Miss Bean

Sensational surrealist Marie Levesque (Miss Bean) hails from the city of romance, Paris. “I live down a very little street, and the size of my apartment in square meters is the same as my age in years - but my apartment isn’t getting any bigger,” she says.

Marie actually studied architecture for years before dropping out to pursue her life in design. She’s now aiming to take the world of children’s books by storm (“but it is difficult finding a publisher”).

She finds inspiration in the street life around her. “I observe people and study their behaviour. Then I caricature, a little, these situations to come up with ideas.”

Her heroes include such giants of whimsy as children’s author Roald Dahl, opulent auteur Tim Burton and epic animator Hayao Miyazaki.

After a hard day’s sketching, Marie likes to meet up with friends at L’autre café, and enjoy some traditional French cuisine.