Meet the Maker: Sandra van Riet

‘What kind of ceramist am I? I am always looking for timeless shapes, the origins of objects, ancient ceramics in the sense of life’s necessities (eating from a bowl, drinking from a mug). Not overly decorated, but rather clean in shape and in human sizes. I use pure materials and I make the glazes from feldspar, quartz, clay and natural coloring, like iron, cobalt, copper, manganese; color in its purest form. I extract the clay for the glazes from the ground in the area around the town I live in and sometimes I also use the clay for making ceramics. After many detours I have finally become what I wanted to be. In our house it was unthinkable that you would want to become a maker. So after high school I studied to become an administrative assistant, even though I kept thinking ‘this is not what I want’. That is why I continued studying and studied Media and Communication, but that did not make me happy either. Eventually I started a restaurant and hotel. During that period I met Rob Muylaert and his wife Bep. They gave me an ‘anti-stress day’ as a present: making ceramics in Rob’s workshop. I was sold, captivated by ceramics. I started taking classes from Rob followed by a three year part time SBB course in Gouda. I focused entirely on my own development. I also took additional courses in Germany, the Netherlands and France, surrounded me with the right people and started building my own library.’

What can Crafts Council do for you?

‘It is a great idea to organize a live Meet the Maker event, like you proposed, where all the makers can meet each other and show each other what they make. They are probably the best in the Netherlands. I would also love to discuss the possibilities of a ceramics center with CCNL.’

More of this entry is available in Dutch.