I had a bit of time to kill yesterday morning and sat in the waiting room of the station and, for a change, got my sketchbook out and drew the other occupier of the room, a man in a puffy jacket thumbing his mobile and occasionally tapping away in his laptop. Easy prey for an illustrator, sedentary and still. Or it should have been, had I been drawing with the constant discipline of the first module of the course. But it had been a while. Not that this should make me feel properly inadequate, considering that the train would be taking me to London to the Cambridge School of Arts Masters in Children’s Book Illustration show. Rusty old me was going to go and feel the pressure of the upcoming graduates, and the relief that I have already persuaded a few clients that I can draw and write before all this lot made me feel like an amateur. They also made me feel incredibly proud of our course, which continues to nurture and develop exceptional qualities now with Shelly Jackson at the helm, and excited about our expanding alumni community.
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| Al Rodin |
It is no surprise that the cohort selected Al Rodin for the cover of their catalogue and it is the first display that greets you as you come in. I spent a while there. Al is a great storey teller with a striking and unique visual language. I could see in the effortless read of his books that story is in the driving seat of a very unique looking vehicle. In Ned Ronaldo Nubowski we follow the ball kicked by the lead character, who is a very keen footballer with appalling aim, over the wall, into crazier and crazier settings which reminded me a little bit of Sempe’s Nicholas. Little Echo, has to overcome her natural shyness in order to save her new friend from a bear. In Lia and Lion, the girl and the lion of the title set out in search for a pet. Upon finding each other and deciding that neither is willing to be the other’s pet they agree to take a couple of beetles as such. An ending that invites the question: why would the beetles then agree to be pets?
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| Rosie Haine |
Another book which looks at human’s place within the animal family is Rosie Haine’s Hooves and Hands. Here, Rosie juxtaposes the human and the equine in amusing and surreal ways. I love the fluidity of her brushwork and her sense of fun in It isn’t rude to be nude, and We are human animals.
Also commenting on people and the natural, I really loved Lindy Norton’s, The visitor and The man who planted trees. Lindy has a good eye for composition and uses space very effectively in her storytelling.
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| Bethan Stevens |
Bethan Steven’s Home was a real treat in which a new neighbour is welcome by the inhabitants of No 100 to her new home in a block of flats. Her search for those of No 100 allows her to connect with the other children in the building while they go up and up the stairs in search for the friendly neighbour at no 100.
Dong is great storyteller who tackles the theme of prejudice in her book Wonderland, where friend characters are fooled into booking a holiday in the island of Monsterland. The heroes are stranded there and have an eventful encounter with the monster inhabitants, who get spooked by them and quickly retreat, leaving behind a baby monster in the confusion. The heroes chase after to return the baby all the way up a volcano where mud renders all creatures indistinguishable. A timely story about the sameness in others.
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| Adam Beer |
Islands are a common thread this year, perhaps signifying a more open political engagement, or perhaps a subconscious response to sadly isolationist trends of our time. One of my favourite this years is Solo by Adam Beer, where an adorable dog used to his own company has to learn to share his island and his treasures with some visiting dogs. They embrace him and they become a little gang, but they were only visiting and is sad to see them return to their boat. Adam revisited this theme in Monster Tea Party but where as in Solo, there is a tinge of loneliness at the end, in Monsters Tea Party allows us to see the delight it is to recover our spaces for ourselves. Friends are missed when not there, but can be a bit too much when they are.
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| Virginia Coyne |
A great evolution in this cohort is the increased presence of characters from diverse ethnic backgrounds such as Virginia Coyne’s version of the wonderful Wizard of Oz, Julia Miranda in Flora and Flo Forever and Rosie Haines Hooves or Hands, amongst others, not just as sidekicks but as lead characters present on the covers.
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| Megan Hobby-Kauffman |
Megan Hobby-Kauffman tackles a more openly philosophical questions. In How does the world work after introducing us to a series of fantastical creatures such as the moon hoisters, Tip and Tindle lead its deep into the heart of the world where we find that what makes our world work is kindness.
Politically engaged Meria Palin’s The fox and the sea follows several generations of a fox family’s visit to the seaside to show the impact that plastic pollution has in the life in the sea. We all want to chip in and help the clouds and the foxes remove the plastic from the oceans and return them to a pristine and life giving condition.
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Meria Palin |
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| Chihiro Inoue |
I also saw in the show more classical children’s book material, such as the counting book Big harvest by Ching Yang. Chihiro Inoue’s The Twin dogs is a tale of sibling rivalry. Twin dogs are constantly bickering about which of them is the oldest plot to get rid of the new arrival that has taken the attention of their loving grown ups. Chihiro also has an innovative take on the ABC alphabet book where she combines three concepts per letter (except for x…) I laughed out loud at “egg’s emergency escape.” Belonging and accepting ourselves as we are appear in several books: My name is treasure by Phoebe Lien. Here work is delicate and detailed, and follows a girl coming to terms with something that makes her face different, as does Yessica Beten’s book about wearing glasses because of a squint.
