Ursula Hirländer was born and raised in Graz, Austria, and is now based in London, Ontario. She is a mixed-media artist whose work moves between expressive portraiture, animals, botanicals, and abstraction.

Her work is rooted in the conviction that artistic expression holds the power to reveal personal truth, awaken feminine wisdom, and reconnect us to the quiet magic of community and belonging. Across her paintings, Ursula explores creativity as a return to inner knowing, emotional honesty, and the deeper threads that connect us to nature, and one another.

Before fully turning toward painting, Ursula trained in the heritage craft of millinery, completing a three-year apprenticeship before becoming head of the millinery department at the United Theatres in Graz. For ten years, she designed and created hats and masks for the performing arts, developing a deep sensitivity to form, texture, character, and transformation.

Her artistic path was recognized early. At eighteen, Ursula won first prize in a province-wide art competition in Austria, which led to the honour of exhibiting her work in the Vatican City State and being featured in the Vatican newspaper.

After moving to Canada in 1986, Ursula devoted many years to raising her two children. Later in life, the pull toward painting became impossible to ignore. She completed her formal art education through the Milan Art Institute and returned fully to her creative practice.

Today, Ursula works from her London, Ontario studio, a creative sanctuary where she spends much of her time painting and developing new bodies of work. When she is not in the studio, she spends time with her children on the west coast of British Columbia or returns to Austria to reconnect with family, customs, and the roots that continue to shape her work.