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Last night was amazing. The House of Illustration in London launched the UK's largest-ever exhibition of the work of pioneering female comics artists, in Comix Creatrix: 100 Women Making Comics.



Here's the striking poster by Laura Callaghan:



Do pop over to see the show, running until 15 May, just across from St Pancras stations (the one where you catch the Eurostar to France) and next to the glowing fountains of Central Saint Martins art college.



Speaking of France, this show couldn't be more perfectly timed. Curators Olivia Ahmad and Paul Gravett had been working with the House of Illustration to prepare the show for a long time, but it came right on the heels of a shocking announcement by France's top comics prize committee of an all-male shortlist of 30 international comics creators. What made it even worse was the board's surprise at public indignation and their follow-up explanations that there wasn't any strong female talent in comics, and general lack of supportiveness for women in the field. (You can read my article about that here.)



I only make comics occasionally and focus more on other kinds of children's book illustration, and go along to lots of social events dominated by women. But when I first started going along to comics events, very often I was the only woman in the room. Over the past ten years, this has changed so much, partly I think because of the coming-together of an arts & crafts movement with comics (look at comics by Philippa Rice and Isabel Greenberg to see what I mean), and comics moving away from being so entirely dominated by superheroes.


But there have always been women making comics, and the women who've made them have had to fight against all the odds that male comics makers struggle with (mostly do to with not getting paid enough), and also being marginalised by comics lovers who didn't care to look outside of their own very focused spheres of interest (Marvel, DC, 2000 AD, etc). But to pretend talented female comics creators don't exist makes some people VERY angry, such as comics expert Stephen Holland at Nottingham's Page 45 bookshop, retweeted here by comics legend Kate Charlesworth (who for a long time drew the comics for New Scientist magazine):


(Here's the Comics Beat article Stephen's referring to.)

So the best way to counter the Angoulême assertions would have been to set up a comics exhibition, just on the other side of the channel tunnel, rebutting that notion entirely. I can't even say how thrilled I am that this was already in the works, and here it is! I hope lots of men and women will go along to it; anyone interested in comics, drawing, illustration, storytelling, graphic design, history, typography, etc will find it fascinating.



Patrice Aggs was making comics long before I even moved to England, she makes comics with her son (John Aggs), and she's attended the Angoulême comics festival more times than I can keep track of. If they don't know who she is by now, they haven't been trying. It was great to meet her husband, Chris Aggs, who's a painter; I always see her zooming around on her own! She was always the last one to bed at Angoulême; the rest of us were dropping with tiredness and she'd still be up having intense conversations with comics people at 4am.



Here's Patrice's comics on display:



A lot of people know more about women in comics through Nicola Streeten, co-founded with Sarah Lightman of Laydeez Do Comics, an excellent series of talks (by anyone creative, not just women, but with a focus on women). Here's Nicola looking very fine with legend Suzy Varty in their matching lime greens.



Kripa Joshi goes back and forth between England and Nepal, and was in Nepal during the earthquake. The evening was great to get the chance to have a look at the anthology she and Elena Vitagliano have compiled to raise money for the earthquake victims.



(You can find out more about their anthology project together here.)



One of the cool things about the launch party was seeing people who'd been lauded in their field for ages, but never actually been featured in an establishment exhibition. There was some big-time excitement. I'm not even sure who this creator is (Claudia Davila, perhaps?), but she was totally lit up, I got all giggly seeing how excited she was.





Kate Evans was pretty excited, too, and I got a copy of her new book, Red Rosa, about Rosa Luxemburg.




Somehow I was so busy looking around in the exhibition space that I missed the speeches. (Oops!) So I never got to meet co-curator Olivia Ahmad. But here I am with Paul Gravett, who is one of the top people I can credit with jump-starting my career. He found me, probably at the first comics event I ever went to (a Yahoo group pub meet-up), and pointed me in the direction of David Fickling, who published me both in his DFC comic and with my first UK picture book. There's this notion that women in comics is a Women's Issue that only women will be interested in, but it's not at all; it's just as much about the thoughtful and clued-in men (Paul, Stephen Holland, David Fickling, etc) who encourage women and help us get pointed in the right direction so we can make comics that everyone might enjoy.



