KAREN WULLINGS

Karen Wullings studied at the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague (KABK). After that, she started working as an independent artist and as an illustrator/graphic designer at an advertising agency in Reeuwijk. While living in the Green Heart of the Netherlands (Haastrecht), she spent years mainly painting life-sized canvases featuring cow portraits.

After the birth of their daughter Lenthe (in 2007), she moved to Zeeland (Scharendijke), where she began creating smaller illustrations for birth announcement cards and children’s books. This is also how Ogeltje was ‘born’. To this day, she still creates illustrations for birth announcement cards. She has an extensive collection on her website www.ogeltje.nl.

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Gein Konijn is one of these creations and part of Ogeltje.

In 2017, a childhood friend, Kiki Borghstijn-Swinkels, got in touch and asked Karen to create a series of illustrations for plates. After a successful first series featuring fish, Bordy’s (plates with a story) became a reality. Many new series followed, including chickens, birds, rabbits, wildlife, butterflies, flowers, and the well-known Bordy’s fish.

Bordy’s has grown into a unique brand, with Karen creating all the illustrations and Kiki writing the stories. In this way, Bordy’s brings delightful stories to the dinner table.

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In addition to Ogeltje and Bordy’s, Karen co-founded the unique fashion brand Désjà Vu (Art to Wear) with Wendy Bruin in 2021. Here, all of Karen’s illustrations can be found on luxurious silk scarves. It is a unique concept where fashion and art are combined. Besides the beautiful scarves, Karen also designs bags and jewelry for Désjà Vu.

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Karen still lives in the beautiful province of Zeeland, where she also has her studio.