BIOGRAPHY

Ineke Moolenaar was born in April 1963 in Lisse; a small village known for its beautiful tulip fields in the south of Holland.

At the age of 13, much to her dismay and against her wishes, she emigrated to New Zealand together with her parents, older brother, and younger sister. Here the family started a new life in the city of Christchurch (South Island). During the first few years  the English language was a huge barrier for her in communication, and the only way she could only express herself  was through writing and drawing.

After ten years Ineke moved up to Auckland (North Island), where she married, worked as a teacher, and raised a family. In 1996, after the marriage ended, she moved back to Holland together with her young daughter and son. She currently resides in Heemskerk together with her partner.

From a very early age Ineke demonstrated an innate artistic talent and continues to this day to bring her creative passion to fruition. Throughout high school she specialized in art and during her college years she undertook endorsed art as her major study. Over the years, both in New Zealand and in the Netherlands, she became mostly self-taught in various areas of painting and drawing. But her great desire to keep learning led her to take sculpture classes in Amsterdam. During subsequent years Ineke started creating various types of sculptures out of natural clay, polymer clay and paper mâché. Three years ago she also became fascinated by fused and stained glass and together with her partner set up a glass studio at their home where she specializes in fused glass jewelry. 

Two years ago, she enrolled in fine art painting lessons at a local art academy where she is striving to master the art of hyper-realism and creating her own interpretations of the subject matter whilst still focusing on revealing the expressive elements of light, texture, and color. 

"Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time." – Thomas Merton