Sitting with Jane

I was so delighted to be asked to create a BookBench to kick off the 'Sitting with Jane' project by Wild in Art and Destination Basingstoke.

Firstly I have a soft spot for Basingstoke because my daughter was born there and it's a lovely area. Secondly...the BookBenches are a brilliant idea helping to promote literacy and are also a great canvas to paint, and thirdly Jane Austen was such a wonderful writer!

Sitting with Jane is a unique public art trail to celebrate Jane Austen's connections with Basingstoke and her birthplace Steventon and forms part of a global commemoration of her life in 2017, the 200th Anniversary of her death. 25 BookBenches will form a trail in and around Basingstoke for 12 weeks next summer, which will then be auctioned to help raise funds for the Ark Cancer Centre Charity to go towards a new specialised cancer treatment centre.

                Back of the BookBench showing the front of the house.

When I was considering a design, the idea of a dolls house leapt out at me because it could combine the Regency period which Jane Austen describes so well, with characters and stories. I've always loved dolls houses so researching period style, decorating the rooms with tiny details and imagining the kind of dolls which represent typical Jane Austen characters was huge fun!
There's more info on my design 'The House that Jane Built' on the Sitting with Jane website.

         Front of the BookBench showing the rooms inside the house.

                                  Detail of one of the rooms

Books About Town

My Charles Darwin  bookbench design is now finished. It will be winging it's way to London  very soon to become part of the wonderful Books About Town trails.

Organised by Wild in Art and the National Literacy Trust the project will see dozens of book benches  placed on the streets from 4th July to encourage people to read and support the work of the Literacy Trust.

The special book benches painted by artists and illustrators are all celebrating books that have a connection with the capital, and  they will be auctioned in the autumn to raise funds for the the Literacy Trusts's many important projects.
The bookbenches will be out until 15th Sept, so take a book and enjoy the summer in London!

Charles Darwin inspired book bench design progress

My book bench design inspired by Charles Darwin's 'On the Origin of Species', is progressing well. The design is based on the 'Tree of Life' metaphor that he used to explain the connection between all organisms.

I have used a great variety of leaves on the tree to symbolise the human race. The roots of the tree hold images that represent the history of evolution.... from microscopic life, to fossils and man's ancient early artefacts.

Books About Town is organised by the National Literacy Trust and Wild in Art and aims to celebrate stories linked to London and promote reading for enjoyment.

The benches will start to appear on the streets of London from 4th July and will be in place until early September. They will then be auctioned to raise funds for the work of the National Literacy Trust in helping to raise Literacy levels for people of all ages.

Books About Town Progress on my Bookbench

My fantastic Bookbench was delivered by Charlie from Wild in Art last week. We only just managed to squeeze it through the gate! 

Books About Town  will place a number of Bookbenches around London this summer, which will feature artwork based on books and stories that celebrate links to London and aim to encourage reading for enjoyment.

This is my design inspired by Charles Darwin's 'On the Origin of Species'. 

Darwin moved to London in 1837 to concentrate on publishing his journal and findings from his voyage on the HMS Beagle. He also became a Council member of the Geological Society of London. After 20 years of exhausting  research and work, his theories on evolution, 'On the Origin of Species' was published in 1859. 

It is one of the most important pieces of scientific literature ever written and yet I doubt many people have a copy on their bookshelves!

Here is a work in progress photo...... hoping it won't take me 20 years to finish!

My studio will be open to the public next weekend as part of the Newbridge Arts Trail so anyone can come along then and see how it's progressing.

Books About Town

I'm thrilled to have my 'Tree of Life' design commissioned for Books About Town a public art project for London this summer.

The project is a joint venture between Wild in Art and The National Literacy Trust and will feature a series of BookBenches, individually designed by artists, to celebrate stories linked with London and to promote reading for enjoyment. The benches shaped as open books, will be unveiled in various locations across the capital from July 2014. Well loved illustrators creating designs include Ralph Steadman, Paul Kidby and Lauren Child.

My design is inspired by Charles Darwin's book 'On The Origin of Species' published in 1859. This being such a mammoth topic I chose to concentrate on the concept of the Tree of Life which Darwin used as a metaphor to describe the relationship of all life on earth in an evolutionary context.  There is an excellent documentary on the subject by David Attenborough which you can watch a clip of on the BBC.

Here is a sneak peak at my design. On the back rest of the BookBench I'll be painting a stylised tree with a variety of leaf shapes to represent the variety of species on earth. On the seat will be the roots of the tree, ( to represent the roots of all life on earth) interspersed with simple depictions of the history of the evolutionary changes, from single cell microscopic organisms, to fossils of past life forms and early man's representations of his own species and the animals around him.