Creating beauty with quality

Sculpture is as old as mother earth. First functional and for many centuries also a favorite material in art. To think that stone has always been a silent witness to our history.

Sculpting is the sum of learning the craft, learning to look and think three-dimensionally, having confidence in the working process and experiencing the peace and pleasure that working in stone brings, in addition to the stone itself.

Please note: This class is taught in Dutch, but the instructor will translate into English or Italian if it’s requested.

Since 2002, Esther has worked in Pietrasanta, Vila Viçosa and Belgium, among others, to master the aspects of stone. The love for the material, its versatility and the associated different techniques, has laid a good foundation for her contemporary sculptures, which led to the challenge and play with the language of form, with the subtlety and with the technical assembly of stone.

What will you learn in the Sculpting in Stone course?

“Creating beauty with quality” runs like a thread through my life, my work and classes. Creative power to give a new dimension to what is there.

My challenge is to facilitate an approach that works within the given context of the student, from start to finish. Constructive in technique, material and working with the possibilities available, you learn to speak the language of that particular stone. Creating a creative movement in stone by learning and keeping looking, tuning in, daring to make choices and of course learning from each other in a group. After all, everyone has their own working style, visions and ideas, so you can be inspired, but also learn from each other. In painting the lines create the planes, in stone sculpting it is the planes that create the lines.

Of course, our famous ancestors and mothers in stone sculpture cannot be missing. Several famous names will be paid attention to during the lessons.

Is the Sculpting in Stone course for you?

Beginners and advanced students are welcome in my classes. There is individual guidance in the group, this allows a good exchange of the learning process. What you bring to the course is a desire to learn, wonder, (physically) persevere, and a dose of patience.

As you master the craft, a kind of peace comes into you that works out in what I call a collaboration with the stone. You are so physically engaged that you don’t even notice that the mind becomes still and time flies.

What do you need for the Sculpting in Stone course?

The room is a pleasant bright space where you can work well. Tools and stones are available at MK24. You can leave your project at MK24, which saves lugging it back and forth, and you can pick up where you left off each week. Photos of your sculpture can help with inspiration between classes, so you still have the stone at home in a way.