Maria first discovered watercolor while growing up in the Dutch East Indies but World War II cut short her studies. She moved back to the Netherlands, married and moved to America in 1958 via Canada. Her return to art was through hand-painted ceramics.  Soon after her husband passed away in 1974, she took up watercolor again, and has been painting ever since. She believes in painting beauty and initially specialized in florals due to her love of gardening, but couldn’t resist the urge to paint the landscape around her. Her formative teachers were Nicolas Reale, Gladys Russell, Ted Minchin (watercolor) and Frank Zuccarelli (pastel).

In recent years she has explored abstract art, to augment her landscapes and has been participating in many regional and national juried shows including the Salmagundi Club Non-Member Show (NYC), Audubon Artists of America (NYC), Perkins Center of the Arts Watercolor Show, New Jersey, Garden State, Baltimore and North East Societies, winning awards with the North East (CT, Central NY Watercolor Society Award) and Baltimore (MD, Patricia Harrington Award) Watercolor Societies. She became a signature member of the North East Watercolor Society (Kent, CT,) where she participated as a juror of selection in 2006. She has also won awards for the 2006 Best in Show with the Roxbury Art Association, the Essex Watercolor Society and an Award of Excellence with the New Jersey Watercolor Society Associate Members.

Maria teaches watercolor at her studio and at Lake Land Arts in Denville, NJ.