Margriet van der Berg

AVA

Margriet van der Berg

What to do when the people you love don’t treat you well? Where to hide when life gets confusing and obscure?

This is a story about Ava, a little girl with a strong imagination. She loves to draw and she enjoys nature. Unfortunately, her father

is a dominant and manipulative person, often showing transgressive behaviour. One day, Ava ends up in her self-created fantasy. A forest, where at first everything seems quiet and safe. But not for long. Will she be able to escape from this nightmare?

MARGRIET VAN DER BERG

is an illustrator living in Amersfoort. After graduating as a textile designer, she spent several years working in the interior design sector. After one more year of art school at Artez in Arnhem, she started her own label: IsaBella Illustrations. Her main business is designing artwork for postcards and fabrics. Inspired by fairy tales, nature and childhood, Margriet loves to make atmospheric watercolour artworks with dreamy moods – very suitable for illustrating children’s books, which is a long-cherished dream. www.isabella-illustrations.nl

JURY REPORT The jury quickly agreed that Margriet van der Berg makes powerful and beautiful illustrations. Each watercolour presents a new atmospheric image that perfectly fits the passage in the story. Whether they show the girl dreamily looking at the swallows, or searching the forest, or crawling away beneath the ground, the environment and character are rendered persuasively each time. Her watercolours support an original and dramatic story in which a girl ends up in her own fantasy drawings. Strong work.