Monique Sierhuis-Beentjes (1967) drew as a child, dreamed of art school and, after years of working in the graphic arts, fulfilled this dream in adulthood by studying sculpting/drawing/painting (2001-2007) at the Wackers Academy in Amsterdam. She has also done various courses and workshops, including writing, screen printing, photography and (at the Kunstacademie Haarlem) graphics (including etching) and drawing. Apart from her free work, she is also an illustrator/graphic designer for DessinDestin and has done illustrations (still under the name Monique Luiken) for a.o. Museum of Broken Hearts by Lisette Beentjes and the Chronicles of Oz in the new translation by Jeroen Bakker, as well as commissioned work. She has also taught creative techniques for many years. From November 2018, she has been working as a teaching assistant.
Monique on her work:
"I draw inspiration from the face in much of my free work. Sometimes I use a (edited) photograph for this but since I always have my face at hand, I often use that as a starting point. I photograph my face, edit those photos, this creates something I find interesting and I use that as a starting point for my work.
Techniques and materials range from pen and ink, thread on canvas to graphic, digital, paint, paper and I really enjoy combining them all."
