BREAKING NEWS During the election of the Dutch and Belgian Institute of Doll Artists, DABIDA, on the 5th of April 2009, I was awarded first prize for my sculpture The Guardian. I am enourmously proud to have been chosen as the winner by members of DABIDA. The very first winner ever in DABIDA history!! Click on the banner if you want to know and see more. Hallo, I appreciate you taking the time to visit my web site. I hope you like my work and enjoy the pictures. My name is Mariska Mielen-Gruijters and most of my life I have lived and worked in Eindhoven (Holland). About a year ago my husband Sam and I moved to a little village near Valencia (Spain) and I am able to work in my home studio in sunny Spain. When I was 16 my parents encouraged me to take ceramic classes. From then on I was totally hooked on creating figurative sculptures. Eventually self-hardening clay and polymer clay replaced the ceramic clay, but my passion for figurines never changed. It is impossible to label my art one way or another. I create fantasy figures, realistic looking newborn babies, dolls with specific characteristics, and sculptures. In other words, I like many challenges and do not want to be "boxed in" into a single style. One thing my creations have in common is that they are sparsely clothed or have no clothes at all! The body can be admired in its full glory as nature intended it to be. There is no higher beauty in this world than the human body in all its aspects! My figurines are all hand crafted, without the use of molds. Over the years I have received several prizes and nominations and my creations have found new owners around the world. If you are interested or if you have an idea of what you'd like to have created for you, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you for your interest and have a great day, love Mariska