And talking about clued-in people, here's Audrey Niffenegger, who doesn't let the confines of medium or genre limit what she does; she's succeeded in everything from comics to bestselling novels to printmaking to her work being staged as a ballet in the Royal Opera House.



Despite being fairly young, Isabel Greenberg has already created an impresssive collection of work and I'm a HUGE fan. She has this amazing way of bringing together a craft element with modern storytelling twists on old legends that's spectacular.



I loved being able to see old favourites at the exhibition, such as these Moomin pencil roughs by Tove Jansson:



And Posy Simmonds, who first inspired me to make comics with her Gemma Bovery book:



And another person who got me making comics was Simone Lia, with her Fluffy books about a rabbit that I found in a clothing shop in Brighton, when Simone was still self-publishing them through Cabanon Press. (The Fluffy books were later taken up by Dan Franklin at Jonathan Cape.)



Philippa Rice continues to inspire me with her innovative approaches to making comics, using non-traditional formats and materials and lovely storytelling (I think I've bought at least ten copies of my favourite of her books, We're Out, as gifts for friends.) Here's an interview I did with her about the book. And here's Karen Rubins having a look:



But it wasn't all familiar faces and work at the show. One of the great thing about the Angoulême debacle was the hashtag #WomenDoBD, which highlighted LOADS of female creators I'd never heard of. And this exhibition was like that. Lizz Lunney felt the same:




Check out this lovely piece by Aurelié William Levaux:



And I definitely want to get a copy of His Dream of the Skyland by Aya Morton. My top new find, I think.



A case of work by female comics creators from back as far as 200 years:



Hey, it's work by my former studio mate Ellen Lindner! Ellen was the one who introduced me to LiveJournal and its comics community, which shaped so much of what I know now. She edits a magazine of comics by women called The Strumpet, and lots of us at the show have had work featured in that.



It's one of my buddies from back in DFC comic days! Emma Vieceli and I have had lots of adventures, including a trip to Paris to exhibit with her French publishers. Emma used to organise the Cartoon Village at MCM Expo and she's one of the people everyone goes to when they want to know something about comics.



I really must go back to the exhibition for a longer, quieter browse. Besides all the displays, they have loads of interesting-looking books in the reading room.



The exhibition is aimed at adults, so while I think parents could bring older children, they should be aware that some of the content is graphic (but not horrific, I'd say) and that the frames might be hung a bit high for short people to read closely without assistance.



Three cheers for the House of Illustration and everyone who worked hard to make this show happen! You can follow the House of Illustration on Twitter: @illustrationHQ.

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I ‘met’ Joy a couple of years ago through her FB page Got Story and love her contributions to the kid lit community. She has been curating a fabulous exhibition in Southern California and it is open for another ten … Continue reading →

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My work displayed at deepspaceworks for COS15.

If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook you will have seen that I recently took part in Cheltenham Open Studios 2015, a biyearly event, where nearly 200 artists across Cheltenham open up their homes and studios to the public.

My studio space at deepspaceworks Art Centre in Cheltenham is home to 15 other artists and creatives and, alongside the studios being opened up to the public, we had an exciting and diverse exhibition running alongside it including work from studio members and associates.

Patience the Hare in progress - photo by Anou Issa

 

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Luckily for me, it wasn't real terror, but Tales of Terror, a wonderful exhibition of beautifully detailed illustrations by David Roberts, which has just opened in the Illustration Gallery at Dean Clough in Halifax. John and I went along to the opening on Saturday, where we met the absolutely lovely David Roberts in the flesh (I think all children illustrators are lovely to be honest... but then, I am biased). 

