Art, craft, and creativity enthusiasts can rejoice in Halsteren this summer. For two weekends, five artists will be jointly opening their doors for an inspiring exhibition in the atmospheric sculpture garden and studio of artist Paula Withagen.

From exquisite jewellery and ceramics to felted wool, nature art and expressive sculptures: this exhibition showcases how versatile art can be when craftsmanship, passion and imagination come together.

The participating artists are:

• Ingrid van der Meer Jewellery
• Anja Barendrecht Nature art
• Anneke Gruteke – Ceramics
• ’The Ceciliahof dry felting
• Paula Withagen – images and paintings

Each artist brings their own style, choice of materials, and narrative. It is precisely this combination that ensures a surprising and varied exhibition in which visitors discover something new each time.

As well as the art itself, the venue is also an important part of the experience. The exhibition is being held in Paula Withagen’s garden and studio in Halsteren — an inspiring setting where art and nature come together in a unique way.

Dates and opening hours

The exhibition can be visited over two weekends:

• Friday 10 July to Sunday 12 July 2026
• Friday 17 July to Sunday 19 July 2026

Daily from 11.00 to 18.00

Official opening

On Saturday 11 July at 3.00 pm, the exhibition will be officially opened by Cees Meijer, Chairman of BAS Bergen op Zoom.

Location

Paula Withagen's Garden and Workshop
Daansbergen 48
4661 RG Halsteren

Anyone looking for an inspiring outing in the Bergen op Zoom region will find a perfect combination of art, atmosphere and relaxation here. A great opportunity to discover local talent and chat with the artists themselves.

Extra special: Paula Withagen's sculpture garden is open to visitors all year round.

Highly recommended for anyone who loves art with character.

Getting to know the artists better:

Marie-Cécile de Munck.

Marie-Cécile creates wearable art, mostly using wool from her own Drenthe Heath sheep. Her soft, hand-felted scarves and collars form an expressive signature style within her work – sometimes vibrantly colourful, at other times understated and natural.
She also designs and makes (acoustic) wall panels and objects in which wool and space reinforce each other.
In the studio at her monumental farm ’t Ceciliahof, she creates her wool art and also provides workshops in wool processing and felt art. Nature often provides her with inspiration for the images, e.g. animals and flowers.

Anja Barendrecht.

Nature and art come together in Anja's nature images and nature sculptures. For years, Anja has worked with natural elements and pure natural treasures that come her way. This results in her nature creations, with their simplicity, purity, and sometimes raw beauty. Rusted metal or other used material serves as a base where necessary. ‘We are nature’ has been Anja's core philosophy for years. Her working method is more about seeing, listening, and following than about conceiving and making. It expresses the interconnectedness between her own nature and the life around her. The nature creations are often pure and untreated, and can remain part of garden life.

Ingrid van der Meer.

I moved to the United States in 1999 on a work visa. There, I enrolled at the art academy in Houston, Texas.

In my first year, I primarily took drawing and painting classes. This was soon followed by goldsmithing classes, enamelling training, glass fusing, welding, metal fold forming, and many other creative workshops in various fields. Instead of the planned 3 years, the assignment lasted nearly 12 years, and I by then felt like a fish in water at the Glassell School of Arts, where I attended my courses at least 2 days a week. It was also there that I began selling my creations at various art markets and exhibitions. 

Once back in the Netherlands, the creative process simply continued, and I found a house with a studio space. Ever since, there's been no holding back my creative thoughts, and I'm always trying out new techniques or combining old ones to create something new. I became secretary of the Association of Dutch Enamellers and joined various art groups in the Netherlands, and I'm still a member of some art organisations in the USA.

For those who also wish to learn the trade, I occasionally give workshops because I believe that all the knowledge I have gained over the years should not be lost.

www.DoubleEyeDesign.com

Anneke Gruteke-van Diesen.

Nature often provides Anneke with inspiration for her images, e.g. animals and flowers. 
In 1998, she started taking courses at a creative centre; after a short while, she purchased her own electric and Raku kiln. Besides experimenting herself, she also followed workshops in Raku and copper mat firing.

By using different types of clay and the way of finishing and processing,
like hand-formed shapes, but also slabs of clay or ball shapes to use as
origin, giving rise to all sorts of animal figures, birds, cows, sheep and more.

Also by combining ceramics with other materials, such as copper,
Aluminium, wood and/or wrought iron create a very own and unique image.

Paula Withagen.

From the rough stone, Paula searches for the inherent content. In doing so, she attempts to find a harmonising form between the stone and the final result. She almost always carves human figures, mostly in a social context, with connection often playing a key role. 

With the individual figures, she is mainly looking for posture and emotion. Sometimes these figures move on the edge of tension, other times they appear frozen in their posture. Finally, the unity of “Image and Pedestal” is fundamental to her.

As in the images, human figures can be discovered in her paintings. Thus, one could speak of a sculpted painting. There is often a social context within, as if the figures are in dialogue with each other.