My Studio
My studio is mobile. I work in my home studio in The Hague, in a group atelier in Scheveningen, in the countryside in the east of the Netherlands and in the Swiss Alps during family visits and everywhere in between. I prefer to work outside.
My studio is in multiple places and could really be anywhere as a large part of my work is made with just simple and portable tools. I especially love working outside and take my work with me wherever I can.
My home studio in The Hague is in part of the sitting room, where I have a large workspace overlooking the garden. The walls are full of my favourite paintings and various mood boards.
My entire storage system there – a multitude of drawer units keeping all my tools, metals, beads, shells, stones and other bits and pieces organised – consists of street finds. It’s incredible what people put out on the kerb!
My work table, usually not quite as organised, is full of little works in progress, ideas on paper and prototypes, and small art objects that inspire me. And it is the place where I probably do the least of my work!
On the terrace, I set up an alternative work station: an old wooden high chair with attached bench pin that I hoist onto the garden table so I can saw standing upright.
When the weather allows, I do most of my thinking and drawing on a bench in my neighbourhood and during walks in the forest nearby, and off-the-grid work at my garden table.
For soldering and casting of small pieces, I use my little hand torch over the stovetop in the kitchen with its cooker hood to extract fumes, and pickle jars with alum on the window sill for cleaning off solder flux and oxidation. I often end up doing part of the finishing - like filing and polishing - in the kitchen too.
Once a week, I work at Atelier Drie in Scheveningen where I started my metalsmithing lessons many years ago. We work there with a lovely group of people under the entertaining guidance of our teacher and mentor Greetje Sieders, a working artist and tremendously experienced goldsmith and arts & crafts teacher.
In this atelier, I am able to use large equipment like a rolling mill that I don’t (yet) have in my home studio and extra firepower for bigger pieces. But more importantly, in this group we give each other feedback, encouragement and inspiration and also work collectively on themed exhibitions.
For projects that require a lot of hammering (noise!) and a big anvil, I go to stay with my family in the beautiful countryside in the east of the Netherlands where I have access to a well-stocked toolshed, lots of scrap metals and ample outside workspace with neighbours at a distance.
Most of my objects, including clay and soapstone sculptures, and a lot of my jewels that were fabricated off-the-grid, were made in that toolshed and on the terrace under the grapevines. Sometimes, when working on a deadline, I bring my hand torch to solder or cast small pieces, but I prefer to keep it simple there.
My other favourite outdoor studio, where I work exclusively on pieces I can make without electricity or gas, is in the Swiss Alps. I go on extended family visits a few times a year and can work there, no matter the weather, on a covered terrace with a wonderful mountain view. Sometimes I work alone, but I’m often joined by one or more of my many nieces and nephews who also want to “make something” and we bring out the clay or the paint!
My photo studio is as nomadic as I am. I like to capture my jewels and objects ‘out and about’. Both the Swiss mountains and the North Sea at my local beach are major inspirations for my work but also serve as the most mystical and atmospheric backgrounds for my photographs. My other set-ups for photo shoots include my kitchen surface/floor, the worn tiles of the terrace outside, the asphalt by the bench where I have my morning coffee and just basic white or black paper. Pretty simple…
Just like the materials I work with, my studio is sourced across different locations. It exists wherever I take it, and is carried by the generosity of family and friends who share their space, materials, tools and time with me.
