Getting To Know The Bees! Eszter Szepvolgyi

16 March 2023

Tell us about where you live and work?

I live in Hungary in a small town called Szentendre. It's close to the capital, which I often visit. I work in Szentendre, in my home, which is a family house with a garden, but when I go up to the hustle and bustle of Budapest, I work in a small apartment. The variety delights me.

What inspired you to be an illustrator?

I'm happy to have such a nice job as illustrator. Sometimes it's relaxing and occasionally exciting but most importantly it's my hobby. It's hard to make a living from a hobby, but if you feel that this is your path, then you can't give up, and it will come true with luck. It's good to know that my work is still needed and appreciated. I like to constantly change and illustrate always in a different style, cause I like to show people how much I can do.

What do you do to overcome a creative block?

I usually feel the creative block when I force to get my work done, but I'm not able to do it, or when I take on too much work. In such cases, I have to act quickly so that I don't lose jobs, but It takes time to fully regain creativity. I had to learn to actually disconnect from work in the head too when I spend my free time, then anything can be relaxation. Anyway, active recreation is the best way for this, because environment change is key, to connect with people is important to get new inputs, this is what makes creativity.

How would you describe your day job to a child?

In many books, it increases the comprehensibility or the experience if pictures complement the writing in them. This makes it easier for you to imagine yourself in the book's world while you are reading it. Whatever you read about in textbooks for the first time in your life, an image should form in your head that reflects reality, illustrations can help with this. An illustrator is called to dream up these images and draw them into illustrations, so that the artworks can be included in the books.