Am I the only illustrator who didn’t go to Bologna?
It’s still on my wishlist, though. One day 🙂

Instead, I unexpectedly traveled to Belgium for a friend’s funeral and stayed for a few weeks so I could catch up with friends, visit museums, and eat some good food.

Oh, and some warmer weather! I probably packed a bit too optimistically considering the windy April weather, but it still felt like traveling forward in time. When we left Sweden, there was still snow on the way, while Belgium had already entered spring.

My sketches are a mix of very early spring in Sweden in March (aka vårvinter when you get a hint in spring but the weather is what other places on the planet would label as winter), and then some bits of Belgium.

Museums/exhibitions I visited:
– “Kladwerk” by Charlotte Peys
– Picturale 2026 in Ronse
– Hergé museum
– A red that sings (zingend rood) at the KMSK in Antwerp
– Embroidery from Palestine + the Antwerp Six at the MoMu in Antwerp (modemuseum/fashion museum)

– Back in Stockholm, I also visited Moderna Museet for the exhibitions of Brassaï and “Ännu en morgon” a collection of drawings.

“Kladwerk” | Charlotte Peys | Meerhout, Belgium

Hergé Museum | Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

Picturale | Ronse

Zingend rood | Antwerp, Belgium

Embroidery of Palestine | MoMu Antwerp, Belgium

Antwerp Six | MoMu | Antwerp, Belgium

Moderna Museet | Stockholm, Sweden

In the category of circular happiness: a pile of books from second-hand shops (and a few from my brother).
If you can’t read Dutch, it might just look like a tower of old books, but there is more to it.
Where to start…?
Decades ago I fell in love with the illustrations of some books my brother had. I loved reading anything and everything, but coming from a school run by nuns, I never realised how much that had limited my choices. My brother, on the other hand, never liked reading, but as we switched to a school where there was actual life allowed in kids, he got access to all kinds of fun books that I was never allowed to read. By that time, I have to admit, I felt too old for magic eggs, talking crocodiles, or foxes with clothes on.

But the illustrations! They inspired me enough to draw more, join drawing classes, and later attend art school.
This illustrator, Jan Bosschaert, didn’t only draw children’s books, he also made stunning covers for young adult books, comic books, and paintings (mostly nudes). A few years ago, Jan retired (but luckily he’s still making art), and I finally got his ‘best of’ book- which is fantastic, but it didn’t include as many book covers as I wished it had.
But when talking to Jan about a tree house (yes, that sounds oddly random, but it isn’t), he mentioned Marc de Bel- the author of the books my brother loved so much.
So I thought, when I’m in Belgium, I can check if I find some of those old books. For the pictures, I thought, but soon I started reading them- that’s what books are for, right? I was hoping that the pile would last the whole summer but who was I kidding. Every time I start a book, I just keep reading until it’s finished.
(I will probably not read “Het monster van Frankenzwein” because I saw a dog dies in that story.)

Still on my wishlist:
– Vanilla P (first cover)
– Blinker en de bakfietsbioscoop (I could only find that one with the cover of another artist, which I don’t like as much)
– (S)toverij met frieten 3-4
– De fautenkampioene
– Blauwe snoepjes
– De knetterkwabmachine
But I’ll probably read anything I can get 🙂

While I feel like I missed out on some fun as a child, perhaps it’s especially nice to (re)discover these stories now. Maybe now is even a better time. The world is fast, chaotic, and technology is everywhere. The news is a shitshow of old psycho men trying to destroy the world. People are fighting about whether or not to save a whale. By now the digital space is no longer a place to connect or relax, but one to escape.
I find these books a joyful antidote. I’m giggling and laughing out loud- what book for adults ever does that?

Some other random treasures from the 1EUR box at my favourite comic book shop- 2 of them I picked up just got for the colour palettes and lines, but I did read them.

And now I’m back at the studio 🙂