Katrin Wiehle is best known for writing and illustrating children’s books. Born in a tiny village in the North of Germany in an old farm house surrounded by sheep, horses, and chickens, her current lifestyle couldn’t be any more different.
Based in Atlanta, GA, where she shares a home with her husband, child, and two cats, Wiehle has worked as a freelance illustrator for almost a decade now. She’s also a founding member of Paper Ghost Studio, a small illustration studio and gallery space in Candler Park, Atlanta, where she has been organizing art shows for the last two years.
“Even though Atlanta did seem alien to me in the beginning, I have grown to love it and am very thankful for all the creative people that I have met and become friends with,” she told Lake. “I still travel back to Germany as much as I can, so I can spend time with my family and friends and get my fill of the German breakfast and riding the train around Europe.”
Indeed, her work is very much inspired by her travels around the world. “I have a sketchbook in my bag that I take everywhere I go,” she notes. “I draw on flights, while sitting around at craft shows or at coffee shops. It relaxes my brain and reminds me why I like to draw. Drawing for jobs can get stressful, but drawing just for myself never does.”
With almost 10 books under her belt, as well as 125k followers on Instagram, Wiehle is clearly doing what she was destined to do. “I have always been drawing and ‘creating’ things and never really wanted to do anything else,” she admits. “I think I would be completely terrible at an office job.”
