About the Artist
My name is Mari Ringsaker. I'm a painter and a clinical psychologist, based in Oslo.
For years those were two separate lives, the clinic and the canvas. Then I realized they were never separate at all. In the clinic I learned what minds need to heal: safety, softness, somewhere to land. On the canvas, I paint exactly that.
I create dreamlike landscapes designed to give you a sense of calm and emotional grounding, not as decoration, but because I believe beauty is something the mind genuinely needs. The research agrees: the art we surround ourselves with shapes how we feel, every single day.
I started painting to find my way back to something real and grounded in myself. My paintings invite you to do the same.
Technique
My process is intuitive. I rarely know where a painting will end up when I start it — and that's my favorite part. I follow the colors and textures as they emerge, layer by layer, until the painting gives the right feeling. Some pieces find themselves in days, others take months.
Like every artist, I stand on the shoulders of painters who came before me. Early on I fell in love with the colorful, textured style of Swedish artist Sabina von Essen, and that spark set me exploring. Over the years, that exploration became something of my own: soft, dreamlike landscapes built from layers of texture, and a signature floral style you won't find anywhere else.
What stays constant is the feeling I'm reaching for. A painting your eyes can wander into, that shows you something new as the light changes through the day.
Why I paint
I paint intuitively, it's the most direct way I know to get in touch with emotions and inner states. What inspires me is the beauty of nature, childhood places that felt completely safe, and the question that connects my two professions:
Why do we need beauty around us?
Not want, need. In my years as a psychologist I saw again and again that a mind under pressure isn't looking for stimulation, it's looking for somewhere to rest. I believe beauty is one of those places, a place to land.
That question is why I write about the psychology of art alongside painting it. If you're curious what the science says about awe, color, stress, and why certain paintings have you captivated - start here: