, and Egon Schiele. When she’s not creating art, Marina enjoys such creative pursuits as reading, jewelry-making, and learning to play drums, all of which add subtle flavors of experience and creativity to her art-making.

Still living and working in South Africa, Marina donates paintings for auction to a variety of charities every year, including Boys & Girls Town, Cat Pal Society, and Noah Aids House.

Quote

“Art is an extension of me.”

Fun Fact

Marina Louw lives in South Africa.