From roadside water tank to international acclaim | Rotorua News | Local News in Rotorua

Rotorua artist Marc Spijkerbosch's face may not be well recognised but his work certainly is.

From a hobby that got out of control to winning an international art competition - he says he is living the dream.

Mr Spijkerbosch's landscape murals grace many of the power boxes around the city.

His most notable work is the mural on a water tank on Tarawera Rd. That's where it all started for the father of three.

"It was covered in graffiti and I said `I can do something about this,'."

Mr Spijkerbosch went to the council and asked if he could paint it. Since then he has been offered work from around the world and is a fulltime artist.

Mr Spijkerbosch recently won The Wilderness Gallery 2008 International Mural Fest in Tasmania, beating 25 artists from around the world.

He believes he has grown as an artist since starting more than 20 years ago.

Mr Spijkerbosch said he has moved away from painting just landscapes and now paints trompe l'oeil, which is French for trick of the eye.

He said trompe l'oeil is a form of painting where the artist tries to trick the person into thinking the art is real. "People loved to be tricked, I've had incident where kids have run into my murals, which is the ultimate complement."