My name is Barbara Pijnappel and I live and work in Apeldoorn. In 1987 I started making sculptures and shortly after that I started painting. For some years I followed painting lessons, given by the painter Don Nederhand and lessons in modelling with wax and clay given by the sculptor Joop te Riele.
During the same time I started to work part-time at a foundery to get experience with the working in bronze. I did that for about 7 years. In between I have drawn models for a year, together with a group of artists in my town. In the summer of ’96, still followed by a short course in aquarelling in Heelsum (Gld.)

For also getting experience with sculpturing in stone I followed several sculpturing courses with the sculptors Peter Schuijren in Limburg (1994), in the Auvergne in France at Bleu et Vert given by Marianne Neve from Leiden in '95 and with Gerard van Rooy from Den Bosch in '95, '97 and 2011. From 2002 until 2005 and in 2015 I followed sculpturing courses from marblespecialist Caroline Teesing in Utrecht, at UCK in Utrecht and at Campo Altissimo in Azzano, (near Carrara) Italy. Followed by several creations in marble. In stone I followed a more abstract and free way of shaping. The shaping is more destined by the stone itself. Later in 2018 I follewed a course sculpting with machines at Campo given by German sculptor Raphael Beil.

In ’99 and ‘00 I worked together with an international sculpturegroup at Gallery and Sculpturegarden Tem Veyne in Eerbeek (Gld.). In december 2001, I have sculptured, on the invitation of the Spanish foundation Fundaçion Valparaiso, a month in their studios of their artistresidency in Mojacar, Andalucia. This foundation gives to artists internationally the opportunity to stay there a month and create new work. Until now I've worked with several sorts of stones like French limestone, alabaster, soap-stone, marble, dolomite, serpentine, siberian leapardstone, springstone, marblegranite: Azul de Macaubas.

In the past years there have been exhibitions constantly in the Netherland, Germany and Belgium in artgalleries, companies, institutions and first class restaurants (Michelin and Alliance).
In the course of time I created many sculptures in bronze: a series of nudes, torsos, dancers, some fairy-tale figures, animals, some magic-realistic sculptures and a series of religious figures (in assignment).

My website is www.barbsgallery.com. Here you can see information about the sculpturegarden-studio, you can take a look at my bronze and stone sculptures, and information about the workshops soapstone carving & clay modelling and the course modelling in clay & wax in Gigant, starting september 2021. The sculpturegarden is open on appointment or on open afternoons. Data are published on my site.

The sculptures can be figurative and abstract and sometimes they can be organic and/or surrealistic. In between came my own handwriting in shapes and structures, in which I want to let the hollow and convex work and the light and shadows . In the shapes I want to create movement and balance and harmony. The have to come upwards and stand firm in the same time.