For Armidale’s Antonia Feitz, the latest illustrator workshops in town posed a unique attraction, allowing her to finally meet the man who illustrated the picture book that she wrote over two decades ago.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Kevin Burgemeestre illustrated Ms Feitz’ now out of print children’s book Mr Lively’s Lighthouse, released in 1988, but the two had never met until earlier this week.
Mr Burgemeestre is the latest visiting artist in the Creative Communities in Children’s and Young Adult Literature program being co-ordinated by UNE’s Elizabeth Hale and has been running workshops at the New England Regional Art Museum (NERAM) as part of his residency.
Ms Feitz said she was surprised and
excited by the opportunity to meet Mr Burgemeestre after all these years.
“When I saw his name I thought, ‘oh, I’d love to meet him’, so I asked Elizabeth (Hale) could I come to the workshop,” Ms Feitz said.
“I’m not an artist, as Kevin knows, but we did the workshop and it was great fun.”
Mr Burgemeestre said the residency marked his first trip to Armidale and he thought it was a gorgeous place.
“It’s got everything - geographically, the arts scene here is a knockout, the university’s terrific,” he said.
“I ride back and forth to the uni on a pushbike so that’s been beautiful, going along the wetlands and things.
“NERAM’s been a really good host, they’ve made sure that they did everything they could to make us feel at home here and I think it’s a lovely place for the kids to come too, because it gets them closer to the work in the gallery as well.”
