Marjolein Bastin is considered the most important nature artist in all the

Netherlands, and her heart-felt work has elicited international acclaim.

She first began to express her love of nature through drawings she made as a

young child. “I already loved nature so much,” she said. “I just had to do

something with my feelings of wonder and excitement.” When Bastin was only ten,

she created a sketchbook full of drawings. “They were little things that I

thought of as my treasures. That was the beginning of my painting, and I

haven’t stopped since.”

Bastin pursued her love of the outdoors through art school in the Netherlands,

but she felt her true teacher was nature itself. Spending hours and days

delightedly studying the world of nature, Bastin’s drawings became well known

through the Dutch women’s magazine Libelle, which was soon publishing her work

every week. The artist then branched out to books, often featuring her most

popular character, Vera the Mouse.

Bastin came to the attention of Hallmark Cards, Inc., and, since their first

publication of her Nature’s Sketchbook product in 1994, the collaboration has

seen great popularity and success—consistently ranking among Hallmark’s top

products. Through her affiliation with The Greenwich Workshop, her fans can now

enjoy Bastin’s images as hand-signed and numbered collectible works of art

reproduced with the true fidelity and vitality of the original.

“With my drawings,” the artist concludes, “I try to show it’s our world. I

think we all have the same role in nature—we are part of nature. When you are

outside, all things come to you—you hear, touch, and smell, you discover so

many wonderful things, both tiny and huge. And you’re part of it all.”