I just love David's work and I especially love this series, because of the sinister edge to each illustration. It's often quite subtle but definitely disturbing. Wonderful stuff:

They were created for the Tales of Terror books by Chris Priestly, a Victorianesque series of horror tales for children. David explained that that's why the illustrations are created to look a little like the old etching plates from Victorian novels:

I also met up with my friends and fellow illustrators, Chris Mould and Lydia Monks. It was great to have a good old chin-wag. Chris has a permanent studio at Dean Clough (they do loads to support artists). I went to visit his studio a few years back: take a peek... Chris was also the curator of David's show (well done Chris - nice job).

Here we all are in the Dean Clough restaurant, after I had just finished scoffing down a rather yummy lunch (I was a little worried about my grin, visualising bits of rocket between my teeth and am very relieved to see that, if it's there, it doesn't show).

There are several galleries at Dean Clough, and all the exhibitions were opening at the same time, so we had a lovely afternoon, mooching around them all. I particularly liked Jo Brown's abstract paintings. 

Go take a look yourself. the exhibitions are up until January 3rd.

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This past month has been very hectic, not only with illustration work, but also setting up another major exhibition, a career retrospective at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.

The exhibition came about immediately after my return from Tokyo. The hospital Arts Project at NNUH was running a series of workshops for children "Supernatural Garden" run by visiting artists from the University of Tsukuba in Japan, headed by Professor Yasuyoshi Saito and Dr Herb Fondevilla. I'd met Herb some years before in Tokyo, the hospital was very keen to link an exhibition of my children's book illustrations (especially those published in Japan) with the workshops.

The central corridor is a busy thoroughfare through the hospital, used by staff, patients and visitors. I hope that the illustrations offer a brief imaginative escape from what can be for many a very traumatic experience.

The Boat in the Tree (2007, Front Street)

Emma Jarvis, Hospital Arts Co-ordinator, says: “Our colleagues in Japan take a different approach to art and John is a great example of bridging the gap between the two cultures, allowing East to meet West. The illustrations will allow patient, staff and visitors to be reminded of their childhood, looking at detailed illustrations of well-known stories and provide something that everyone can enjoy no matter of their age or gender. The exhibition is a great and very rare opportunity to explore another world through an internationally recognised and award winning artist’s work who lives right on our doorstep, making it the perfect partnership.”

Two of the 4 volumes of Hans Christian Andersen Tales (Hyoronsha 2004-5).

Various exhibition pieces, and illustrations for novels (Hawaiian Big Daddy 2003,   The Deptford Mice 2005)

There are over 140 pieces of artwork on display, in 11 large wall mounted display cabinets dotted along the length of the hospital central corridor. The majority of work is children's book illustration, covering almost 30 years of my career, from my first trade picturebook The Secret in the Matchbox (Andre Deutsch/ Farrar, Straus & Giroux 1989) to my very latest Stone Giant (Charlesbridge, 2014).

From The Secret in the Matchbox (Andre Deutsch / FS&G 1987), passing through two prints for Disney Japan to The Cobbler and the Elves (Oki-na Pocket magazine, Fukuinkan Shoten 2007)

Stone Giant (Charlesbridge, 2014) - These are facsimile inkjet prints, as the artwork is still in Japan

Artwork from other books on show include Peer Gynt (1990),  12 no Tsuki-tachi (The Month Brothers) (1991), Cinderella (1994), Hoppy no Atarashii Uchi (1995), The Magic Umbrella (1999), King Smelly Feet (2002), Hawaiian Big Daddy (2003), The Deptford Mice (2004), my Hans Christian Andersen series (2004-5), Charlie Bone series (2006-7), The Boat in the Tree (2007), The House of the World (2008), Halloween Forest (2012), and Jack & the Beanstalk (2012). Also a number of independent works from exhibitions and other projects. So, this is quite a big show, with examples from the whole gamut of my career in children's publishing.

