KAATJE VERMEIRE'S BIOGRAPHY
After completing high school Kaatje Vermeire studied Graphic Design and Advertising at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent, Belgium. She fell in love with illustration and experiment and furthered her study in Graphic Arts, where she discovered the endless capabilities of graphics printing, including woodcuts and etchings.
The book De Vrouw en het Jongetje (The Woman and the Boy) (2007) for publishing house De Eenhoorn was her first major illustrative contract. In 2008 she received two awards: a Boekenpluim ('Book Plume') (Belgium) and a White Raven (Bologna, Italy). De Vrouw en het Jongetje has since been published in several languages. Her second major project was to illustrate the picture book Mannetje en Vrouwtje krijgen een Kind (Man and woman are having a baby), written by Brigitte Minne.
Kaatje was also a guest blogger for Villa Kakelbont, which resulted in the story De V-vlucht van Otar (Otar's V-Flight). This picture book, both written and illustrated by Kaatje, has now been translated into Spanish and published by Barbara Fiore as El Vuelo en V de Otar.
Mare en de dingen (Maia and What Matters), written by Belgian author Tine Mortier, is Kaatje’s third picture book and won the Grand Prize at the Picturale Competition in Ronse in 2010. This book has now been translated in more then a dozen languages.
Kaatje has already sold the Taiwanese rights to her fourth picture book, De vraag van Olifant (Elephant's Question), which is a universal love story. For her latest picture book, Japie de Stapelaar (Jack the Stacker), Kaatje worked with the Dutch author Bas Rompa and together they created a compelling tale about looking far and release.
In the meantime all titles have been translated into Chinese.
Kaatje’s studio is a ‘well-ordered’ paper dump. She creates unusual and striking images from a combination of collage, paint, drawing and graphic techniques. With the help of these selected materials, Kaatje consistently produces beautiful illustrations that provide an extra layer to the text.
