Maria Iva is a nature lover and a tireless hiker. She finds inspiration in exploring nature scenes of Southern Ontario that she often paints on-site (plein air) and later recreates on canvas in her studio. She works primarily in oil with a palette knife, paints in a loose impressionistic manner, and uses a colourist approach to express the quality of light in the open air. With her paintings she is trying to share her love for nature and manifest the beauty of North American landscape scenes.
Maria studied with Canadian artists: Johannes Vloothuis, John Anderson, and John Pryce. She also traveled to the USA to take classes with American Impressionist artists: Susan Sarback, Luis Griffels, Camille Przewodek, Richard MacKinley, Lana Ballot, and Barbara Jaenicke. During this period she started using a palette knife and developed her impressionistic colourist style. Maria is an elected member of the Society for Canadian Artists and has a Master Pastelist Signature status with Pastel Artist Canada.
