~Michael Parkes~

Michael Parkes was born in 1944 in
Sikeston, Missouri. He is an American-born
artist living in Spain who is best known for work in
the areas of fantasy art and magic realism.
He specializes in painting, stone lithography
and sculpture. Parkes' work is widely
available in the form of
self published mass production poster prints
and nine published books.
 
  As a student, Parkes was fascinated by
various graphic processes, and he later became
proficient in the difficult medium of the colour
stone lithograph. Many of his recent works have
been produced as Aurographics, limited
edition giclée prints.

 
Parkes well-known magic realist posters include
Gargoyles, Deva, Swan Lake, Tuesday's Child,
Athena, The Creation, Desert Dream, Water Music,
Circus Memories, Returning Home, Maria (Detail),
The Source, Leda's Daughter, Magic Spring, Dawn,
The Mask, Puppet Master, and Desert Lotus.

At least ten of Parkes works have been used
as cover illustrations, including Omni
(Dec 1980, June 1980, Nov 1981),
The Best of Omni Science Fiction, No. 6 (1983),
Omni Best Science Fiction One (1992),
Omni Best Science Fiction Three (1993),
Full Spectrum 5 (1995, 1996) and ParaSpheres:
Extending Beyond the Spheres of Literary and
Genre Fiction: Fabulist and
New Wave Fabulist Stories (2006)
A Parkes sculpture, Angel Affair (2004),
was the Sep/Oct 2004 cover illustration for the
Dutch-language Fine Arts Magazine, which also
contained a feature article on one of Parkes'
exhibitions in the Netherlands.

A Word from Michael: Some believe that long ago
devas (guardian angels) were given the task
of creating our physical universe.
Her sits the deva of dragonflies, resting, as an artist
would, after creating her work of art. 

   
www.theworldofmichaelparkes.com/

~Julie Baroh~

 Julie Baroh is born Aug 4, 1970 in
Seattle, Washington.

   
Julie has been drawing since the age of two;
she just naturally picked it up and started going,
although her father was also an artist and really
encouraged her to keep doing art. She made
several little books as a kid, and still loves
making art books now.

Children's book art are a huge influence on her,
artists like Howard Pyle, Arthur Rackham,
Edmund Dulac, Edward Gorey really worked her
imagination as a child. Contemporary artists like
Brian Froud and Alan Lee also are a big influence
for Julie, and she shamelessly imitates all her idols.

   

“I see my work maturing and coming into it’s own.
I am still very young and I am learning
new things all the time.
I have no idea what the future will bring.
That’s the fun of it all”

http://www.juliebaroh.com/

Julie Baroh werd geboren op 4 Aug, 1970 in
Seattle, Washington.

Ze begon met tekenen toen ze een jaar of 2 was.
Haar vader die zelf ook een kunstenaar is,
spoorde haar aan, Ze heeft als kind een paar
kleine boekjes uitgegeven met haar tekeningen!

Kunstenaars zoals Howard Pyle, Arthur Rackham,
Edmund Dulac, Edward Gorey
hadden een grote invloed op haar werk, maar ook
Brian Froud en Alan Lee. ’schaamteloos’
om te oefenen deed ze hun werk kopiëren.
Ze zegt zelf dat ze nog jong is en nog steeds
dagelijks leert.
Ze heeft geen idee wat de toekomst brengt en
dat is ook juist het leuke eraan!

~Charles van Sandwyk~Illustrator

 
Charles Noel van Sandwyk was born May 12, 1966.
in Johannesburg, South Africa 
In 1977, he emigrated with his family to Vancouver,
Canada. By the early 1980's, he was selling his
drawings and watercolours in a style reminiscent of
the old prints and paintings which hung
in the family home.

His English mother and Dutch father were avid
nature watchers. As a young child, he spent
many hours with his parents and older brother observing
the wonders of birds and animals in the local landscape.

Van Sandwyk studied graphic design at the
Capilano College art programme in North Vancouver.
Upon completion in 1986, the wanderlust of younger
years sent him travelling to the South Pacific.
He discovered the Fiji Islands, and fell in love with
a remote island and its inhabitants.
In that same year, van Sandwyk won an
Alcan award for his limited edition book
A Selection of Neighbourly Birds,
illustrated with etchings printed on an antique
intaglio press. This first attempt at publishing
prompted a passionate venture into the world of
handmade and private press books and prints.

He began to divide his time equally between
Vancouver and Fiji, leasing land from the neighbouring
family and building for himself a simple home of grass thatch, in the traditional island style. Van Sandwyk settled into a pleasurable routine of winter seasons in Fiji
filled with painting and writing, the results of which
were brought back to Canada each summer and prepared
for exhibition and publication each autumn.

