PROfile: Mary van de Wiel

Mary van de Wiel dubbed “brand psychologist” by Time INC, is a NY Brand Lab workshop leader, and the Chief Creative Officer/Founder of Black Line Crazy – a limited edition collection of prints, bags, and lush area rugs that bare her signature aesthetic.

A life-long doodler and cultural nomad Van has found a way to translate her experiences across different platforms, mediums, and textures. A resident of four countries (Venezuela, Canada, Holland, Australia) before the age of 15 her life and art are a multicultural fusion and expression of her love of the abstract.

For 30 years, Van was Chief Creative Officer of her own award-winning branding agency with offices in New York and Sydney working with Fortune 500 clients (www.maryvandewiel.com).

In 2016 Van landed in Mexico, picked up a brush and can of house paint — and started to paint floor to ceiling. Invigorated and inspired to give her inner doodles an external life. Black Line Crazy, is the passion project born out of that exploration, a second life, and an invitation to walk outside the line with her.

Van had her first successful exhibition at the Saint Cloche Gallery in Sydney. A year later, she was invited to exhibit at Galeria Manuk in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. September of 2019 Black Line Crazy held its first commissioned public art installation (titled: What Were You Thinking) at the UBS corporate bank lobby at 1285 Avenue of the Americas in New York City.

 The personal fulfillment and professional success of Black Line Crazy is a testament to what can happen when an entrepreneur finds their creative incubator and is a beautiful reminder that we never know what our next chapter might be.

Van believes that art has a pulse (just like we do), and thus belongs as a part of everyday life. Her original fabric and home furnishings simultaneously convey the complexity and simplicity of design and experience while her art acts as a call-to-create for any innovator. In a society constructed on boxes and labels, she invites you to draw your own.

In her spare time, Mary van de Wiel has been a guest lecturer at the University of California (UCLA) and the University of Sydney. She has written for Entrepreneur.com and has been featured in Inc. Magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, and Reuters.

For more check out www.blacklinecrazy.com