Jake Bouwman, St. George, ON is an oil and pastel artist who was born in the Netherlands. Jake’s parents immigrated with their five-year-old son and younger daughter to Canada, and settled in the lakeside village of Bronte, Ontario.

Jake holds a Bachelors of Science from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo and a Certificate of Fine Art from Sheridan College in Oakville. The need to “put food on the table” while raising his family often took precedence over his painting, but now Jake is, and has been for a number of years, working full-time at his art. He typically starts a painting in the actual setting to determine colours and values (the lightness or darkness) in natural light before returning to his studio to finish the work.

Jake is a equally comfortable with still life, landscapes and portraiture, showing both his learned technical skills and his innate ability to capture the mood and atmosphere of the subject.