 

His watercolours, etchings and books are now
collected across North America and in Europe.
The National Library of Canada has maintained archives
on his work since 1986, and in 1992 purchased the original drawings and paintings for his children's book
The Parade to Paradise.
The book Wee Folk won Juror's Choice award
at the 1994 Seattle Book Fair, and also third prize
at the Alcuin Awards '95 for limited editions.
Van Sandwyk continues to divide his time
between Vancouver and his beloved Fiji.

Charles Noel van Sandwyk werd geboren op
12 Mei 1966.
in Johannesburg, Zuid Afrika.
In 1977, verhuisde ze met de hele familie
naar Vancouver in Canada.
Zijn moeder is Engelse en z’n vader een Nederlander.

Als jongeman heeft hij veel gereisd over de wereld
zodoende leerde hij de magie kennen van de Fiji eilanden
en werd verliefd op dit eiland en zijn bewoners waar hij tegenwoordig grotendeels van het jaar woont.
De rest van het jaar woont en werkt hij
in Deep Cove, North Vancouver.

Hij heeft vele Awards op zijn naam staan,
zoals de Alcan Award, voor zijn eerste eigen boek
’A Selection of Neighbourly Birds’


Enkele van zijn werken:

-2002 Illustrated "The Blue Fairy Book"
-2004 Published "Mr Rabbit's Christmas Wish"
-2005 Illustrated "The Wind in the Willows"
-2006 Published "Sketches From the Dream Island of Birds"
-2007 Published "Twenty-one years, Twenty-one Prints"
-2008 Published Mr. Rabbit's Symphony of Nature"

~Poem~Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll

Illustrated by Paula Cassidy
 
'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

 

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"

 

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood a while in thought.

 

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

 

One two! One two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

 

"And hast thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
Oh frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!"
He chortled in his joy.

 

'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.

~Kate Greenaway~Illustrator

 
“Living in that childish wonder is a most
beautiful feeling
—I can so well remember it.
There was always something more—
behind and beyond everything—to me,
the golden spectacles were very, very big.”
~Kate Greenaway~

Originally named Catherine, Kate was
born on March 17, 1846 in Hoxton, North London.
Her father John Greenaway was a master engraver
and her mother, Elizabeth Catherine Jones, was an
accomplished seamstress. Kate’s choice of
profession was clearly influenced by John Greenaway.
They had a special bond and he served as a
guiding force throughout her life. It is often
thought that he was Kate’s biggest influence,
however, her mother influenced her subject
matter more than any one.

Money was always tight because John supported
his widowed mother and two unmarried sisters as
well as his growing family. When times got tough,
Elizabeth took financial matters into her own hands.
She moved the family to Islington and opened a
dress shop making clothing for children.
She was so successful that she had to hire outworkers.
Later, she expanded her services to include millinery,
underclothing and eventually lady’s clothing.

Kate lived a happy and carefree childhood.
She enjoyed watching the well dressed people
come in and out of the shop. She had a
photographic memory and many of the outfits
her mother made reappeared in her books later.
For the most part, Kate was left on her own
to explore her surroundings and daydream. 

Her first book with Evans, ‘Under the Window’,
came out in October of 1879. Evan’s was so taken
with Kate’s drawings that no expense was spared.
He used four color blocks to reproduce her
delicate watercolors—red, blue, yellow and flesh.
The publisher, Routledge, advised Evan’s against
a large printing but the 20,000 copies sold almost
immediately and Evans had to produce
a second printing of 70,000.

Her earnings allowed her and her father to
share expenses for a nicer home in a higher
class neighborhood. She now had room for a
studio and garden. Kate worked everyday in
her studio from eight until one. She would
draw from her child models or manikins dressed
in the outfits that she designed and sewed herself.
She spent her afternoons walking or window shopping,
returning home later for the highlight of her day,
afternoon tea. In the summer, she had tea in
her beautiful garden where she would plant
the flowers that she would need in her illustrations.
Night time was spent reading or sewing.

For the next several years, Kate and Evans
collaborated on several more books, all of
which did well. Evans also convinced her
to illustrate her first Almanack in 1883,
which sold over 90,000 copies. Eventually Kate
was to receive five pounds per drawing
and half of the profits.

