- Story by Chealsea Forman Photography by Don Denton

Story courtesy of , a Black Press Media publication
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Mary Ploegsma is waiting for our meeting outside the front doors of her studio on lower Johnson Street. The renowned portrait artist introduces herself warmly in a lovely English accent.

B次元官网网址淒o you mind if we walk for a coffee?B次元官网网址� she asks.

I follow MaryB次元官网网址檚 quick stride across Johnson Street and through Theatre Ally to Bean Around the World on Fisgard Street. Mary orders an Americano and chats affably with the baristas as they work.

B次元官网网址淢y husband and I walk into town from our home, pick up coffee, and then I spend the day working in my studio,B次元官网网址� Mary explains.

Mary and her husband, Wob, are relatively new residents of Victoria, having purchased their home in the city just nine years ago. Mary met her husband, who is Dutch, while working as a flight attendant.

B次元官网网址淚 really wanted to see the world but I didnB次元官网网址檛 have any money so I applied to airline companies. I ended up working for British Caledonia and I met my husband six months into the job on a flight from London to Amsterdam.

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B次元官网网址淲e moved to Belgium where Wob worked for a subsidiary of an oil company. I couldnB次元官网网址檛 speak French, so I couldnB次元官网网址檛 take my job with me. I decided to learn to speak Dutch, and then taught English at a private school,B次元官网网址� says Mary, as she unlocks the front door of the building where her studio is located.

We are immediately immersed in the most brilliant floral scent from the flower shop on the first level of the building. The smell is so wonderfully dense, I feel as though we have to push through it to reach the twisting staircase leading up to MaryB次元官网网址檚 studio.

B次元官网网址淲elcome to my oasis,B次元官网网址� she smiles, opening the door.

The space is clean and charming, with open, brick-arched windows that continue to draw in the scent of flowers. Mary offers me a seat at a quaint, bistro-style table and continues her story.

B次元官网网址淲ob was invited to move to Houston for an assignment, so we went B次元官网网址� because life is an adventure! We ended up staying for 40 years. Once children and schooling came along, it became more difficult to move,B次元官网网址� she recalls.

Upon settling in Texas, Mary and Wob welcomed two sons into the world.

B次元官网网址淧roducing the next generationB次元官网网址檚 citizens was a huge thing to me. But I did take one day off a week for painting lessons in a program called Paint Along with Lindy,B次元官网网址� Mary says with a laugh.

It wasnB次元官网网址檛 long before MaryB次元官网网址檚 skills became apparent and she began studying under Texas-based artist Dick Turner. For Mary, this was the breakthrough she needed.

B次元官网网址淗e was a brilliant teacher and knew how to use colour, light and value. I learned so much. I painted a portrait of my youngest son in 1993 and people said, B次元官网网址榯hatB次元官网网址檚 what you should be doing.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�

MaryB次元官网网址檚 first paid commission was a portrait of three children in 1996 and portraiture became both MaryB次元官网网址檚 area of expertise and her passion.

B次元官网网址淚 find people fascinating. We are all the same but also very different. We are male and female with two eyes, a nose, a mouth, two arms and two legs, and yet not one of us is the same. Capturing a person is not just painting their image. What I want to do is get on the inside; I want to paint what it is that makes that person tick. I want people to look at my paintings and say, B次元官网网址業 feel as if I know this person.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�

Mary completes her portraits from photos, which she takes before beginning a commission.

B次元官网网址淚 take hundreds of photos of a client; itB次元官网网址檚 part of my process. I do that because I want to capture a certain look, a subtle nuance. In the beginning, the client will try to pose. Once subjects relax, they let their guard down and almost forget my camera is there and become themselves. And IB次元官网网址檒l capture that moment that says everything about their personality,B次元官网网址�

After Wob retired, the couple wanted to find somewhere to escape the heat of the Texas summer. Having searched both England and WobB次元官网网址檚 native Holland, the couple struggled to find a place that fit their lifestyle.

B次元官网网址淏ecause we had grown up in England and Holland and then lived 40 years in the states, we just didnB次元官网网址檛 feel as though we fit in anywhere. Finally, my husband said, B次元官网网址榳hy donB次元官网网址檛 we try out Victoria?B次元官网网址� We had visited the city some 25 years before for a conference,B次元官网网址� Mary explains.

B次元官网网址淚 suggested we try a trip to Victoria that winter, just to get it out of his system, because I knew it would be cold, miserable and damp, and it was, and it actually snowed, and we fell in love with it. ItB次元官网网址檚 like a piece of England from my childhood. We really feel that this is home.B次元官网网址�

Although Mary and Wob are legally limited to six months of the year in Victoria, they have submerged themselves in the cityB次元官网网址檚 culture and community.

B次元官网网址淲e are both foodies. I actually went to culinary college in England many years ago. Wob and I eat out a lot and I have gotten to know many of the restaurant owners and chefs, and I noticed that many have tattoos. Tattoos are artwork on skin, so to paint skin with muscle tone and then to paint all the tattoos on top, well I thought it would be a real challenge B次元官网网址� so I did just that,B次元官网网址� Mary smiles.

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Throughout our conversation, I have been admiring MaryB次元官网网址檚 tattoo series featuring local Victoria chefs. Each portrait is so filled with personality, I feel as though I have had an audience throughout my interview with Mary.

B次元官网网址淚 painted Dylan first; he used to work at CamilleB次元官网网址檚. I painted him standing in front of a graffiti-covered wall behind the restaurant. He was very quiet, very pensive but like the wall, there was so much more going on,B次元官网网址� Mary says nodding towards one of the portraits.

She moves along the series of 10 portraits, acknowledging each subject.

B次元官网网址淗eather is a confectioner. What I found fascinating about her is that her tattoos are like chocolate-dipped strawberries, cupcakes, little hearts and ice cream cones. Kerry owns DeadBeetz food truck; she can handle anything. She has the most beautiful, pale gray, sparking eyes. Her tats are like a whole aquarium on her arm. She was a great subject to paint. This is Matt the Butcher at Farm to Field. He has everything thatB次元官网网址檚 in the butcher case on his arms B次元官网网址� all this wildlife.B次元官网网址�

Mary has donated all 10 chef and food artisan paintings to the Victoria-based, not-for-profit Power To Be. The organization provides inclusive adventures rooted in nature to people living with a barrier or disability, offering them a chance to focus on inclusion and personal growth. The paintings will be part of an annual silent auction during the Power To Be signature fundraising event this coming summer. Proceeds will support the development of a nutritional education program as well as a facility with kitchens that will be used for teaching.

As my time with Mary draws to an end, my admiration for this vivacious woman and her adventurous life compels me to ask what she feels is the secret to happiness.

Mary replies, B次元官网网址淭hrough each stage of my life, something really fantastic has happened. People ask, B次元官网网址業f you could go back to one point in time when would it be?B次元官网网址� That time would be now; I donB次元官网网址檛 need to look back. Life is supposed to be an adventure B次元官网网址� every moment enjoyed to the fullest B次元官网网址� and at this moment I want to give back and use my art to help people.B次元官网网址�

Leaving MaryB次元官网网址檚 studio, I am inspired by our conversation. Mary reminded me that life is a journey and anything can be accomplished when we are honest with our desires and follow through on achieving them with a lot of heart.

MaryB次元官网网址檚 art can be viewed at

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