Teachers and staff
Nick van den Berg
Organization / Marble mosaics
Nick van den Berg, director/owner of Miniati, first came to Greece in 1974. Long summer holidays were spent there for a number of years and in 1980 Nick settled in Athens and opened café Witofski, one of the first new style grand-cafés, with a Dutch and two Greek partners. In 1986 he began his designstudio on Miniati street in Athens, where he initially mainly concerned himself with interior design and the manufacture and sale of furniture, lighting and interior design projects. Later the activities expanded especially in the marble sector. (See About Miniati). The many trips with clients to Greece led to new activities such as the organization of a study for the Dutch Quarrymen Bond and the production of a corporate video about marble and eventually resulted in the establishment of Vivari Sculpture. The first sculpture holiday took place in 1996 and was followed by many other workshop tours with themes such as mosaic, philosophy, painting, creative writing, photography and cooking. Nick himself is an enthusiastic amateur sculptor.
Suzana Gulevska
Excursions and allround assistance
Suzana Gulevska was born in Macedonia in the former republic of Yugoslavia. When she was 22 she moved to the Netherlands. For ten years she managed three small centres for asylumseekers in the north of Holland. She knows the Peloponnes like the back of her hand, her greek is fluent and she was often tipped by locals on where to go and what to see in the area. She discovered many interesting and enchanting places where few tourist visit and have therefor remained unknown. Suzana likes to share her experience with visitors who are interested. She makes daily excursions with small groups, maximum 8 guests, to a variety of breathtaking sites, locations and landscapes.
Carla Peperkamp
Sculpture in stone
After her education as an art teacher at the teachers training college in Amsterdam, Carla has worked in a number of fields such as, workshop holidays as well creative projects for children. Over the last 15 years, the two aspects of her professional life are sculpture and nature. For a number of years she worked in the Sculpture shop in Amsterdam. Her preferred material is stone and she exhibits regularly.
Leen Kessels
Sculpture in stone
Leen Kessels was born in Belgium and educated at Art acadamy of Antwerp, with a degree in Sculpture and restauration in stone. Since 2001 she lives and works in Utrecht in the Netherlands, where she teaches sculpture in her studio, exhibits her works regularly. More information and pictures to be seen on her website: www.leenkessels.nl
Ingrid Onstenk
Bronze casting / Sculpture in stone
IIngrid is audidact. After her secondary technical design education in Utrecht, she worked a lot abroad. Back again in the Netherlands she followed a graphic education and also became a pupil of sculptor Herman Bartelds. She has been working as autonomous artist since 1994. Her monumental work mainly consists of stone and steel, but she also experiments in bronze and creates insatallations from waste materials. Together with Felo hettich she gives bronze-workshops both in the Netherlands and abroad with a mobile foundery. Apart from art, Ingrid also enjoyes cooking and during the summer she works as a chef on board of the traditional Dutch sailingvessel Willen Jacob.
Felo Hettich
Bronze casting
After technical training, LTS, UTS, HTS, he came in contact with the free school and was a student of the first year of free educational academy, now named Helicon. After a short time he attended the Arnhem Art Academy and for a long time after that, he worked at the Waldorf superstructure in Zutphen in the Arts and Crafts courses. With others he organized national and international professional meetings to maintain crafts by practising and teaching them: stone carving, blacksmithing, copper smithing and metal casting. He also started a company in art supplies ‘Art’ in Zutphen, now part of the Beeldhouwwinkel.
Together with his friend and artist Oscar Rambonnet he created the casting molds book, published by Canteclear Publishers now Tirion. That was also the start of the bronze casting workshops. Now he travels through Europe with his mobile bronze foundry, assisted by Ingrid Onstenk.
Annemiek Collin
Portrait and model sculpture in clay
Annemiek finished her studies as qualified artist in 1982 at the Maastricht acandamy of fine arts. later in 1987 she also concluded her teaching qualification at the acadamie in Arnhem. She makes sculptures from bronze, ceramics, metal and cobinations of these materials. She creates free works as well as in assignment. Her sculptures are inspired by both nature and architecture: growth, shelter, reflection, tension and harmony are the keywords to describe her work. She also makes portraits in which she tries to catch the essence of that specific person as well as striving to resemble the model. Her monumental works are often placed in public areas and are usually created in close collaboration with her clients.
Sophie Walraven
Painting and drawing
Sophie is a full-time artist, a painter. In addition to that, she draws, making etchings and makes street art. In ’98, she graduated from the School of the Arts in Arnhem, as first teacher crafts. Even though she has a lot of experience in working in 3D, in her own work she chose to work primarily on flat surfaces. She usually works on concept-based projects, in larger or smaller series. Sophie works and has exhibits in the Netherlands but also abroad.
Her work and resume can be viewed at:www.sophiewalraven.nl
Lisanne Sloots
Painting and drawing
After her education as an artist and art-teacher, Lisanne increasingly started to work with natural materials. She now fires her own charcoal from various types of wood and examines the differences in how they work.She has been teaching for over 10 years now and usually the development of the student is her starting point. The lessons are usually on an individual level and the final goal is to find a way to express what the participants love doing. One can join up at any level and from there develop one’s own drawing / painting skills.
Martin Copppes
Painting and drawing
Martin worked as a painting teacher at the Amsterdam Fashion Institute (AMFI). He is a 1976 graduate of the Royal Academy of Art and Design in Den Bosch. Martin is a versatile artist with a colorful oeuvre, inspired by his international background. He has explored various styles, techniques and formats. His work is mostly figurative, but also contains abstract elements. Martin has featured at exhibitions for many years. He also gives workshops for groups of artists and painters in the Netherlands and Greece.