The Charlie Bone novels (Tokuma Shoten 2006-7), and work for a WWF tie-up exhibition  Denizens  (1990)

King Smelly Feet (Andersen Press, 2002), and Hoppy no Atarashii Uchi (Hoppy's New House) (Fukuinkan Shoten 1995)

Much of the work on show has only been published overseas and is displayed for the first time to the public in the UK. All the works are for sale, either as originals (in the case of stand-alone pieces) or inkjet prints (for book illustrations). The show will run until May 2015, so if you're in the area over the next six months and have a chance to visit the hospital do take a look.

Cinderella (Hikari no Kuni 1995), and Peer Gynt (Hyoronsha 1990)

12 no Tsuki-tachi (The Month Brothers) (Miki House, 1991)

The House of the World (a subscription-only picture book for Benesse, 2008) and The Magic Umberella (Fukuinkan Shoten, 1999)

The Hospital Arts Project at NNUH works on diverse projects with the community, interior design, site specific arts, performances, workshops, exhibitions, events, gardens and more. It's funded by grants from organisations and charitable donations. For more information visit www.nnuh.nhs.uk/arts

Halloween Forest (Holiday House, 2012)

Jack & the Beanstalk (Fukuinkan Shoten, 2012)

My deepest thanks to everyone behind the show, especially Herb Fondevilla (Tsukuba University), Emma Jarvis (curator, Hospital Arts Project), Richard Drew (Director of Arts in Hospitals), Eloise O'Hare (Norwich Dandies) and Natsue Hayward (Centre of Japanese Studies, UEA).

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I've just returned from five heady weeks in Tokyo, soaking up life back in the old metropolis, the place I lived for nearly half my life. Every year daughter and I go back to Japan, usually in the summer, every year we return with new and unique experiences, the only constant being the humidity and the constant murmur of cicadas, though this year there were several unseasonably cool spells amidst the swelter.

It's wonderful to explore familiar locations, see old friends and family, but I also had a very busy schedule of preparation, culminating in a ten day solo exhibition at Space Yui in Aoyama, followed by another seven day show (currently still running as I write) at Yui Garden in Yokohama.

The front porch of Space Yui

No matter how many years go by my fascination with Tokyo remains undiminished, I try to be as busy as I can when we go back, it's a city that demands purpose and direction. As I no longer live in Japan I find that without such direction and with daughter mostly staying with her grandparents I start to feel an emptiness, ponder too deeply on the past and other topics best left alone. No, move on, on, always onwards! Like the city itself, my relationship with Tokyo is constantly evolving, the journey continues.

Hanging day at Space Yui with gallery owner Hideyo Kimura

It's On!

It's been busy, inspiring and very encouraging. The exhibition, still on at Yui Garden, centres around original artwork from my recent picture book Stone Giant (Ishi no Kyojin in Japanese), from which visitors can order Neograph prints (giclée art prints overprinted with a fine silkscreen to prevent oxidation and deterioration of colour, rendering prints that are virtually indistinguishable from artwork). I also created several smaller pieces of original art specifically for the show.

Book of prints, and artwork from Stone Giant

Some of the smaller images created especially for the show

The Librarian

Wolves in the Forest

The gallery staff have been supportive beyond measure, Space Yui is a key part of my platform in Japan, the care and encouragement I receive there is inspiriting and progressive, all credit due to Kimura-san and her team.

Opening party, with guests including Komine Shoten editor Tsuyoshi Yamagishi (left) and picture book creator Satoshi Kitamura (right)

Opening party - with Togo Kasahara, designer Hiroyasu Murofushi (I & I Inc) and Takeshi Fujisaki

Opening party, with illustrator Satoshi Kitamura (background), curator Taiko Nakazawa, Tomoe Furuhashi and DJ Young Richard

The show at Space Yui began with a busy opening followed by a regular stream of visitors, I was quite overwhelmed by the large number of attendees. Signed copies of the Japanese edition of Stone Giant (Ishi no Kyojin) sold out within the first few days and had to be re-stocked by publisher Komine Shoten.

