MARIA ANTONIV. BIOGRAPHY

Maria Antoniv is a Professional Visual Artist. She lives and works in Toronto, Canada. Her work has been recognized within Canada and internationally in United States, Australia, United Kingdom, Italy and Ukraine. She draws inspiration from the flora that naturally occurs in nature.  She frequently paints in parks and natural areas so her flowers look as much at home on the canvas as in nature.

Maria graduated as a visual art teacher, from Vyzhnytcya College of Applied Art in the Chernivtci region, followed by Carpathian National University, City of Ivano-Frankiwsk (Western Ukraine).

Although Maria took pride in her teaching successes, her heart always belonged to the art of outdoor painting.

In 1996 Maria graduated from the International Academy of Design and Technology in Toronto, and pursued an animation career. Having worked on films such as "Gladiator" and "Babe: Pig in the City", she decided to devote more time to her passion for painting. Maria's love of the outdoors naturally propelled her to painting flora. She found that capturing true color, value, atmosphere and the mood of a subject was best done on location or through direct observation.

She has also discovered the importance of her studio time in union with her outdoor experiences and enjoys the challenges of both. Her love for painting has broadened her subject matter to include not only still life and nature landscapes, but also figurative and portrait works.

Maria has been featured in numerous art publications, is an active member of The Women’s Art Association of Canada, the Ukrainian Association of Visual Artists of Canada, the Bromley Art Society in United Kingdom, The Toronto West Arts Collaborative as well as a member of the Associates of the Canadian Society of Painters in Watercolours.