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| Sophie Burrows |
There were several artists developing comics. It is nice to see diverse approach to the possible outcomes that can be nurtured in this Masters Degree as not all dummies in the show are targeted at small children nor limited to picture books. I particularly enjoyed Sophie Burrows “Crushin” a comic depicting the feelings of single inadequacy felt by a girl as she climbs down from her bench in the park and is faced with multiple scenes of a society designed for paired people. Clearly for an older audience it is really enjoyable as it is “Get me a snickers” a collection of short comics that made me laugh out loud. Sophie has great timing and plays with expectations as a true comedic talent.
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| Laura Chamberlain |
Two books I loved that had older characters, in Laura Chamberlain's Malo and his lighthouse, Malo is an old man content to live through the seasons with his cat in a remote lighthouse which he lovingly maintains. When hit by a particularly bad storm his solitude becomes a bit harder to bare, but with the arrival of good weather and the postman he gets to find out that people did care about him and his lighthouse.
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| Jo Berry |
Jo Berry’s sensitive take on The Gardeners where an old couple tend to their precious garden until it’s time for them to go, and their garden overflows and becomes a beautiful natural landscape that takes over the spread in a feast of greens.
Artists develop finals at differing rates. Some will produce open storytelling with an economy of line, others will create sumptuous worlds where the fabric of the compositions will make us stop and take note of the details.
Aoife Greenham has made such a rich visual experience in her book Big Dance. Finding your own way in life to do things is a process and within this Aoife has given us a beautifully inclusive line: “The big dance is big enough for all our different dances… and that’s just the way it is. “ Aoife also has some impressive collaged mono prints.
Precisely rendered and carefully researched in A beautifulday like any other day by Chiu-hsuan Haung, a child finds in her garden a living world of imagination helping her to cope with uncertainty.
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| Aoife Greenham |
Aoife Greenham has made such a rich visual experience in her book Big Dance. Finding your own way in life to do things is a process and within this Aoife has given us a beautifully inclusive line: “The big dance is big enough for all our different dances… and that’s just the way it is. “ Aoife also has some impressive collaged mono prints.
Precisely rendered and carefully researched in A beautifulday like any other day by Chiu-hsuan Haung, a child finds in her garden a living world of imagination helping her to cope with uncertainty.
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| Trish Phillips |
Trish Phillips had an impressive pop up anthology called I am not a dot, her display also featuring a tablet.
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I loved the humour in Tom Zaino’s The Duck and the Hare.
How can you not love the duck’s naivety in counterpoint to the hare? One of the great delights of visiting the graduation show is that you get to read dummies that contain a lot of rough drawings which sometimes contain a freshness in expression quite hard to reproduce in finals.
And Gorilla and Banana from Wang Ning where the two characters keep missing each other although they are destined to be together and change the colour of their town. I forgot to take a picture of it, but alas I am the happy owner of a risograph print of it.
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| Kate Winter |
Kate Winter’s Lascaux on the discovery of the caves with prehistoric art, treating a non fiction subject with wonder and skill.
I have given a flavour of what I saw on Tuesday. I did not get to read all dummies or browse through all sketchbooks, that would have taken me days. Also some dummies where unavailable because they were at meetings which is fantastic at this stage for a few of the graduates. Some of those meetings may result in offers. For the vast majority of graduates this show is, however, the beginning of the process of putting their work out there looking for a publishing home. I was delighted to meet my publisher, Sarah Pakenham, on the last hour of my visit. I feel quite at home in Scallywag, a feeling a wish upon all CSA graduates, wherever, whenever and however your books are published.
Back in 2013 I felt I had arrived at the wrong platform on my graduation show and although I hoped that one publisher would one day "take me", I never thought it was inevitable. Hindsight and the vast range of experiences of my year group has allowed me to see more clearly that books take all sorts of paths into publishing and the shape of our careers are as unique as our work and interests.
Graduates, you have made it to the station which means you have moved way, way, oh way beyond anybody who ever tells you at a dinner party how they have a perfect book idea. It is through your craft and months of dedication that you have developed blobby ideas into viable book forms. Anybody that walked into your show would have seen a demonstration of your ability to do this. You have arrived together with your graduation year into a moment of celebration. After this week you each depart into your different platforms and you will ride your different trains that will depart at different times. It is a lonely profession but don't forget that we have one another.
Enjoy this moment, and enjoy the ride, and see you at Bologna!
Graduates, you have made it to the station which means you have moved way, way, oh way beyond anybody who ever tells you at a dinner party how they have a perfect book idea. It is through your craft and months of dedication that you have developed blobby ideas into viable book forms. Anybody that walked into your show would have seen a demonstration of your ability to do this. You have arrived together with your graduation year into a moment of celebration. After this week you each depart into your different platforms and you will ride your different trains that will depart at different times. It is a lonely profession but don't forget that we have one another.
Enjoy this moment, and enjoy the ride, and see you at Bologna!