Career
Her artwork had been exhibited in New York, Jersey City, New Jersey (New Jersey), Florence (Italy) Moscow (Russia) and Saint St. Petersburg (Russia). Tjaarke Maas started to paint since her early childhood, in Tasmania, Australia, where her family had immigrated from the Netherlands. At the age of 17 she came back to Europe and went to Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam, and later continued her studies in New York, where she was introduced to the art of icon painting.
The Russian sacred art, literature and philosophy greatly influenced Maas" life and work.
Influences, especially of Japanese wood prints, could be traced in Maas" etchings and paintings. After 1996 she lived in Florence, Italy, where she was accepted into the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze.
She graduated from in 2003 with diploma cum laude and continued to paint intensively and to work on icons. She combined writing about icons with studying the theology of the image — these forms the basis of her personal spiritual pursuit.
At the same time, she also wrote poetry, prose and fairy-tales for children.
She produced more than 500 artwork, consisting of paintings, etchings, drawings and sketches. Final years
At age 26, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. A few years later, Maas found refuge in the forests surrounding the Hermit Monastery of Saint Francis of Assisi (Eremo del Carcere) to continue her work on icons as commissioned by the priest Don Gino.
She died of a fall from one of the slopes of Monte Subasio, where she was found on 8 July 2004 at age 30.
In a small cave, where Maas dwelt, her work on the unfinished icon was found — it was an icon of the Transfiguration.