Etsy Seller Profile: VanDerHoekArt Offers Oil Paintings of Natural Settings

Many people who go to school for an art degree end up working in a completely different field than that which they studied. Others make the decision to stick with art, even though it can be a difficult field in which to work. Etsy seller Kim VanDerHoek, who paints the original oil paintings found in her Etsy shop, VanDerHoekArt, has finally found herself in the latter category, while enjoying her other career as a full-time mom.

Kim has been an artist since she was very young, winning her first award for her artwork in first grade. She remembers being disappointed that she had won first place, because she wanted a trophy. The second place prize was the coveted trophy, but as the first place winner, she instead received boxes of oil pastels and watercolors. After continuing to create art as she got older, Kim earned a degree in illustration, and then worked in graphic design and as an art director--art related careers, to be sure, but not precisely what she studied. Her painting allows her to get closer to what she studied, while still allowing her to be a stay at home mom. She balances the demands of motherhood with her painting career through the help of an understanding husband, who makes sure that she can have some time to paint every Saturday morning.

Kim paints original Impressionist-style oil paintings, and uses a wide variety of settings as the inspiration for her work; beaches, mountains, and urban scenes are among some of those she has painted. She does most of her paintings "en plein air," outside of her studio. Though she can paint from photographs, she definitely prefers painting on location, so that the lighting and composition of the piece can be just right for what she wants to create. She does not take on much custom work for VanDerHoekArt, due to issues of logistics and her preference to work on location.

One of Kim's personal favorite pieces is "Spring in Peter's Canyon." She sees that painting as a personal milestone for her, a marked improvement in the quality of her work. She enjoys painting with bold brush strokes and utilizing thick paint, creating memorable paintings regardless of their subject matter. Since she paints outdoors, she often has passers-by who admire her nearly complete pieces of artwork, like "Swaying Palms," a painting of palm trees and a bluff that juts out into the ocean in Laguna Beach, California. The original "Swaying Palms" is available at her Etsy shop, VanDerHoekArt, as of this writing.

In addition to her original oil paintings, she also has photographic-quality prints of her paintings, which she offers as prints or on the outside of blank greeting cards. Offering both originals and prints at VanDerHoekArt allows Kim to sell items in her shop that will fit into several price ranges. She has been very pleased thus far to see that her original oil paintings have sold well on Etsy.