Yrma regrets that she will not be opening her studio for the 2021 tour. She hopes to see you next year.
Please visit her website to see more work.
Yrma van der Steenstraeten
Paintings, jewelry, prints, note cards, gourd art and more
328 Castle Valley Drive,
Castle Valley
A little story about myself and my work
I was born and raised in the Netherlands.
For as long as I can remember I was always drawing or painting. My dad, a good draftsman, would draw something and I would try to copy it. Every now and then he and I visited my uncle, his brother, who was an artist and who let me play with his oil paint when I was small.
It was my dad as well who taught me photography, developing film and printing in the dark room. He gave me his old camera when I was 9 years old. I still cherish these memories and also this old camera.
It was not surprising anybody that I went to the Art Academy after high school and later on to the Graphic Design Institute, both in the Netherlands.
Just before I moved to the States in 2003 I photographed close-ups of flowers. I would crawl into them with the lens. I felt that I could personalize them more by painting them. And I painted them big. Once I lived in Castle Valley,, Utah I got inspired by the red rock, and did a few landscapes. Well, not really landscapes, more rock formations. I just could not get super excited about it though. I decided that landscapes were not my thing so I went back to painting flowers.
In 2012 I got in contact with Debbie Pappas, a wildlife rehabilitator, and helped her by organizing fundraisers for her center in Price. As a thank you she let me release one of the Golden Eagles that had been in her care. This changed me. It was such a wonderful experience to give this big beautiful wild bird its freedom back. It spiraled up into the sky straight above me as if showing gratitude.
I did not start painting eagles though but ravens; birds that have been inspiring many of us for over decades. Instead of painting them black I paint them blue, like the iridescent blue from their feathers.
From there I went on to other birds, wolves and even insects. Trying to show their character I sometimes use Steampunk which results in whimsical work like hummingbirds with helmets, ravens with goggles and a praying mantis on a Harley.
I work in oils on canvas and a selection of acrylic paints on watercolor paper or canvas. It depends on how I want to portrait the animal, realistic, steampunk or with graphic designs.
I am not done yet, there’s a lot more where all this came from….
Yrma
