WHY I DO WHAT I DO?

There is such a thin line between artforms: one leads to another, like puppetry lead me to animation, animation to illustration etc. The key is curiosity and open-mindedness, I believe. Being a “beginner” in a new field gives me power, because I don’t feel the pressure to be perfect: as a beginner you don’t have to, nobody expects it. That’s why I try out different things and then deepen my knowledge. I try to find as many doors as possible to enter, to work with wonderful people, to find inspiration from different places.

Nature, ancient Greek literature, folk tales guided me to explore the world of symbols and archetypes, to understand them. I listen to music, I read a lot of essays, and then I start drawing in my room or in a nice quite place outside. I imagine these long-forgotten characters: how would they look in our age? What do they represent today?

Children I teach inspire me to draw the world, but not exactly the way I see it, instead looking through their eyes. Thinking about children’s behavior, their sayings, their funny way of expressing themselves really helps me when I illustrate books for them.