Claudine Roelens

For as long as I can remember, I've been very creative.. Even as a little girl, the BBC was my favorite TV channel, because they had programs, like Blue Peter, Vision Art and Take Hart. These last two were presented, by the very talented Tony Hart (www.tonyhart.co.uk ) Not only did he make fantastic drawings, but he learned his viewers all kinds of drawing techniques and a lot about arts and crafts. I was glued to the telly during these programs.

Of course, I had to try it all by myself too.
Much to my mothers dislike, especially if the floor wlimited edition as covered by candlewax, once again, or plaster of Paris.....
But hey, it wasn't always a happy ride for my father either, his putty ( lovely stuff to sculpt with ), plaster, bits of wood, glue , chisels and hammers disappeared from his shed.
He even had the doubtful honor, to take me to the library each week. There, I borrowed, every book they had about arts and crafts.
But not only those books, I was a real bookworm, I read all the fairy tales, and later on loads of romantic novels. That must explain the fairy like and romantic look of my work.

At school , I liked the creative courses best. But , I was very good at languages and maths too. That's why the creative side of me, didn't get any support. Languages and maths, were and are considered more important than creativity.
So I studied maths and languages at high school. But I always took care of it, through the optional subjects, to have at least , one hour of drawing each week.
After high school, I studied to be a translator, but blood is thicker than wine, so after a few years, I called it quits, and decided to be a window-dresser. That was much more me, I could be creative, day in , day out, making eye-catchers was wonderful.

During that time, I also made some romantic oilpaintings http://www.chasingdreams.nl/extra/bijzonder/bijzonder.html ). Dollmaking, came quite a lot of time later. When my son Jonas was born (1993), I found a lovely book by Ankie Daanen (www.ankie-doll-art.com ). In her book, she explained in detail, with loads of pictures, how to make a doll, out of airdrying clay, Darwi.

Although I considered it to be a fantastic book, I never thought I would be able to do this, make a face, out of a package of clay ? But it intrigued me so much, I just had to give it a go.
And it was wonderful ! The only downside to the book is, that she never states, that dollmaking is a virus, there's no antidote, no cure, it get's in your blood, and it never leaves you.

With two small children, there was no time, to take classes. Luckily , there were a lot of good books out there, for instance, books by Joke Grobben, Hildegard Günzel, Marlaine Verhelst, etc....

But , not taking classes, has its up sides too. You develop your own style much quicker.
I used to make very large dolls. It's a lot easier to apply details in a larger face, than in a small one. My favourite clay used to be airdrying clay la doll, and later on premier.

My latest work is much smaller and more refined. I don't use airdrying clay that much anymore, but now I take to polymer clay. This type of clay is excellent for very small and detailed work.

After attending some exhibitions, I started teaching classes in my own studio. And some time later, I added a small store, where you can buy anything you need, to make dolls.

Are you interested ? then you can reach me through this emailaddress : info@claudineroelens.com