Every illustration begins with curiosity. A whisper of a story or a secret moment in nature, and becomes a gentle tale waiting to be discovered.

My name is Tara, and I am a Dutch illustrator living and working in The Hague.

I have been drawing for as long as I can remember. As a child, I was always drawing animals, flowers and little worlds of my own. That love of drawing stayed with me as I grew older and eventually led me to study art therapy, where I became even more interested in the connection between creativity, imagination and our inner world.

I have always been drawn to animals. Not simply because they are beautiful or charming, but because of the way they move through the world. Curious, playful, open and completely themselves. When I draw them, I feel as though I am stepping briefly into their world. A world that feels curious, open and wonderfully alive.

As a child, I loved picture books where animals seemed to have lives of their own. They had little homes, daily routines, friends to visit and important errands to attend to. I could spend hours imagining what they might be doing when the book was closed.

That idea has stayed with me and might be the biggest driving force behind my illustrations. I love imagining that every little creature has a world of its own. Full of places to go, things to discover and stories that continue even when we aren't looking.