Makoto Maruyama III

A contented grandma for today by Makoto Maruyama.

Antje Damm

'The Visitor' by Antje Damm, published by Gecko press in August, uses diorama illustrations that add to the sense of loneliness, with the flat drawing of the character placed in a miniature three dimensional world.
Antje also uses colour to show the transition from terrible loneliness to joy as we progress through the story.

Tejo Verstappen

Dutch painter Tejo Verstappen graduated in 1989 from Academy of Arts in Maastricht and then concentrated on performing arts as an actor and singer. These paintings are all created digitally and have a lovely gentleness as well as a naturalistic sense of peace and space.

Yuval Zommer

It has been a while since I used butternut squash as an art project for Halloween but I think I may be doing so again soon with 4 children's workshops at the end of the month. I like the way you can decorate them and then eat them, edible and healthy art! These creations are from the kitchen of illustrator Yuval Zommer and I think they are fab, funny and beautiful.

Gaëtan Dorémus

'Flee Tiger ',a stunning new book by the wonderfully sureal David Gauthier illustrated by Gaëtan Dorémus. 

Peter Fellin II

Peter Fellin's illustrations for 'Noah's Sharks Ark from 1961. This story from over 50 years ago is a modern parable that should urgently be republished! In this story Noah is a mean old man who builds an ark to survive a snowstorm, filling the ark with objects and nothing that lived or breathed. A is for air conditioning, B is for bathtub, C is for my new car, D is for dishwasher... a warning to us all for our obsession with consumerism and capitalism?

As the ark starts to sink he has to throw his possessions overboard, the animals rescue him. The alphabet they live by: A is for amiability, B is for benevolence, or beauty, or bravery, C is for courtesy, D is for discretion...

Look at the state of the seabed when the ark sinks, I think we are all on that mean Noah's ark now and need to rethink our values.

Inktober I

I have been doing 'Inktober' under my daughters orders. I found some printer refill cartridges in the rubbish, so I have been trying to recycle these.

So far I have just been using the pure colour, though today I played with wet on wet and dripping as well as using some bleach for highlights. They mix well and water down as well as responding to bleach so they are fulfilling my requirements perfectly.

Peter Fellin I

Love these illustrations by Peter Fellin from 'The Fakir of Jinaika' written by Edith Boutelle, published in 1961. Disappointingly I can find no information about his life but I had to share his amazing snakes.

Hidenobu Kumano

The delightful jewel like paintings of Hidenobu Kumano.

Felicita Sala

I am looking forward to seeing this wonderful book which is published today. 'Ode to an Onion' is a picture book about one of my favourite poets Pablo Neruda (1904–1973) and his inspiration Matilde Urrutia (1912–1985). It is written by Alexandria Giardino who was inspired to create a picture book after translating; 'My Life with Pablo Neruda', which was written by the poet's wife, Matilde Urrutia. The book has wonderful illustrations by Felicita Sala and is a celebration of love and creative inspiration.

Ode To The Onion by Pablo Neruda

Onion,
luminous flask,
your beauty formed
petal by petal,
crystal scales expanded you
and in the secrecy of the dark earth
your belly grew round with dew.
Under the earth
the miracle
happened
and when your clumsy
green stem appeared,
and your leaves were born
like swords
in the garden,
the earth heaped up her power
showing your naked transparency,
and as the remote sea
in lifting the breasts of Aphrodite
duplicating the magnolia,
so did the earth
make you,
onion
clear as a planet
and destined
to shine,
constant constellation,
round rose of water,
upon
the table
of the poor.

You make us cry without hurting us.
I have praised everything that exists,
but to me, onion, you are
more beautiful than a bird
of dazzling feathers,
heavenly globe, platinum goblet,
unmoving dance
of the snowy anemone

and the fragrance of the earth lives
in your crystalline nature.

Lisl Stich III

'Der Blaue Autobus' by James Krüss illustrated by Lisl Stich published in 1958 has charming anthropomorphism.

Lisl Stich II

'The very nice tram', again written by James Krüss, illustrated by Lisl Stich and published in 1965, has charming pools of illustrations and Lisl's inimitable line.

Lisl Stich I

'Henriette Bimmelbahn', written by James Krüss and illustrates by Lisl Stich (1913-2000) was published in 1958. It has a fascinating graphic style, a crazy mix of watercolour, ink and collage with amazing line work. It is a lovely friendly book with onomatopoeic rhythmic poem as the text. James Krüss and Lisl Stich were the equivalent of Axel Scheffler & Julia Donaldson in the 1950's and 1960's producing cherished children's books with longevity.