Mira Schönegge Illustrator from Berlin, Germany
Mira Schönegge loves words, colors and clay. Her creative expression encompasses different materials, storytelling and music. Creative writing and the staging of stories has been a passion of her since she was a child.
As an illustrator she combines both analog and digital methods, searching for the best forms of representation around the subjects of feminism, social justice, and love outside of social norms. As a coach for discrimination awareness, she has been teaching workshops on these topics for many years. She studied art education and linguistics in Frankfurt, Germany and she loves working in education by teaching yoga and pottery classes for children.
Mira speaks several languages fluently and believes that all languages are really a free magic potion with great healing powers. Starting in 2017 she spent two years travelling around Europe, Marrocco and Nicaragua as a single Mom, with her Baby and her backpack. Afterwards she drove down the Atlantic coast from Sweden to Spain, in a small red van – her snail shell on wheels. Her debut picture book which was published in 2024 includes many puzzle pieces from these travels.
Right now, her desk sits in front of a large window, several stories up, through which you can see a lot of sky and a small section of Berlin.
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What brought you to the arts?
I have actually never really asked myself that question. I think it just does me good to process the world around me through creative means and I hope I will always do so. I remember a lot of coloured pencils and paper form my childhood, while audiobooks took me on journeys of the imagination. A little later, when I was at school, I got involved with theatre and musical projects. My friends and I used to come up with stories together and produce our own movies and audiobooks. Also writing songs as well as learning new instruments and languages always inspired and motivated me. Looking back, I can say that a throughline of my creative work has been different types of storytelling. Reading picture books out loud most evenings brought me back to coloured pencils and got me started working on my first picture book idea.
How did you come to take part in Cornelia’s Artists in Residence Program?
I approached Cornelia during an interview that a friend of mine was shooting with her for the German television channel ARTE. Because I had worked for the production company in the past, I helped with set up and set decoration, which was actually quite funny: because I was carrying a stuffed hare that had been used as decoration for the interview space (nobody really knows why :) around the fair. I had just signed the contract for my picture book debut and when I told Cornelia about this she invited me to Fraggina.
ow did you like your time at Volterra? Did you find inspiration?
Fraggina is a beautiful place and visiting Cornelia there was a great honor for me. The view of the gorgeous landscape with the cypress trees and the olive groves all around, and the small communal kitchen make for such a cozy setting. It’s easy to dream, work and have conversations with other artists.
What did you take back with you?
Many thoughts and beautiful encounters. The conversations with Cornelia were very special to me and I probably brought things back from them that I don’t even understand yet ;) Also some found treasures from the surrounding nature and magical memories of a walk through Volterra with the view of the many, small, winding tiled roofs in the evening sunshine.
