My name is Jeannine Vrins.  I was born in the Netherlands 40 years ago and now live in Belgium, in the pittoresque town of Lier.  Twenty years ago, I came to Belgium to study Industrial Design, and later Ceramics at the Art Academy of Antwerp. I stayed in Belgium as I fell in love with the more Southern way of living, the surrealism of this three-languaged country, the delicious food, and (most importantly!) with a guy called Raf who is my husband now!
Our studio is called Atelier Oker. We are both very different designers, but very inspirational for each other. Raf designs toys and logic games. I am a ceramic designer maker. I love to make things myself, but I also like others to manufacture my work. We have two boys who love to play with clay and to test all the new toys.

I teach at an art academy, where I can share my passion for clay and form. I teach technical skills and creative thinking. I love to give student's another viewpoint, to inspire them and see what they can create themselves.
As most designer makers I love to read and browse through art books, love visiting museums, and you can always find me in the museum bookshop afterwards. In the summer I like to travel with my family, enjoying nature and culture, hanging around and sleeping in a tent. And then it’s so refreshing to come home and start creating again.

I am inspired by natural lines and forms: the shapes of the human body, trees, sea weed or flowers… I see beautiful shapes everywhere.
I am also captivated by art history especially the ancient Greeks or the Art Nouveau movement at the beginning of the 20th century.
The way my two young boys are full of wonderment and their way of looking at the world also inspires me. They constantly question everything - “why”, “how” and “when”. It keeps me alert and so I discovered that even the bones of dinosaurs are very inspirational!

As a child I always wanted to touch everything, I am very tactile. I love the contact between my skin and any material. I like to to touch clay as it feels so soft and gives an impression of my skin. I love making ceramics as the user can feel my skin through touching the object: it feels like my hand is touching you. Hand made objects are always reciprocal.
And I believe all hand made objects carry that symbolism: being touched by the feeling of handmade objects.

I was very young when I realised it was essential for me to make things to live. Making things is my way to chanel all the impressions I get during the day.  In the 2nd year at Design School we visited Piet Stockmans's studio (link www.pietstockmans.com), who was one of our teachers. He is ceramist and maker, and has his own porcelain design workshop. The combination of designing things and making them yourself seemed to me the perfect match.

I discovered I am very creative when I work in a certain strict structure. In the morning I throw to make my orders. In the afternoon I make glazes, fill my kiln, brush the terra-sigillata top layer. Currently I am working on some large trade orders, producing plates and spoons for restaurants, and throwing new designs for a flower pot company. I design new products while I am throwing.
I start my creative process with drawings in my sketchbook, and I look through them when I need inspiration to create something new. But sometimes a new design just happens: by coincidence a form arises and at that moment I embrace it and work it out.
Having the same structure every day gives my creative process a good rhytm.

Thank you for your interest in my work. Don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about my work.