The rest of the year
I have had a lovely break in France and am back now to a sunny Cornwall, a pile of holiday washing and millions of emails to wade through. As part of getting my brain back into gear and ordering my studio time here is a list of shows and events for the rest of the year.
13th September: Launch of The Star Tree at Waterstones, Truro – more details to follow soon.
20 – 23rd October: Affordable Art Fair, Battersea represented by Lighthouse Gallery, Penzance.
22nd October: Book signing event at Number 7, Dulverton. Number 7 is a delightful Aladdin’s Cave full of magical things and I can’t wait to visit them again.
12th November: “The Running of the deer” solo show at Foss Fine Art in Battersea – slightly later than previously stated but maybe better for being closer to Christmas as the theme of the work is all things Winter. Inspired by poems and traditional carols it is going to be a sumptuous celebration of all that I love about the changing of the seasons, the shortening of the days, the lighting of candles and fires.
I will also be showing original spreads from the Star Tree and the books will be available.
Star Tree review
This wonderful review at http://awfullybigreviews.blogspot.co.uk/ is by award winning author Saviour Pirotta whose Firebird I was lucky enough to illustrate in 2010.
I have to confess that I’m a bit biased when it comes to Catherine Hyde’s work. She illustrated my 2010 version of Firebird, which earned us some fantastic reviews and an Aesop Accolade in the US.
Catherine had already illustrated Carol Ann Duffy’s The Princess’ Blankets before she worked with me and she went on to team up with Jackie Morris for Evie in the Wild Wood. This, however, is the first book that she has written and illustrated herself.
Here is a dreamy, lyrical story of a girl who makes a wish on the moon. It is midnight on midsummer’s eve, a time when all wishes come true. And so starts a magical picaresque journey that will take Miranda from her warm seaside home to the frozen North where the fabulous star tree grows. She is helped on her way by magical creatures of the night: an owl, a hare, a bear, a stag and finally a silver-feathered goose. Will she find the magical star tree?
Catherine Hyde’s pictures are always mesmerising and here she employs a pontillist style to great effect, giving the book a very organic feel. It feels almost like some of the pictures formed naturally on the page, like lichen patterns on old stone or cherry blossom petals on a late-spring lawn. The text, almost a poem, is carefully crafted, inviting you to turn the page and accompany Miranda on her enchanted journey.
All in all this is a wonderful bedtime treat you would want to revisit again and again, both for the story and the enticing pictures.
Saviour Pirotta’s next book Ballet Stories for Young Children will be published by Orchard in October 2016.
Follow him on twitter @spirotta
Like him on facebook https://www.facebook.com/spirotta
Website http://www.spirotta.com
Back to Cornwall
Art in Action was amazing, joyous, exhausting and exhilarating.
The first day saw just short of 8000 visitors with spectacular numbers overall.
I’m hoping that the rumours that Art in Action will return but evolve into something quite different materialise.
Welcome to my site
Welcome to my site – I am officially here in the 21st Century thanks to technical wizz Tom Grant from “Monrodigital”. He has (remarkably patiently) advised me what works and what doesn’t and created a very beautiful site for my work that also looks wonderful on tablets and mobiles. It is great to have blog, shop, social media and latest work all in one place.
The studio photo portraits are all displayed by kind permission of Jay Armstrong Photography, Elementum Journal.
I’m still loading the shop with goodies and will be updating the blog regularly with all my news, projects and plans.
Let me know what you think of the site!
Creating “The Star Tree”
Early study of Mia and the stag
I was keen to try working in a different medium instead of acrylic when I started to rough out ideas for ” Star Tree”. The image below is a combination of pencil crayon and watercolour, which was effective but too time consuming to build up layers of atmospheric colour.
so I moved onto to watercolour – working very loose and wet which was better:
Mia is a much older child here – the final version is a much younger child in keeping with the stories lullaby feel
Again loose and watery and atmospheric, but not quite the control I needed and too dark for text over the top
The tree worked in glorious Caran d’Ache crayons
Mia’s journey home : watercolour and crayon proved not quite as luminous as I wanted so I decided to try Sennelier oil pastels.
“Art in Action” 14 – 17 July 2016
Art in Action 14 – 17 July
From the 14th – 17th July I will be at the wonderful and sadly final Art in Action at Waterperry Gardens, Oxford. I will be demonstrating drawing and painting techniques in the Illustration Tent and showing how I created my first author/illustrator book “The Star Tree” from conception to design and the marrying together of word and image.
I will be selling cards, prints, calendars, originals and most importantly of all “The Star Tree” Book!
“In 1977, 51 artists and musicians took part in the first Art in Action and 14,000 visitors arrived. Today Art in Action welcomes approximately 25,000 people over four days. Visitors come to learn, buy and enjoy the exhibitions, classes and performances. This July up to 400 artists, crafters, performers and musicians will gather together in Waterperry Gardens to demonstrate their skills and show their work. You can watch the potter pot, the painter paint and the sculptor sculpt. You can ask the masters of the arts of jewellery, textiles, woodwork and glassblowing about the secrets of their craft. In the ever popular Practical Classes section, you will be able to have a go yourself at the art or craft of your choice with the guidance of an expert teacher.”
