Mentorship is the fastest way to go from where you are today, to where you want to be! Learn How Mentorship Works or join this mentors group below. Not sure what stage you are? Click here for descriptions.
Mentoring Aspiring Artists Not sure if you’re an aspiring artist? Find your stage here.
MEDIUMS: Oil | Pastel SPECIALTY:✔ Technical
Maria Iva is a Canadian landscape artist and art instructor known for her vibrant and expressive paintings, often created using soft pastels or oil with a palette knife.
This technique allows her to create stunning textured pieces that invite viewers to engage with the artwork on a tactile level. The use of the palette knife imparts a three-dimensional quality to the paintings, with raised ridges and valleys that catch the light and cast shadows, adding depth and dimension to the surface. Through the manipulation of oil paints wet on wet with a palette knife Maria blends colors directly on a canvas, creating harmonious transitions and subtle gradients that enhance the textural complexity of her artwork. By embracing the unpredictability of using a palette knife and allowing the underpainting to show through, she fills her paintings with a sense of spontaneity and vitality, as if the landscapes themselves are alive and in motion. The result is a series of textured pieces that not only celebrate the beauty of nature but also invite viewers to experience it in a tangible and immersive way.
Maria’s EXPERTISE
Listed below are this Mentor’s specialty skills. Join this group if you want to grow in these areas.
Specialty:✔ Technical
Technique:
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Color & Composition
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Critiques
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Alla Prima Painting
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Demos
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Palette Knife Painting
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Plein Air
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Texture Application
Marketing:
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Art Competitions
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Social Media
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Email Marketing
Business:
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Diversifying Income Streams
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Live Event Painting
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Art Markets, Fairs, and Festivals
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Commissions
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Shows & Exhibits
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Teaching and How To Get Started
“Mastrius is a perfect balance of accountability, community and fun.
It feels like family. Family that makes you a better you.” ~ Elizabeth, Emerging Artist
JOIN NOW
select your mentorship group
If the group you’re interested in has a waitlist, you have the option to join another group to get started. When your group opens we can transfer you over.
Your Membership Includes (click here):
Mentorship Session: Meet via video conference for a monthly 2-hour session with your Mentor and small group. You choose the mentor, we provide the group!
Mid-Month Session: Meet via video conference for a 1-hour session with your small group and Navigator to connect, share progress, encouragement, and support.
Weekly Events: Attend LIVE weekly events online, on hot topics like Finding Your Style, Composition & Critiques, plus master DEMOS. Access event recordings!
MyStudio: Access your private online studio space equipped with business tools and Mentorship Session Recordings.
Chat Group: Access your private online chat group to connect with your small group and Navigator (group facilitator) anytime.
Discounts: Enjoy member discounts on LIVE and ON-DEMAND courses, art supplies, and more!
On the 1st Monday of every month 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM MDT Mon
Not your timezone? Click below
Group Focus This group will focus on mastering palette knife techniques to help you achieve a more impressionistic and loose painting style. We’ll cover key principles of design and composition, specifically for landscapes, and explore a colorist approach to bring your work to life. The sessions will include critiques of individual paintings to help you improve, along with live demonstrations by Maria to illustrate various techniques.
You Will Learn: • How to create vibrant, textured, impressionistic paintings using a palette knife instead of brushes. • How to plan your composition and create an effective underpainting for a successful landscape painting • How to break down complex landscapes into simple shapes and values • How to use color and value to create a sense of light and shadow, capturing the unique atmosphere of a landscape scene at different times of the day and seasons • How to work Alla Prima (wet-on-wet) completing a painting in a single session and develop a looser, more expressive style.
MORE ABOUT THE ARTIST
Maria Iva is a Canadian landscape artist and art instructor known for her vibrant and expressive paintings, often created using soft pastels or oil with a palette knife. She is inspired by the natural beauty of Ontario, frequently drawing from her hiking trips and visits to provincial parks. Maria’s style combines impressionistic and expressive elements, with strong attention to light, color, and atmosphere. She works primarily in oil using palette knives. Her subjects are drawn from nature—she’s especially drawn to marshes, dunes, lakes, and northern landscapes like those in Killarney, Algonquin, and Georgian Bay. Maria teaches workshops and classes throughout Ontario. Her workshops are known for being supportive, informative, and technique-driven, with a special focus on light, composition, and layering. Maria regularly exhibits at juried shows such as the Toronto Outdoor Art Fair (TOAF), the Square Foot Show, and at galleries including Cloud Gallery, Paula White Diamond Gallery and Burlington Art Gallery shop. She is an elected member of the Canadian Art Society and a Signature Master member of Pastel Artists Canada (PAC) with the Eminent Circle designation—an achievement that requires multiple awards and acceptance into many juried shows. Maria is based in Mississauga, Ontario and enjoys hiking, often combining her outdoor adventures with field studies and plein air painting. She is deeply connected to her students and collectors and shares updates through newsletters and social media.
FREE eBOOK: Secrets You Won't Learn In Art School
✔ Where creative BLOCKS come from, how to identify them, and how to quickly move forward
✔ What not to be a SLAVE to (this feels counter-intuitive to most artists)
✔ Two things to focus on that improve the VALUE range making your art more interesting
Plus 16 other tips from successful Master Artists that you won't learn in art school.
