Mai Nguyen was born in 1982 in Thanh Hoa Province, Vietnam. She grew up around Vietnam’s most iconic mountain landscapes, seascapes, and flat rice fields. From a young age she would travel with her family, exploring caves, valleys, and climbing mountain tops. This nurtured her natural sense of adventure and love of nature. At the age of 19 she attended the University of Architecture Ho Chi Minh City, graduating in 2006 with a BA in Interior Design. From 2006 to 2010 she worked for Van Lang University as an Assistant to a Professor of Interior Design, and worked as a designer with several interior design companies.

In 2016 Mai embarked on a Masters degree Fine Art at the University of Hertfordshire. Her artistic focus had shifted from depicting Vietnam’s traditional landscapes to British landscapes. In her British work, Mai sought to capture the mystery of natural phenomena such as morning mist and winter fog, with a particular attention given to the atmosphere and mood they generate within a countryside setting.

After graduating, her work has received a number of awards including the Outstanding use of Colour Award (2018) of Society of East Anglian Watercolourists (SEAW), and The John Grey Award (2018) at the 138th Open Annual Exhibition of The Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour in Edinburgh, Scotland. Today, Mai paints outside using watercolour and ink to engage with nature, light, and natural forms through free and expressive mark-making techniques. Her work continues to concentrate on emulating the feeling of natural atmospheres and the feeling of being within the landscapes she paints.