Jeroen Janssen, Belgium

At kindergarten I appeared to be no good for much except drawing. I studied graphic arts at Sint-Lucas in Ghent, and later taught in the art school in Nyundo, Rwanda. I publish graphic novels and short stories, and work for magazines, such as Zone 5300 (NL), Mo* (B) and XXI (F). I am currently working on a graphic novel, Abadaringi, about the art school in Rwanda where I taught. It is about the people of the art school I knew before the genocide, those I met again after it, and the new students and teachers. My drawing below shows a sketch lesson in the beautiful school garden being taught by a young teacher called Anaïs.

One day I was asked by the magazine XXI to make a 30-page graphic report about Flanders, where I come from, and found a theme in the village of Doel, which is threatened by demolition for the expansion of the port of Antwerp. I went there and interviewed many people and made many sketches. After I'd finished I realised that the sketches made on the spot pleased me much more than the artwork I made in my studio, so I returned and made a 300-page album that consisted mostly of sketches made on location. Since then I have only wanted to publish stories made with sketches I made on location. I discovered the poetry of ordinary little things, which one would not remark on or think about when working from the imagination or in the studio. It is often in these ordinary details that you see the truth. As Patrick de Saint-Exupéry, the editor in chief of XXI, told me: Dessinez moi l’océan en dessinant un goutte d’eau (Draw me the ocean by drawing a drop of water). More of Jeroen's work can be seen on his website and Facebook page.