[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” background_image=”https:\/\/willeketimmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/header-bg-faded-scaled.jpg” custom_margin=”||||false|false” custom_padding=”||||false|false” global_module=”70″ saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_divider show_divider=”off” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” min_height=”130px” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/willeketimmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/cropped-fav.png” alt=”willeke timmer art by heart” title_text=”willeke timmer art by heart” url=”\/” align=”center” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” max_width=”220px” custom_margin=”||-160px||false|false” custom_margin_tablet=”||-120px||false|false” custom_margin_phone=”||-120px||false|false” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|phone” animation_style=”fade” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” background_color=”#F0F1F3″ global_module=”210″ saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_post_title meta=”off” featured_image=”off” module_class=”script” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” title_text_align=”center” title_text_color=”#7F2738″ title_font_size=”100px” custom_margin=”64px||||false|false” title_font_size_tablet=”80px” title_font_size_phone=”80px” title_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_post_title][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” background_image=”https:\/\/willeketimmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/bg-img.jpg” parallax=”on” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text module_class=”script” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_text_color=”#7F2738″ header_2_font_size=”64px” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”||-17px|||” header_2_font_size_tablet=”64px” header_2_font_size_phone=”52px” header_2_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” text_orientation_tablet=”center” text_orientation_phone=”center” text_orientation_last_edited=”on|desktop” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text module_class=”script” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” header_2_text_color=”#7F2738″ header_2_font_size=”64px” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin=”||-17px|||” header_2_font_size_tablet=”64px” header_2_font_size_phone=”52px” header_2_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” text_orientation_tablet=”center” text_orientation_phone=”center” text_orientation_last_edited=”on|desktop” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_4,3_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/willeketimmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/willeke-art-by-heart.jpg” alt=”Willeke Timmer: Art by heart” title_text=”Willeke Timmer: Art by heart” show_in_lightbox=”on” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_orientation_tablet=”center” text_orientation_phone=”center” text_orientation_last_edited=”on|desktop” global_colors_info=”{}”]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. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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.[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_orientation_tablet=”center” text_orientation_phone=”center” text_orientation_last_edited=”on|desktop” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_orientation_tablet=”center” text_orientation_phone=”center” text_orientation_last_edited=”on|phone” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_5,3_5″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/willeketimmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/art-by-heart-willeke.jpg” alt=”Willeke” title_text=”Willeke” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_orientation_tablet=”center” text_orientation_phone=”center” text_orientation_last_edited=”on|phone” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” background_image=”https:\/\/willeketimmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/c2a-2.jpg” saved_tabs=”all” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row column_structure=”2_5,3_5″ make_equal=”on” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”2_5″ _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/willeketimmer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/willeke.jpg” alt=”willeke” title_text=”willeke” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” animation_style=”fade” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”3_5″ module_class=”relative” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text disabled_on=”on|off|off” module_class=”script bottom” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”60px” custom_margin_tablet=”” custom_margin_phone=”64px||||false|false” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|desktop” animation_style=”fade” text_font_size_tablet=”60px” text_font_size_phone=”60px” text_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” global_colors_info=”{}”]Every stroke has it’s own story[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text disabled_on=”off|on|on” module_class=”script” _builder_version=”4.27.4″ _module_preset=”default” text_font_size=”60px” text_orientation=”center” custom_margin_tablet=”” custom_margin_phone=”||||false|false” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|phone” animation_style=”fade” text_font_size_tablet=”60px” text_font_size_phone=”60px” text_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” global_colors_info=”{}”]Every stroke has it’s own story[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
An artistic journeyAn artistic journeyMy 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-620","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n