Signed copies of the Japanese edition Ishi no Kyojin

There were several highlight successes, the biggest being news of several competing offers for the Japanese rights to my next US book Crinkle, Crackle, Crack!. Written by Marion Dane Bauer (who also wrote the 2012 released Halloween Forest), the US edition is due for publication through Holiday House next year. I'll post more about the Japanese edition when details have been confirmed.

With art director Susumu Yamada (Tokyo Planet Design)

With members of SCBWI Japan

With Emi Noguchi

With my daughter and photographer Hitoshi Iwakiri

The exhibition is now on at the fabulous new gallery Yui Garden in Nakamachidai, Yokohama. In a building created by and for an architect's design office that overlooks Seseragi Park, the setting, interior and atmosphere is simply exquisite. If you're in the area before it closes on the 8th please do drop by.

Entrance to Yui Garden

The show at Yui Garden

It's been a wonderful summer. Many thanks to all the gallery staff and visitors to the exhibition!

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Here are a few shots of my current show in Tokyo, many thanks to those who offered advice on printing, here's how these smaller images worked out after painting.

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Egyptian mummies continue to fascinate us due to the remarkable insights they provide into ancient civilizations. Flinders Petrie, the first UK chair in Egyptology did not have the luxury of X-ray techniques in his era of archaeological analysis in the late nineteenth century. However, twentieth century Egyptologists have benefited from Roentgen’s legacy. Sir Graham Elliott Smith along with Howard Carter did early work on plain x-ray analysis of mummies when they X-rayed the mummy Tuthmosis in 1904. Numerous X-ray analyses were performed using portable X-ray equipment on mummies in the Cairo Museum.

Since then, many studies have been done worldwide, especially with the development of more sophisticated imaging techniques such as CT scanning, invented by Hounsfield in the UK in the 1970s. With this, it became easier to visualize the interiors of mummies, thus revealing their hidden mysteries under their linen wrapped bodies and the elaborate face masks which had perplexed researchers for centuries. Harwood Nash performed one of the earliest head scans of a mummy in Canada in 1977 and Isherwood’s team along with Professor David also performed some of the earliest scannings of mummies in Manchester.

A fascinating new summer exhibition at the British Museum has recently opened, and consists of eight mummies, all from different periods and Egyptian dynasties, that have been studied with the latest dual energy CT scanners. These scanners have 3D volumetric image acquisitions that reveal the internal secrets of these mummies. Mummies of babies and young children are included, as well as adults. There have been some interesting discoveries already, for example, that dental abscesses were prevalent as well as calcified plaques in peripheral arteries, suggesting vascular disease was present in the population who lived over 3,000 years ago. More detailed analysis of bones, including the pelvis, has been made possible by the scanned images, enabling more accurate estimation of the age of death.

Although embalmers took their craft seriously, mistakes did occur, as evidenced by one of the mummy exhibits, which shows Padiamenet’s head detached from the body during the process, the head was subsequently stabilized by metal rods. Padiamenet was a temple doorkeeper who died around 700BC. Mummies had their brains removed with the heart preserved as this was considered the seat of the soul. Internal organs such as the stomach and liver were often removed; bodies were also buried with a range of amulets.

The exhibit provides a fascinating introduction to mummies and early Egyptian life more than 3,000 years ago and includes new insights gleaned from cutting edge twenty first century imaging technology.

Ancient Lives: New Discoveries is on at the British Museum until the 30 November 2014.

Heading image: Mummy. Public domain via Pixabay.

The post Radiology and Egyptology: insights from ancient lives at the British Museum appeared first on OUPblog.

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I'm currently in Tokyo again, preparing for my upcoming exhibition at SPACE YUI in Aoyama. The show runs from 21st-30th August, and will be chiefly showing original artwork from my recent picture book Stone Giant (Charlesbridge/Komine Shoten), plus there will be other original artwork on sale, copies of the book, prints and Tshirts. If you're in town please drop by the show! I'll be at the gallery from around 2pm daily.

