BIOGRAPHY
Born into an artistic family, Noëlla Roos grow up seeing many different styles of art. At a young age her parents enrolled her in several art academies. There she was able to experiment with many art forms such as etching, printing, photography, painting, sculpture, and theater. Noëlla soon discovered her love for drawing anatomy and wanted a more in depth study of traditional painting techniques. However she struggled to fit in with the modern art scene whose focus was on the abstract. So she began taking lessons in art studios with painters like Bart Holt, Ben Snijders, Lieve Prins and Eddy Roos.
By switch her studies from art school to art studio she witnessed what the life of an artist actually entails. While it might not be easy to make a living solely off of art it is possible. She was inspired by how totally involved they were with making their art, what influenced them, how they worked with models/dancers, and how they made changes to the work. This practical experience shaped her artistry much more than the theoretical approach of the academy.
After eight years of formal training she started to work in her own studio in Amsterdam. However, the cost of living was too high and after two years of working she realized she needed to reduce her expenses if she wanted to continue to be a full time artist. She began to look for a cheaper place to work, and decided to move to Sri Lanka.
Noëlla has lived in Asia for 27 years—in Sri Lanka, Vietnam and currently resides in Bali, Indonesia. She is inspired by Asian culture and environments and enjoys blending this with traditional Western ways of painting and drawing.
Noëlla has had solo exhibitions all over the world—in Hong Kong, The Netherlands, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Korea, Indonesia (Jakarta and Bali), and India. Noëlla has also participated in several group exhibitions in the UK (London), Belgium, Indonesia, Italy and the Netherlands—including prestigious art fairs The Realism Fair in Amsterdam and the Open Art Fair in Utrecht.
She also teaches oil painting classes in her beautiful studio in Bali.