"My work depicts simplified, illuminated scenes of nature as a metaphor for our internal world.

The world is an endless stage of light and movement, creating the most stunning spectatcles of nature. We can see ourselves in its vastness and depths, its calm and its torrents. The oceans and forests reflect back to us our inner worlds and emotions." - Steven Nederveen

Steven Nederveen’s artwork has long been grounded in his meditation practice and the beauty of the natural world. He creates compositions of oceanic coastlines, panoramic landscapes, and old growth forests using heightened colors and radiating golden hues. Highlighting the grandeur of the natural world, Nederveen’s artwork is achieved through a process that combines photography and painting; the resulting pieces allow us to imagine a space between reality and dream.

Nederveen received a Bachelor of Design from the University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, and studied at Medicine Hat College, Medicine Hat, AB. He has shown his work across North America, as well as at art fairs around Europe. His work is part of collections including Armani Canada, Richmond, BC; and the Al-Fayed Family Collection, London, UK.

Using a mixed media approach to image making, Steven combines acrylic paint and C-print photographs. By layering these elements Steven etches down into the emulsion of the photograph to reveal golden hues and also builds up the surface with impasto and washes of acrylic paint. The result is an image that seamlessly blends photo sharp detail and painterly brush marks.

Steven is a Canadian artist with work featured internationally in galleries, art fairs, magazines, tv programs and many private collections. Based in Toronto, Canada and work with a great team of galleries across Canada and US that exhibit and sell my work to clients around the world.

— Steven Nederveen

I was an artist from an early age. My mother was a painter and a gardener, so I grew up in a house filled with plants and paintings. The competing smells of flowers, turpentine and oil paints made for a visceral connection of art and plants. I had the good fortune of spending many summers sailing with my parents in the Gulf Islands near Vancouver. In this period of time I found my love of forests and ocean. As an adult, my meditation practice deepened this connection further and became the core values behind my artwork. Now I enjoy finding inspiration in landscapes around the world. From the formal gardens of France and Italy, to the craggy cliffs of Scotland and the sunny beaches of California, the world is full of beauty.

Hey, Fellow Dreamers...

Wonder where it all began? Here's me in my New York studio back in 2001. Eating chick peas from a can, showering at the Y, and nurturing my creative vision. Just look at how earnestly I'm writing in my sketchbook... awwwww baby artist.

The romanticized image of the starving artist paying their dues was in full effect. I thought this was the path to stardom but honestly it was rough. The rats, the break-ins and the uncertainty were hard, but hey, I was young and living it up in New York. The museums, cool art shows, great after-parties and an amazing group of friends supporting each other made the lows more bearable. I found myself leaving the city more and more, taking the Q Line out to Rockaway Beach so I could watch the surfers and feel the Atlantic Ocean air on my face. Eventually I felt the need to stay closer to my source of inspiration and came home to the vast wilderness of Canada.

I'm still painting from that same source of inspiration today.

This studio was in an old factory building called Crane Street Studios that housed hundreds of artists. The building itself was a graffiti mural mecca where artists from around the world came to paint the walls.

You can see the early stages of my current forest pieces here.

If that orange piece was flipped, I'd be pretty close to some of my current ocean pieces.

Looking very adult in my home studio in Toronto.

These three piece made recently definitely have their roots in my old New York 2001 pieces.

Life today with my favourite people (and dog).

A special shout out to Bau-Xi Gallery! They have represented my work for the last 13 years and given me 18 solo shows between Toronto and Vancouver. Forever grateful for this wonderful team!