 
A few children books:
-Under the Window (1879)
-Mother Goose (1881)
-A Day in a Child’s Life (1882)
-Little Ann - A Book (1883)
-The Language of Flowers (1884)
-Marigold Garden (1885)
-Kate Greenaway's Alphabet (1885)
-Birthday Book (1886)
-The Pied Piper of Hamelin (1888)

Discover the magic and enchantment

~Angels~

 

Who are without mercy,
Who confide in trumpet flowers,
Who carry loose change in their pockets,
Who dress in black velvet,
Who wince and fidget like bats,
Who balance their haloes on hatracks,
Who watch reruns of famine,
Who powder their noses with pollen,
Who laugh and unleash earthquakes,
Who sidle in and out of our dreams
Like magicians, like childhood friends,
Who practice their smiles like pirates,
Who exercise by walking to Zion,
Who live on the edge of doubt,
Who cause vertigo but ease migraines,
Who weep milky tears when troubled,
Whose night sweats engender the plague,
Who pinion their arms to chandeliers,
Who speak in riddles and slant rhymes,
Who love the weak and foolhardy,
Who lust for unripe persimmons,
Who scavenge the fields for lost souls,
Who hover near lighthouses,
Who pray at railroad crossings,
Who supervise the study of rainbows,
Who cannot blush but try,
Who curl their hair with corkscrews,
Who honeymoon with Orion,
Who are not wise but pure,
Who behave with impious propriety,
Who hourly scour our faces with hope,
Whose own faces glow like radium,
Whom we've created in our own form,
Who are without mercy, seek and yearn
To return us like fossilized roses
To the wholeness of our original bloom.

~Poem by Maurya Simon~

~Amy Millicent Sowerby~

 Illustrations from the First edition of Childhood
by Millicent Sowerby, published by Chatto & Windus 1907.
This is Milicent Sowerby's 3rd illustrated book.

Millicent Sowerby was born in Northumberland,
England, in 1878-1967 the daughter of designer
and illustrator John G. Sowerby.
Her style was clearly influenced
by the famed Victorian illustrator Kate Greenaway,
usually depicting innocent children at play using
flat colors and strong outlines.

 

Millicent Sowerby werd geboren in Northumberland
in Engeland in 1878, en is overleden in 1967.
Ze was de dochter van de ontwerper
en illustrator John. G. Sowerby.
Haar stijl van tekenen werd sterk beïnvloed
door Kate Greenaway, en vaak koos ze kinderen
die zaten te spelen, om te tekenen in zachte kleuren!

  
Finding encouragement at home, Sowerby started
painting at an early age. She took some art classes
for several years but distance prevented her from
attending them for more than two days a week.
Mostly, she was self-taught, learning from
the work of other illustrators.
Thuis werd ze gestimuleerd om te schilderen
zodoende volgde ze lessen maar vanwege
de lange afstand
kon ze er maar 2x per week naar toe.
Hoofdzakelijk heeft ze zichzelf alles zelf aangeleerd!

In an attempt to help their family’s finances,
Sowerby and her sister Githa collaborated on
children’s books. Githa wrote the stories and
verses while Sowerby illustrated them for over
twenty years. Sowerby was also a prolific illustrator
of children’s picture post cards, depicting scenes from Shakespeare, and Kate Greenaway type girls.
Later, she designed thirty sets of cards for a
yearly series called ‘Postcards for the Little Ones’.

 
When Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland went out of
copyright in 1907, like other illustrators,
Sowerby was commissioned to illustrate it.
Millicent Sowerby werd uitkozen om
Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland te illustreren!

Well into her eighties, Sowerby remained
a watercolorist and painted flowers.
Toen ze eenmaal 80jaar was geweest
schilderde ze nog steeds met waterverf
en schilderde meestal bloemen!

“It has always been the beautiful in childhood
that has attracted me. I love flowers and bright colours,
and I generally use these in the backgrounds
for my paintings of children.”

Enkele door haar geïllustreerde boeken:
A few books:
-Sowerby, Githa, The Wise Book, Dent, 1906.
-Carroll, Lewis, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 1908.
-Sowerby, Githa, Childhood, London, 1907,
-Sowerby, Githa, The Bumbletoes, 1907.
-Sowerby, Githa, The Merry Book, 1908.
-Sowerby, Githa, Yesterday’s Children, 1908.
-Sowerby, Githa, The Happy Book, 1909.
-Stevenson, Robert Louis, A Child’s Garden of Verses, 1909.
-Stevenson, Robert Louis, Grimm’s Fairy Tales, 1909.
-My Own Picture Book (with Anne Anderson),  1930.

~Hilda T.Miller~

The Island

I know an island in a lake,
Green upon waters grey,
It has a strange enchanted air;
I hear the fairies singing there

When I go by that way.
They guard their hidden dwelling-place
With bands of stalwart reeds,
But sometimes, by a happy chance,
I see them all come out and dance

Upon the water-weeds.
One night, one summer night, I know
Suddenly I shall wake,
And very softly hasten down
And out beyond the sleeping town

To find my fairy lake.
I shall not need to seek a boat,
It will be moored, I think,
Within a tiny pebbled bay
Where meadow-sweet and mallow sway

Close to the water’s brink.
The moon from shore to shadowy shore
Will make a shining trail,
And I shall sing their fairy song
As joyfully I float along -
I shall not need a sail.

~Book: 
The Rose Fyleman Fairy Book by Rose Fyleman (1923)