Sylvia Strijk, known as Strijkdesign, loves to tie together “traditional and digital art with a touch of fantasy” to create beautifully imaginative designs with soft, round edges for a compelling style that she describes as a distinctly “feminine” art. Her interest in “flowers, natural elements, mythology, song lyrics, cats and other cute things” shines through in her unique portraits of women and mythical reflections.

Strijkdesign’s creativity has always been at the center of her life and she admits, “I don´t recall ever having any other ambitions than to earn my money with my art.” She loves the way art allows her to observe elements of the world around her – moments that otherwise go unnoticed.

She recognizes that – because of art – she observes the world in a new way; she sees it through an artist’s eye and the “sunlight [that] shines through the leaves of a tree” or other “little details that tend to be overlooked” are what inspire her.

Her creative routine centers on the ability to observe the world around her. She admits that if she isn’t working on a project, then she starts her day by “browsing through my sketchbook to see what ideas I want to work out”; she encourages herself to sketch at least 30 minutes a day with “no pressure to make anything good” but embracing where imagination and artistic freedom take her and the ideas that come from it.

Mythology, novels, films, and anything with a provoking story line can inspire her art. The Los Angeles painter, Audrey Kawasak, and the Japanese artists Goto Atsuko and Miho Hirano also inspire Strijkdesign’s vision. Their focus on women’s portraits and a “woman’s sensuality and strength” reflects a similar thread from Sylvia’s work.

Strijkdesign strongly believes that quiet observation and looking to the “overlooked” areas in our lives are “what makes your work relate to other people.” She believes that you must never look to “other people’s work” because true inspiration is just waiting to be discovered in the natural world around us.