Anja Wind, born in the city of Zwolle, and raised in the city of Groningen, both in the Netherlands, has developed into an self-taught ‘versatile artist’. Her fantasy puppets and -marionets are generally well-known due to various exhibits across the country, and she became internationally renowned with her painted eggs and boxes.



Anja: “In 1997 a new and always latent passion emerged. The invitation of a friend to come along to a dollhouse convention made my heart pound faster.



“I started out with a small room to find out whether I would enjoy it as much as I assumed, and thus a long-cherished wish came true. Small items I already owned, bought at flea markets, and self created items were converted into three rooms.



“Next, I started to transform two old foot stoves into a world of their own. In 1998 my son found a storage with two chambers in the garbage; someone had once started it with great enthusiasm and abandoned it.



One year later he found another mansion, again in the street. Both needed a thorough renovation and refurbishing. In between, flea markets yielded a red and blue toy shop and an egg cabinet.

I always enjoyed giving items a second life. And with lots of pleasure and effort I worked at these in different stages. From the very start I stuck to the scale 1:12, to make sure that all items would match.



From the end of 2010 my beautiful bridal shop and studio has found its place on a sideboard in my living room and it is a delight to look at it, especially in the evening when the lamps are on. I could write long stories about it but I prefer to let the pictures and the small details in them speak for themselves. I would likw to thank my son who designed this beautiful book and presented it to me for my 69th birthday. Thus, another of my wishes was fulfilled: a book about my dollhouses”.