“I like to express myself through painting, such as oil, acrylic and watercolours. I find a welcome challenge in trying new techniques such as charcoal, felt-tip pens, crayon, pastels and oil and fabric printing,” Bente says. She’s also deeply interested in ceramics, and in particular the ancient art of raku, a Japanese ceramics technique. “In ceramics, especially raku, there are unimaginable possibilities that stimulate my creativity,” she says.

“I think the fact that I’ve always tried out different techniques has contributed to a diversity within my artistic life,” Bente tells Localfolk. “This was expressed especially well in my exhibition at the Røros Museum in 2011/2012, where I exhibited watercolours, oil paintings, acrylic paintings, fabric prints, raku ceramics and a macro photo of raku ceramics on anodised aluminum plates. In connection with the exhibition, an art book was also published with pictures and texts in ceramics, paintings and watercolour.”

She has a dynamic process for creating her different pieces depending on the medium. “When it comes to paintings, the creative process usually starts with a blank sheet or canvas. The colours are important and often determine the motif. It can be intuitive, an idea or something I’ve seen, recently experienced or if I find myself in a certain mood because of music or nature,” Bente says. “My watercolour on rice paper pieces are like a story — a vision of a people and another world”.

While her work in painting can be spontaneous and fluid, Bente’s work in ceramics requires much more planning.“ As a ceramicist, I spend a lot of time planning, testing and trying out different materials with clay. I like to start with sketching first, before I draw shapes, cast plaster molds in cast sand, which become basic shapes for further modeling,” she says.

Bente’s process of creating ceramics is time-consuming and challenging. When things are removed from the oven, everything needs to happen quickly — and the risk of breakage is great. “What I find most inspiring about the raku technique is the unpredictable, the raw, the challenging burning process itself,” she says.

“The whole process of this technique is so exciting and gives me so many great experiences,” Bente says. “It’s a time consuming process, and many months of work goes into it. The burning process is tiring and quite dangerous due to the gas, smoke and chemicals used”. This is why she only holds one burning per year.

Bente is a versatile artist who draws inspiration from a wide range of sources. “Everything inspires me — especially nature, light, moods, music, colours, words, books, movies, unusual people, any kind of performance from ballet to concerts, artists and art exhibitions,” Bente says.

She believes artists and art play an important role in our society. “I think artists have a big impact in society. Through their art, they can convey so much,” Bente says.