Johanna Pieterman

Born on April 22, 1966 in the Netherlands, with parents who constantly travelled, Johanna's perception of life was truly influenced by seeing new things around her all the time. As a young child pencils were more important than dolls, which resulted in the natural choice to go on many art classes and eventually study graphic design. By then Johanna took on portrait and other commissions, and this continued to evolve until later she decided to make a full career out of art. She first worked in black and white with ink and graphite and in colour with acrylic paints. After deciding to create some more detailed work her eyes fell on her first box of coloured pencils given to her by her parents as a young girl. That box was by Staedtler and the quality was not really that satisfactory. The experiments went on, and resulted in buying artists pencils by Conte à Paris and Derwent, which gave Johanna the feeling that for the first time here was a medium which enabled her to create the fantasy work she desired in her own style.

Her first solo exhibition in Antwerp Belgium, was in 1990, where her coloured pencilsfantasy drawings were received with great enthusiasm. This convinced her to continue with coloured pencils, and she then bought the artist quality pencils from Bruynzeel, a Dutch brand. Years later Bruynzeel contacted Johanna and now sponsors her efforts with lots of free material,
which she also uses during the many drawing classes, and coloured pencil workshops, which Johanna now gives in both Belgium and the Netherlands at an arts institute.

Johanna's own work mainly focuses on the relationship between man and animal, inspired by myth and spirituality. However, recently the bulk of her work consists of portrait commissions, all executed with coloured pencils. Her clients range from ex-Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore to a French Countess, from American businessmen to housewives...

Coloured pencils have given Johanna a career and future in art, so she feels very strongly about them…. Early on she was asked: "The coloured pencil drawings are nice, but when are you going to do the REAL work?" Her response was typical Taurus, a very stubborn: "Never!" And she has never regretted that answer!

Contact Details:

Johanna Pieterman
Orcadia Design Studio
Newbigging
Sanday, Orkney
KW17 2AY
Tel: 01857 600358
E-mail: orcadia[at]email.com
Website Address : http://www.johannas-art.com

For website design and maintenance, please visit Johanna's design site: