Esther van den Brink

NO TIME!

Esther van den Brink

Looking at the world through a child’s eyes: that is what Esther van den Brink tries to do in her stories. In the story No time!, al little girl tries to escape the grasp of the clock. She crawls through a hole in the hedge, in search of a place where time does not exist.

In her little life, time is already a dominating factor. Repeatedly, all the fun things she does need to stop because “it’s time”. It’s why she has to stop eating, stop playing hide and seek, stop drawing, stop swimming, and so on. When she finds a place where time does not rule everything, she discovers that a clock can also be convenient at times!

JURY REPORT Esther van den Brink’s protagonist is a small girl. In her drawings, the girl is literally small, and the exciting scenery dominates: a gap in the hedgerow, a forest with tall trees, or a mysterious tangle of rope. Each time, the author lets her protagonist look forward in time, and the

Ever since she was a little girl, ESTHER VAN DEN BRINK had only one dream: to become an illustrator of children’s books. When she applied to the Academy of Arts in Maastricht, they advised her to choose the painting department so that she would get a proper drawing and painting education. After graduating she worked as an artist for several years, painting large works in oil or acrylic. After becoming a mother she also started illustrating again, after reading to her 3 children and loving all those great picture books rekindled the old flame!

She uses ink, watercolour pencils and watercolour for her work, and a little digital help to optimise her illustrations. Esther works and lives in the beautiful city of Maastricht. www.brinkpics.nl

reader looks along with her, in search of ‘a place where time does not exist’. The protagonist displays a different mood on each of the pictures, but always with an inquisitive attitude. Esther is very accomplished at depicting a young child, even if we don’t see her face but must do with a view from behind.