About Malu
Learn about Malu, a Dutch artist creating colorful mixed media art inspired by resilience, everyday life, and living with a brain injury.
My Story
A Disabled Artist From The Netherlands
I never planned to become an artist. After brain tumor surgery, I was left with a brain injury and speech disorder, drawing slowly became my way to communicate. I started sketching to hold on to small moments before they faded. Over time it turned into a way to heal, to stay grounded, and to express what I couldn’t say out loud anymore.
Living with a brain injury and speech disorder shapes my work, but it doesn’t limit it. My art celebrates imperfection and connection. It helped me connect with myself and others again.
Recent Features
Artist Interview
In 2025, HIMI / MIYA Arts invited me for a long-form interview about my art practice and the life behind it. I talk about living with brain injury, rebuilding a creative life from the kitchen table, and finding connection through color, line and everyday scenes.
You can open and read the interview right below ↓
MIYA Arts published the full interview on their platform, here you can read the opening page and open the complete PDF
Open Self Introduction in full size (opens in new tab)
Read the full interview (opens in new tab)
Subjects I Return To
Landscapes & Everyday Life
Landscapes are my constant. They carry peace, longing, and a sense of home. Back when my world felt small and frightening, landscapes carried me through the days, dreamy, magical, and sometimes bittersweet.
Everyday scenes keep me connected; people on the street, my daughter and husband, small moments of human presence. Even when I can’t fully join in, drawing helps me feel close.
How I Make My Prints Available
Because of my disability and limited daily energy, I'm not able to pack, store or ship prints myself. Using print on demand makes it possible for me to share my work in a sustainable way, without taking on tasks I do not have the capacity for. It is a little less personal, but it allows me to keep creating while still making high-quality prints available for anyone who wants to have my work in their home.
Shop Bestselling Prints
The Process Behind Each Print
Medium & Materials
I often start with any wet medium: gouache, for freedom and layering, pencils and crayons for control, and pastels for depth and energy.
If something doesn’t work out, I don’t throw it away, I keep layering until it feels right, pushing through the ‘ugly phase’. My materials adapt with me. On paper my marks can be energetic, soft, or rough, whatever I feel like that day.
My Style
Imperfect & Expressive
My mark-making is loose, sketchy, and colorful. I used to fight my uneven lines, but now they’re part of my style, messy outlines, bold shapes and imperfect proportions, I love it.
I often draw small figures in big landscapes, it’s about scale, about belonging even when you feel tiny. My disability carved resilience, fragility, and imperfection into my life, and my art follows.
1. The Core Values Behind My Art
Resilience: Finding Strength in Limits
Living with a disability isn’t about ‘bouncing back’, it's about adapting to life. My art doesn’t hide challenges; it works through them openly. If someone sees my work and thinks, maybe my imperfections have value too, that’s all I want.
Imperfection: Beauty in What’s Real
I let the crooked lines and spilled colors stay. I connect to rawness because it feels human and honest. It says: this is real, and real has value.
2. The Core Values Behind My Art
Slowness: Creating in Rhythm with Life
My body moves different now. That rhythm helps me notice things others rush past; light, faces, stillness. Depth matters more to me than speed or perfection.
Connection: Art as a Bridge
Losing speech made conversation hard. Art became my voice. I hope people see my work and feel less alone, that they feel seen and understood. And I hope they find some piece of themselves in its honesty and imperfection.
Come Behind the Scenes With Me
My Quiet Grief Club on Substack
This is where my art and stories meet and you can read more on:
- Sketchbook pages
- Stories On Grief
- Notes on disability & life
- Behind-the-scenes process
- First access to new prints
Print Shop Facts
Why Print On Demand?
Because of my disability and limited daily energy, I simply cannot pack, store or ship prints myself. Print on demand makes it possible for me to offer my work without burning out. It is less personal than sending everything by hand, but it is the only accessible way for me to make prints available to you. This way I can keep creating, and you can still get high quality art prints when you want them. Thank you for your understanding!
Print on demand is more sustainable, every print is made only when it’s ordered, which reduces waste and prevents leftover stock. It also lets me ship worldwide from the production facility closest to you, so your print arrives faster and with fewer emissions. By buying here, you’re supporting a small disabled-led art practice. Thank you for being here.
Sticker Shipping Note
Stickers are currently not shipped to the US. They are not produced locally, and international shipping would make them disproportionately expensive.
Final Sale Policy
All sales are final. Because each print is made to order, I cannot accept returns or exchanges. If your order arrives damaged, please contact me within 7 days of delivery with photos, and I’ll make sure you get a replacement.
Shipping & Delivery
- Prints are fulfilled through Prodigi, a trusted production partner.
- Orders are usually shipped within 5–10 business days after purchase.
- Delivery times vary by region, but most orders arrive within:
- 5–7 business days in Europe
- 7–14 business days worldwide
- You’ll receive tracking information once your order ships.
Print Quality
- I release small batches so every piece feels unique, once they’re gone, they’re gone.
- Printed on archival-quality, museum-grade paper with vibrant inks.
- Colors are designed to stay rich and true for years.
- Each piece is a faithful reproduction of my original mixed media work, capturing the textures and painterly feel.