Eva Lindström

 

I treated myself to this Eva Lindström boook, I love its delicate, minimal style and surreal storyline about a girl befriending a tawny owl having seen him on a television nature program. 

Stephan the owl had had a job that he didn't like and ultimately was not good at and so he begins to explore other options.

He tries to open a shop with his friend Boris but it didn't work out.

Eventually after many flops and failures Stephan finds something he is good at and enjoys, teaching people to fly. This is a book about friendship and searching for acceptance and happiness, a wonderful book in which the ordinary and extraordinary are beautifully entwined in a story about perseverance and success over failure. 

William Grill

William Grill's Bandoola, the great elephant rescue is released in October, published by Flying Eye Books it is a delicate homage to the bond between elephants and man. It features illustrations of Myanmar’s forests and mountain ranges and is rich with facts about Asian elephants and how humans live and worked with them in the past and today.

"I came across the story of Elephant Bill and Bandoola while I was studying at university. At first I was struck by the grainy images of elephants hauling enormous logs in the jungle, but what later gripped me was the epic journey they undertook, and the incredible bond between them. Our relationship with the animal kingdom is constantly evolving, and this true story proves how a kind and patient approach brings out the best in humans and animals."    William Grill

Joanna Concejo IV

Joanna Concejo has won the 2021 Youth Illustration Grand Prize. The Polish illustrator Joanna Concejo with  Sénégal, written by Artur Scriabin, translated from Spanish by Rafael Concejo, was published in 2020. Joanna's works have developed into sensitive pencil collage-style drawings that feel like a family album or diary, precious and tender. 

Zdzislaw Witwicki III

'Z Przygod krasnala halabaly' written by Lucyna Krzemieniecka illustrated by Zdzislaw Witwicki and published in 1985. Has such regard for nature and innate kindness, it is a wonderful book.  Zdzislaw Witwicki (1921-2019) seems such a wonderful gentle man it is lovely to see him reading some of his seventy books for children. 

                          

Adam Kilian II

As we travel deeper into autumn in the Northern hemisphere, it is time for a classic 'Misie nie chcą spać', written by Ludwik Górski and illustrated by Adam Kilian (1923-2016), published in 1973. Adam Kilian studied Architecture in Nottingham from1944-1948. but on returning to Poland became one of the lead creatives working in puppet theatres. 

"My mother and aunt salvaged the qualities of childhood from oblivion. They taught me what was most important in art: frankness, joy and making choices." Adam Kilian

                                         

 This wonderful book features many real pressed leaves and has unique illustrations with areas of colour overprinted with woodcuts. 

Sergio Gontz

 

I seem to be particularly drawn to Sergio Gontz's sketches of people bending. 

Andrea D'Aquino V

Andrea D'Aquino's new book; “She Heard the Birds” about the life of Florence Merriam Bailey, is released next month. and has also been accepted into this year’s Society of Illustrators Original Art Show. 

It looks, as ever, absolutely wonderful with bold print and paint collage combined with delicate line.

Mariano Rio

I am sorry to have been suddenly so unreliable in my daily posts, many commitments and problems are gobbling my time, but that has always been the case, so apologies I have taken my eye off the ball briefly.

I am using this illustration by Mariano Rio as much of my spare time is being spent trying to free the attic of clutter as my daughter has decided this is where she wants to live. It is a great space that has like many attics fallen to the clutter of cherished abandoned childhood toys and other loved, but surplus objects. 

This is one of Mariano's award-winning illustrations for the Acquisition award at BIG Guimarães.