Recently, a book was published about his life and work.
His work and resume can be viewed www.martincoppes.com
Trudy Otterspeer
Painting and decorating ceramics
Her passion for decorated ceramics started when as a young girl, Trudy first saw a professional ceramics-painter at work. She enrolled as an apprentice at the renouned ceramics factory Zenth in Gouda, historicly the centre of ceramics in the Netherlands. She kept in touch with her teacher, who always told her to make sure this trational craft would get forgotten. After he died, Trudy was given his collection of brushes and pigment, which in 2007 layed the basis for her own studio ‘Ambachtelijk Plateel’, where she started giving classes and workshops. In 2009 she started working as a teacher at the professional ceramicschool SBB in Gouda, where she further developed the decoration techniques.
Lisa di Campli
Glass painting
Lisa was born and raised in the USA near Philadelphia. She has been living in the Netherlands for eleven years now. Her training took place at Drexel University, Philadelphia, USA and at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium. She has been working with glass for ten years now. Lisa has her own glassstudio in the Hague: Di Campli Glas Studio. She is also fellow director of a wholesale business in specialised glass products: PELI Glass Products. She gives glasspainting workshops together with colleague Peter Heijman. Her recent work consists mainly of glasspaintings, but also of 2-dimensional fusing, lead panel glass, Tiffany style, and slumping. Lisa also works as a painter on restauration projects of old windows in churches and monumental buildings.
Karin Kortenhorst
Metal smithing, jewelry and objects
After a technical education as goldsmith, Karin continued her education at the Utrecht Art Academy. She now combines the creating of autonomous work with teaching jewelry at a number of creative centres in Holland. She also organizes courses and workshops at highschools, businesses and private groups. In 2006 she produced television course for the national Dutch broadcasting company. In 2004 she went to South Africa, where, in co-operation with the Stellenbosch University, she started the project ‘weird about wire’, making jewelry with participants from various cultural backgrounds. One of the participants who used to sell his handmade jewelry made of metalwire on the street, recently graduated from the Stellenbosch jewelry department and has now started a masters degree in Denmark.
Ingrid La Haye
Art Clay Silver & Copper jewelry
Ingrid owns and manages ’the Hague Mosaic and Silver Studio Wapiti’ in the Hague. She organizes a variety of creative workshops with Art Clay Silver, mosaics and other creative disciplines. Wapiti offers short workshops of a few hours, but also longer courses where one can have a more in depth experience with the various materials and techniques.
Ingrid graduated cum laude afgestudeerd from the Royal Academie of creative arts in The Hague and is a certified Art Clay Silver teacher. She is an inspiring guide in the world of form and colour.
Anja Robertus
Photography
Anja studied political sciences and communication at the University of Amsterdam, and continued to study photography at the Art Avcadamy. In the beginning she worked for an number of theatres and later on she specialized in portrait- and reporting photograhy. She regularly works for a number of well known Dutch magazines and businesses. She also an experienced photography teaher at the two creative centres in Amsterdam: Crea and MK 24. Recently she set up a new company with a collegue producing short video’s for the internet and organises photography holidays.
Sjaak Henselmans
Photography workshop and tours
After finishing his studies in 1980, Sjaak started to get interested in photography. His first work was mainly free work which he exhibited regularly in Amsterdam. In 1984 he became a professional, specialized in architecural photography. Since then he has been working for a number of renouned architects, project developers and architectural magazines, both in the Netherlands as abroad.
Some of his clients: ING Real Estate, Bouwfonds, Sigma coatings, BPF-Bouwinvest, DTZ Zadelhof, Cobraspen, Hemels Publishers, Scripta Media, Cascade, Vera Yanovshtchinsky Architects, Min2 Bouwkunst, Kokon Architects, ONX architects, Korteknie/Stuhlmacher, Arcam.
Hanne Mahler
Paper and book binding
Hanne’s interest in paper began in 1995, when she worked for a year at Birgit Østergaard’s company PAPER ART. Here she learned how to produce handmade paper professionally, using different types of plant fibers such as straw, cotton, nettles, coconut, reed, seaweed, etc. This was the beginning of her passionate interest in what can be done with paper. Of course it be used as writing paper, but also applied in art, for sculptures, books, lamps, screens, decoration and furnishing. Hanne lives and works on the Midgard estate in the Achterhoek, in the middle of the forest where she gathers most of her materials for paper.
Dot van der Beek
Ceramics
Dot has taken courses at the pedagogical training in Dordrecht and the teacher training (drawing and craftsmanship) in Amsterdam.
In 2010 she started the Craft Training for Ceramic Techniques SBB in Gouda, in 2013 she completed this training.
After this training she has also followed extra years for clay turning and glazing.
Since 2013 she has her own workshop and gallery Atelier Vier in Papendrecht. She is inspired by everyday things, architecture, nature, light and space.
Nicole Kranenburg
Ceramics
Nicole Kranenburg is a ceramist from Brabant. After her training she ran a workshop for many years. The work consisted mostly of hand forms using all kinds of ceramics techniques, working with slabs of clay, building with rollers, pouring clay and a combination of all this.
Nicole also knows her way about glazing techniques. Even beautiful designs can be made with engobes and when necessary she know all about other glazing techniques. Nicole likes to combine these techniques in her work.
Karin
Massage
Karin ‘apo tin Ollandia‘, as the Greeks call this humorous blonde woman born in The Hague in the Netherlands. Karin lives in Greece and comes to Kantia by appointment to give massages to our guests. She is a qualified sports masseur but also uses other relaxation techniques (hot-stone massage, reflexology). Relaxing for an hour of massage by Karin’s capable hands is a great way to pamper yourself after a morning of hard work during the workshop.