About Me

 

My name is Doris and I am an artist, mother of four beautiful adult children.  I was born in Austria.  I am married and currently live in Belgium with my husband and lots of wool!

 

My creativity began at a young age. I was always drawing, painting and creating little projects.

 

As an adult I started painting on silk, creating scarfs and upcycling well-loved items of clothing.

 

In 2002, I attended an art school in Anderlecht, Belgium.  I began working with clay, creating sculptures, clay light fixtures and abstract pieces.     This resulted in my first exhibitions in 2007 and 2008.

 

In 2012, my husband’s work took my family and I to Ethiopia. I was immediately enchanted by the beauty and exuberance of the land and its people. My surroundings encouraged my creativity even more and I took up photography. I loved the inspiration that the wildlife, colours and culture gave. Encouraged by my environment, and in order to learn more about this beautiful country, I re-discovered my love of Mosaics.  I was able to share my passion with some of the children and ended up teaching them.  This led to several small exhibitions for charity.

 

In 2018, I once again enrolled in the Anderlecht Art school.  This time I enrolled in an illustration and graphic design course.

 

Unfortunately, as I was due to continue my second year, the Pandemic struck, closing the school.

 

Like many other people, the lockdown gave me a chance to re-evaluate my circumstances.  I decided the direction I wanted to pursue was a long-held dream to write my own book.  I thought I would combine my two favourite hobbies; knitting and art and create a fantasy book for children.

 

The idea was to craft the scary elements of monsters with the softness of the wool. I would then photograph the knitted monsters in various positions and places and weave a story around their exploits and misadventures. So became my first book: Knitting School for Monsters.