Martine Brettar Jansen

Porcelain, not an evident choice, is one of the hardest materials to work with, so vulnerable and fragile, but once it's been fired strong and timeless.
Porcelain is a matter with a memory.

The making of a doll in porcelain is a long process that takes a lot of patience. Every part of the doll is sculpted separately and from these parts plaster moulds are made, in which the porcelain is poured. After sanding and firing the parts, they are painted in five layers. Also the eyes are hand painted. Every doll is created out of the imagination.






Martine Brettar Jansen, born in 1969 in Brussels, originates from an artistic family. Art is therefore in her genes and after having succeeded an education in graphic arts at Sint-Lucas in Brussels, Martine worked about 10 years as a graphic designer. As by coincidence she fell in the doll world, started sculpting and very soon she was under the spell of doll making. First she started with clay, then with fimo, but finally she chose porcelain, a crafter's material and above all timeless. Her dolls are wide spread all over the world from the US to Russia, Israel and many European countries.









At the moment, Martine is working on some new figurative work where she combines mixed media. This results in a surprising evolution in style. Dolls become sculptures, porcelain becomes bronze… Martine's work becomes intense and fragile at the same time.