Maggie Vandewalle was born and raised in Iowa City, Iowa. She received an art scholarship to the University of Iowa in 1981, where she worked towards a BFA in printmaking under Virginia Myers. After school she turned to painting, in part due to the cost of printmaking equipment, yet also to fulfill a desire for more immediate results. “I discovered that much as I loved working with copper and etching materials, the steps involved with creating a finished piece were taking a toll on my impatient nature”.
Maggie’s work ranges from highly realistic landscapes to less representational, more loosely interpreted cityscapes, but what unites her work is a deep compunction to completely fill the painted surface. “I feel as if I’m telling a story, albeit visually, so the more I can provide in the way of detail, the richer and clearer my story becomes” .