Katja Gerischer Illustrator from Berlin, Germany

When I was a child, I loved to draw, paint and craft. Even today there are stacks of boxes filled with ‘books’ that my brother and I filled with stories and pictures when we were kids. When I was in fifth grade, the first ‘how to draw manga’ videos expanded my small horizon, and when my resulting ‘masterpieces’ received positive feedback from other students, it finally awoke the desire in me to further build and develop my drawing skills. It was a long way, but it finally turned into something.

Through a 2022 collaboration with the Troisdorfer Picture Book Museum, a few of the students at the University got the chance to participate in an exhibition called ‘classics re-told’ and I had the opportunity to show my work illustrating Goethe’s Erlking. Immediately after this, Cornelia had an exhibition of the illustrators from her artists in residency program at the same museum and so became aware of our program. She wanted to work with the University, and I had the incredible fortune of being one of the five students they selected to participate.

The time at Cornelia’s was a dream come true! You immediately feel at home at Fraggina and life there becomes a familiar routine right away. The beautiful surroundings and the easy-going atmosphere are unbelievably relaxing and inspire creativity. But probably the most valuable thing was the exchange with all the other creative souls we were able to meet there, and of course with Cornelia herself.

Thanks to Cornelia’s great input and everything I learned from the other guests, I took home ideas for new projects, useful information about the job and new contacts. But most importantly I took back a lot of motivation for creative work, as well as new found trust in being on the right path in the first place.