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If anything the vikings were artists. They had an eye for beautiful handcrafted things. When I am not creating I enjoy reenacting a time period that was closer to nature and in the modern age it is rare to slow down, sit down around a campfire and make something. This is what I need as an artist and it's what inspires me along with my love for horses. This page is dedicated to projects I am exploring when I manage to slow down time.

totem

sculptures inspired by horses

My TOTEMS create a point in the spacetime continuum where humanity collides with horsekind. A moment where we focus our thoughts, breath and our feelings to find ourselves not human, not horse, but connected.

Hollandse Manege Dutch Equine Art Fair
runehorses

runehorses

card deck based on the runes

I am working on a deck of cards based on Anglo Saxon runes brought to England around the 5th century by Anglo Frisians. Giving meaning to the writing staves so they can be used for divination and pondering lives questions.

artist statement

My name is Signe. I create illustrations and artworks where myth, history, and folklore intertwine. I am the visual storyteller of the unseen and the half-forgotten.

 

My work shows a quiet, suspended moment: inviting the viewer to linger, to find their own story, and to let their imagination wander wild and free.

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Again and again I return to the land and stories of Northern Europe for inspiration. Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon folklore is my foundation, the building blocks for my work. These stark and untamed regions hold a profound and wild ancient magic. That duality—stillness and intensity existing side by side—runs through everything I create.

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My visual language is found in moments of transition, where nothing is fixed or fully defined. I am most drawn to the liminal spaces like twilight and dusk where light and dark, life and death, human and nature dissolve into one another. Horses move through this realm as my guides and companions, they know how to navigate life by being in the moment.

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Whether I’m illustrating picture books or developing my own body of work, I seek to create images that leave space for interpretation, for storytelling, for the viewer to step inside and explore.

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viking warrior female with shield and sword saex

Signe of Horses | Signe-Sanne Oortgijsen

Illustrator, viking, and horse lover

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oubliettes

oubliettes

tiny paintings of cavehorses

Feral ponies captured in caves and holes I create with spun cotton and paper. These are tactile works of art for even the smallest homes.  Oubliette is French for an underground dungeon. The literal meaning of the word is a forgotten place.

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unboxing

artworks 

 I have a hard time throwing away boxes, especially the nice ones. They intrigue me. They can go from a three dimensional item that can contain a plethora of items to a flat surface that holds no secrets.  See all the artworks that contain this theme.

EXHIBITIONS & EVENTS

upcoming

2026
markets

MEI:

6

Streekmarkt Suteltun

Burum

24 & 25

Paard & Erfgoed
Frederiksoord

JUNI:

6 & 7

Zomerfolk
Stadspark Groningen​

14

Kunstmarkt Fraeylemaborg
Slochteren

27 & 28 

Fable & Fantasy
Emmen

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2026
exhibitions

MAART-JUNI

Bibiliotheek Dokkum

MEI-JULI

opening 9 mei 15:00- 17:00

Solte Campe Zoutkamp

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previous activities

2026

2025

Frodi and the Forgotten Yule Lad
illustrations for this book produced by IamGlytja

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Kunst aan Huis route

exhibiting an overview of my work in a stunning old barn.
Wobma Zathe, Anjum, the Netherlands

 

Paard Verzameld 

Masterclass on storytelling for art professionals 

Online

de "Brieven van Tante Thee"doos

published through crowfunding via Voordekunst.nl​

2024

The Dutch Equine Art Fair |
international equine art exhibition

Hollandsche Manege Amsterdam, the Netherlands

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Van Muze tot Meesterwerk | 

international equine art exhibition

De Paardenkamp Soest, the Netherlands

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Kunstwinkel Ogenblik |

local artstore 

Leeuwarden, the Netherlands

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2023

Love at First Sight | 

exhibition at FEI World Championships by Horse Museum

Rome, Italy

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Nobel |

international equine art exhibition 

De Paardenkamp Soest, the Netherlands

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First Dutch Equine Art Fair |

international art exhibition

Hollandsche Manege Amsterdam, the Netherlands

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