Bibi Zwetsloot grew up in an environment where it was always encouraged to question the status quo. And she has always felt good doing what she thought right even if it was different from what a majority of people were doing.
In 2006 she finished her post graduate studies of Applied Creativity and Concept Development at Hallo Academy. This is where she was inspired by the motto: “Everything is an opportunity”. And it has become a part of her mode of being ever since.
She has worked in a wide range of art techniques. Impressionistic painting, screen printing, linoleum cuts, costume design, animation, installation, furniture design and much more.
She loves to see possibilities for clever, playful and elegant solutions. Sometimes this results in putting a bathtub in the living room or making a bicycle trailer out of old cardboard boxes. She loves recycling and up-cycling materials. She knew she found one of her passions when she studied Interior Design, and graduated Cum Laude.
Her mission is to make the re-use of discarded materials broadly accepted and appreciated.
She loves to co-create with her kids, partner and friends. This has manifested in the creation of Woodpecker & Bee, and Interactive Art installation named 'Affirmatree' made for the Burning Man event 'Nowhere' in Northern Spain.
The experience is a big part of the artwork that is our lives.
Joshua Waggy grew up in a family of farmers, carpenters and artists. From the farmers, he learned repair and reuse. From the carpenters, he learned the use of tools and understanding of materials. From the artists he learned that creativity can be applied to any endeavour.
Although he is not a farmer, Joshua is now a carpenter and artist himself.
In 2007 he met Bibi through the Burning Man Festival, moved to Amsterdam where together they started a family and an art and carpentry business Woodpecker & Bee.
As an artist he has worked on large art pieces for regional Burning Man events in Europe which create a space where participants can have special experiences. He also paints, draws and writes.
As a carpenter he has worked on building ecological houses, straw-bale houses, pre-fabricated houses, renovations of homes and businesses, custom furniture, built-in furniture, cabinets and closets, kitchens, displays for shops and exhibitions, flooring, staircases, and much more.
His motivation is the joy of creating beautiful things. His mission in art is to bring new ideas and experiences and in carpentry to work with his clients in accordance with their specific wishes, finding clever solutions to problems (there's always a way). He pays tribute to the farmers in his family by recycling and up-cycling, and doing it all in the most ecological and economic way possible.