Full story

My name is Willeke Timmer, born on February 18, 1980. As a child, I was quiet, maybe a little quirky, but always creative. Pencil and paper were my faithful companions. Drawing was my way of understanding the world. I loved the silence, disappearing into my own imagination. That love for autonomy and creation has always remained.

At fourteen, I really felt my life beginning. My love for drawing grew, I discovered airbrushing and my wanderlust was born. School went easily for me; I completed havo and at seventeen started at SintLucas in Boxtel. For the first time I really felt at home there.

My parents played a big role in my development. When I was thirteen, I was given an old horse stable as a studio. Four by four meters, well insulated, with my own refrigerator and music. It became a place of freedom and encounter. There I began my first airbrush projects: tank lids, helmets, scooters. Everything became a canvas. My friends brought whatever they could find-snowboards, phone cases. I gave everything color.

Around the age of fifteen, I met Sun Bear, an Indian artist. My parents had enrolled me in one of his courses. He saw potential in me, and soon I became his student. In his studio, I learned about color, materials and teaching. What touched me most was how art with him was a way of life. Everything breathed creation. That inspired me deeply.

Once I got my driver’s license, I was regularly at motorcycle and car events. In my own booth, I gave live airbrush demonstrations. Although I was shy, this forced me to connect. Commissions followed: helmets, murals, children’s rooms. Sometimes I had had it with Mickey Mouse, but I made my money doing what I loved most.

When I was nineteen, I traveled to Portland, USA, for a school assignment. I stayed with family and worked with artist Raphael Schnepf, who specializes in glass processing. Under his guidance, I created a work about a powerful woman on a motorcycle, a tribute to the Indian influences in my life. Sun Bear had once given me the name Sacajawea, after the legendary Shoshoni woman: powerful, courageous, full of perseverance. I try to embody those qualities myself.

Back in the Netherlands, I started my own studio: Sacajawea. I airbrushed motorcycles and rolled into the world of custom bikes. At SintLucas, I made my graduation project for Mitsubishi: a hood that looked like glass, with simulated buttons and hoses. The work received publicity and the school even introduced airbrush classes. A crowning achievement of my education.

When I was seventeen, I had a boyfriend. A year later, we went to work together in Rhodes. That’s where I met my first real client. Two years later, he called me. I was nineteen. He sent me to Van Winkoop in Ermelo for an airbrush job. There I met Marcel Timmer, company manager. Six years later, he became my husband.

Marcel and I started MWDesigns together. We airbrush show trucks and are known throughout Europe. Shortly after our marriage, I turned out to be pregnant. In 2006 our son Indy was born, in 2009 our daughter Jesse. Both children are as creative as we are.

In the years that followed, I developed myself further. I worked in paint shops, learned from others, experimented with materials. Besides airbrushing, painting remained my first love. Oil paint became my medium. I learned from masters like Cornelis le Mair, but ultimately sought my own style.

My art became more personal. Women’s portraits with strength, imperfection and depth. Raw, real, seductive. Not ideals, but people. My work is a mix of classical technique and modern imagery. Magically realistic, I like to call it. A combination of tough and sensitive, just like myself.

Painting is my anchor. My outlet. My language. Each canvas is a story. I want it to touch, empower or soften. Art for me is not just what I make, but who I am. And my journey is far from over.