Where creativity finds forms
– September 23, 2025 | Text Beatriz Maio
Art has been a part of Sandra Knop’s life for as long as she can remember, and it remains a passion that continues to grow. It all began with painting.
As a teenager, the German-born artist even painted in an art gallery, an experience that marked the start of her creative journey, which would later shift to woodworking. Despite this developing interest, her professional career initially followed different paths.
Sandra first worked in the tourism sector, then spent over 10 years in Hamburg’s music industry, followed by another two years in post-production and advertising. In the midst of all this, still in her early 20s, she moved to Namibia, and her desire to pursue a more creative occupation led her to start crafting customised wooden products for different companies, restaurants, and cafés, as well as decorations for shops and signage, which made her very happy.
The inspiration for Sandra’s work came from a colleague, who crafted puzzles based on designs by an American artist, and she simply loved them.
Soon after, she began designing her own puzzles, and later got into lino printing (a relief printing technique using linoleum sheets). This expansion into different media coincided with Sandra’s move to Portugal.
She had first visited the country in the 90s, and since then, it had felt like home. Lagos, in particular, was a natural choice for her, as she had volunteered at animal shelter here in 1998. In 2016, she made the decision to officially move to Portugal and became self-employed.
Constantly developing her creative side, Sandra takes full advantage of her time to attend workshops and explore new materials when production slows in winter.
“I love exploring and working with different materials and in completely different directions,” she says, recalling the lino print workshop she did at LAC (Laboratório de Actividades Criativas) with artist Mara Taquelim, where she “immediately fell in love with the whole process”.
Her enthusiasm to learn more about the medium led her to join an engraving group at the Lagoa Art School, where she learned under the guidance of craftswoman Filipa Carvalho.
Currently, Sandra is gaining further experience at the OBS (Oficina Bartolomeu dos Santos) in Tavira, under the mentorship of Jina Nebe, an internationally recognised artist.
These creative explorations are developed simultaneously with her work with wood, which remains a vital part of her artistic expression. Sandra continues to craft wooden puzzles, a project she cherishes not only for the joy it brings but also because she believes that puzzles are the perfect toys.
“Wooden toys, which are very traditional and old school, are educational in the learning process of children. You can use every piece in open-ended play, and by creating puzzle families, it gives you a sense of family union and friendship”, she explained.
Dedication, sacrifice, hard work, self-discipline, and, of course, the support of her husband are the pillars of Sandra’s creative process, which aims to produce pieces that resonate with both children and adults alike.
Her lino prints, meanwhile, draw much of their inspiration from nature and water, elements that have always been present in Sandra’s life, having grown up near the water and spent years working as a tour guide on boats. Now, once again living by the ocean, her prints reflect this connection.
Sandra acknowledges that although the life of an artist is full of creativity, excitement, events, and constant new challenges, “it’s also tough work”. But she is always willing to embrace new adventures.
Sandra is one of the foundingmembers of the Teias Artísticas project, a local art collective. Her pieces can be found in their showroom in Lagos, at the Mercadinho de Primavera and Autumn Market in Loulé, at the Batata Doce Festival in Aljezur, and online through social media.
In Loulé, her puzzles are also available at the Collectivo28 shop, and her lino prints can be found at Livraria Centésima Página in Braga.
Sandra has also been selling her wooden puzzles in the heart of Lagos for the past nine years, from April to October, and she attends the Cacela Velha Market four times a year, where her hand-crafted puzzles and prints are sold.
Even though every single print of her unlimited editions is hand-printed and the wooden puzzles are made through a rigorous process, she tries to keep the costs as low as possible so that everyone can still afford a little piece of handmade art.
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