Since the age of ten Silke Meyer had wanted to become a children’s book illustrator and after a detour of a couple of years studying chemistry she enrolled at Hamburg University of Applied Sciences for the study course of illustration. Here, she soon found herself focusing on two fields: oil painting and children’s book illustration.

In fine art oil painting she has specialized on scenic painting, going outdoors for urban landscape, street scenes, harbor views, lake, river and seascapes as well as indoors for café and restaurants scenes. Being very much interested in people she also loves doing portraits. One of her professors once characterized her paintings as “late impressionism” since she typically works with the enchanting ambience of light, even on rainy days with puddles on the streets and squares.

Her book illustrations in acrylic, colored crayon and mixed techniques also reflect a certain special atmosphere. The style is realistic, yet by unusual perspectives she tries to achieve novel views and interesting effects that not only appeal to children but also to young people and adults. She tells about eccentric, whimsical, charming characters, figures and animals.

In 2005 her illustration of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale “The red shoes” was selected as one of 25 from 1378 contributions worldwide for the Special Exhibition organized by the Bologna Children’s Book Fair on the occasion of Hans Christian Andersen’s 200th Birthday.

Both, her fine art painting and book illustration work ideally fit in for book covers, book jackets, magazine illustration, calendars, greeting cards, album covers, and annual report covers.