Eileen Van der Merwe
Ras Al Khaimah, Ras al Khaimah - United Arab Emirates
Eileen Van der Merwe - Fine Artist
Member Since: 01/04/2012
Eileen studied art at school, and went on to complete a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa where she majored in African Studies, Anthropology and History of Art.
A lifetime of living and travelling all over the world, from the lush tropics of East Africa to the arid deserts of Namibia and Arabia have strongly influenced her painting, and these experiences are imprinted on all her canvasses. The rich desert colours, the vibrancy of the tropical flowers,
all her paintings communicates her connection to the land and nature. Each place she has lived came with its own unique struggles and adjustments, sights, sounds, smells, textures, peoples and culture. Painting is Eileen’s way of getting to know her new environment and coping with the difficulties that come with all these changes. Her ability to communicate all of this through granular sculptural textures, three dimensional application of paint and striking use of colour makes her work bold and engaging. Her work clearly establishes her credibility as an observer. The Arabian Gulf, mountains of Oman, and vast expanses of desert are current themes in her work. Eileen currently lives in Ras Al Khaimah, where she has a studio. She has provided numerous commissioned artworks to clients in the UAE, South Africa, China, Philippines, Holland, Australia, UK, Norway and the USA. A collection of her paintings are currently being exhibited at More Cafe in Dubai (www.morecafe.biz) and at Mezzaluna in the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi.
