It’s been a busy year, moving to Suffolk and juggling all sorts of things while settling in. The last few weeks of the year have, as ever, whizzed by – a combination of concerts and book work, school visits, and inevitably exhaustion: Christmas day was spent ill with a streaming cold. But it soon passed, and for once I was grateful to have to time to rest and take stock. I was also grateful to be ill at Christmas rather than in the weeks before, when I had so many exciting projects taking place. Chief amongst them were a couple of concerts. The first, a November concert in Bristol at St. George’s, a gorgeous concert hall, where I had the warmest welcome, and thoroughly enjoyed presenting Saint-Saëns “Carnival of the Animals” to the audience. Ravel’s “Mother Goose” suite and extracts from Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake” filled out the programme, gorgeously played by young pianists Luke Jones and Imy Luc. This was presented as part of the terrific Bristol Keyboard Festival. Here are a few snaps, courtesy of Evan Dawson.
The year ended with a special Christmas concert in Hatfield in December of Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” – Two completely sold out performances with the fabulous de Havilland Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Robin Browning at the University of Hertfordshire. As Godfather Drosselmeyer, I retold Hoffmann’s extraordinary story of “The Mouse King and the Nutcracker” in a sumptuous costume, thanks to Antonio Reche-Martinez. A joyous day of music and art…
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A wonderful way to end a busy year. And next year? I’ll be kicking off with an afternoon workshop and an evening of stories and illustration at the Fisher Theatre in Bungay, Suffolk. These and other events are listed on my EVENTS page of course, and I hope that if you can come to them, you’ll find time to say hello!
But 2019 will be largely a year of books. The new “Gaspard the Fox” book by Zeb Soanes is written; I start the illustration process in January, and the book will be launched in August. I’m in the midst of illustrating “Mrs Noah’s Garden” too, by Jackie Morris, a sequel to “Mrs. Noah’s Pockets” (nominated for the Kate Greenaway Award). That will be published in April 2020.
THERE ARE ALSO TWO VERY EXCITING TOP SECRET BOOK PROJECTS COMING – I’m dying to tell you… but I must wait! All will be revealed VERY SOON!
Last of all, thank you to everyone who supported or helped me this last year. Maybe you follow my #BookIllustrationOfTheDay posts on Twitter, or came to a concert, or bought a book, or attended a workshop. or maybe you just liked something on Facebook or said a kind word when I needed one.
None of it is wasted or forgotten. This remains a lonely and solitary job, and it means the world too me to know that the work I do is liked and appreciated. So thank you and here’s to more adventures in 2019. Happy New Year to you all!
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