Cécile van Woensel was born in the Netherlands and always had a great interest in nature and art. After she completed her studies in Fine Arts and Molecular Biology, she worked as a teacher in Fine Arts and had her own mural and painting company. Since her Fine Arts study, she has taken full advantage of her Biology background. Drawing is an excellent way to study the morphological structures that are found in nature. While creating art, she can add a more subjective and personal vision, something that is not usually allowed in science.

In the Netherlands, willow trees were an important source of inspiration in her work. After moving to Nanaimo in the summer of 2008, Cecile continued to explore trees; inspired by the majestic west coast rainforest. Living so close to the forests and the ocean, she finds her imagination triggered by the many impressions of living and beached trees under a great variety of atmospheric circumstances.