Space Yui is open 11.00am-19.00pm daily (closed Sunday). Nearest stations are Gaienmae and Omotesando on the Ginza line.

After the close of the show at Space Yui, the exhibition will be re-shown for another week at a new gallery Yui Garden, set in the relaxed environment of Seseragi Park in Nakamachidai, Yokohama. However I'll be on my way back to the UK by then so won't be in the gallery.

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Some of my sketchbook characters decided to spend the month in a wonderful cafe called "Ninas Café Klatsch" here in Hamm, Germany. I took them there last night so they can watch Ninas guests having delicious cupcakes and soups for the next 4 weeks.

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This lovely image is the poster for an upcoming exhibition I'm involved in this May entitled BLOOM. The show is taking place at the beautiful Gardens Gallery in Cheltenham, where I have previously exhibited with the lovely GradGallery collective.

The exhibition will showcase the work of five creatives including myself, Sophia Bloxham, Liz Clayton, Emma Ridgway and Katie Thomas (who designed this fabulous poster!). Please click on their names to visit their websites/blogs to check out their work. There will be a variety of illustration and design on show and, as always, there will be lots of lovely prints, originals, postcards and greetings cards for sale!

Hope you can make it along to the exhibition, please pop in and say hello if you are in the area!

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I'm finally back home after a successful show at Space Yui in Tokyo.

Japan was wonderful for both daughter and myself, though it was very much a 'working holiday' for me. For the first month I was largely focused on meeting deadlines, producing work for the show and other such business, so not so many opportunities for socialising and enjoying the summer break. However the hard work was all worthwhile in the end, the exhibition at Space Yui was a tremendous success. My deepest thanks to Kimura-san and all the other staff at the gallery.

Setting up the show in the gallery (photo courtesy of Space Yui)

In addition to the artwork from 'Jack to Mame no Ki', limited edition prints and the original images drawn for the show, Space Yui also produced some T-Shirts from the unfinished artwork to my next book The Stone Giant. Although the artwork is yet to be painted in colour I had some scans of the ink drawings in black and white stage, which were perfect for the T-Shirt and made a very big impact on the show attendees.

In Space Yui Gallery modelling the t-shirts produced for the show

One of the numerous drawings developed from sketchbook images sold during the show

Legendary zoologist, TV personality and author Mutsugoro (Masanori Hata)

I didn't take many photos, but I've posted a very few snapshots of the attendees and more of the displayed work on my Facebook feed

Finally the exhibition was over and daughter and I were able to finally relax. Straight after the exhibition we were invited by my editors at Fukuinkan to the Nagano mountains to stay in a Besso (country cottage) and research our next book. It was a wonderful tonic after the stifling heat of Tokyo!

Seren in Kobuchizawa with Roa and Yuriko

Finally back in Tokyo I was just in time to enjoy the release of Jack to Mame no Ki on 10th September!

Fukuinkan section in the Tama Plaza branch of Yurindo Bookshop. Jack gets centre stage!

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As soon as my main course arrived, I realised that mushroom risotto was not the wisest choice... 

While we waited for our food to settle, we had some more wine and moved places, so we could chat to new people and have new angles to sketch from. This is Moya, who I met at my clay modelling evenings:

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We had our private view last night for the Harmony exhibition in Cheltenham. Here are a few photos from the evening, we had a great turnout! You should also check out the lovely Liz Clayton's blog for more photos. The exhibition will be staying open daily 10-5 until Tuesday 17th July.

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The GradGallery exhibition is currently open at The Gardens Gallery, Cheltenham. There's a variety of work on show, ranging from illustration to photography. There are originals and prints for sale and lots of lovely greetings cards and postcards to purchase.

Thank you to everyone who has visited so far, we have had some great comments and met some lovely people! Please pop in and say hello if you are in the area. I'll be there most days, we are open 10-5 until Tuesday 17th July.

These are a few photos of the exhibition:

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