Spotlight | Shaun Tan

Shaun Tan and a selection of his books.

Shaun Tan is an Australian artist and writer. He is, in fact, one of my favourite artists, hence why I had to include him and his work in my spotlight series – in which I highlight my favourite things from the bookish world.

Tan’s work often sits on the boundary between this world and the fantastical, with elements of nature, technology and fairy tales serving as clear inspiration. He writes and illustrates original works, serves as an illustrator and cover designer for others, and also crafts ‘silent graphic novels’, which are stories told entirely through pictures, with no words whatsoever.

Some examples of Tan’s beautiful art, taken from various works.

In his art, Tan creates ethereal worlds, populated by captivating scenery and dreamlike creatures, but often uses these seemingly bizarre creations to make commentary on contemporary, real world issues (like The Arrival focussing on the immigrant experience, and The Red Tree exploring the feeling of depression). As such, I think he will appeal to those who enjoy surrealist art, but like stories that retain a grounding in our own world.

Some more examples of Tan’s artwork.

He works in a number of different mediums, and has even adapted his art into an Academy Award winning short film. He is also a skilled sculptor. One of my favourites amongst his books, in fact, is The Singing Bones, which comprises a series of sculptures depicting tableaus of classic tales and characters from the works of the Brothers Grimm.

Fairy tale inspired sculptures from The Singing Bones.

As with any artist, there’s not much else that needs to be said, other than to let his work speak for itself.

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Spotlight | Dieter Braun

Dieter Braun

Today in my series all about sharing bookish love, I’m shining the spotlight on Dieter Braun, a German illustrator who has released two companion books, Wild Animals of the North and Wild Animals of the South. Each celebrates the variety of species native to its respective hemisphere, with the animals depicted in Braun’s gorgeously vibrant and expressive art style that has an almost geometric inspired quality to it, making it a unique and instantly recognisable style that I love. I could open either of his books on pretty much any random page and would happily have it framed on my wall.

The pictures are accompanied by simple but fun facts about the animals’ characteristics, habitats and suchlike, like how a single humpback whale can weigh as much as six adult African elephants; giraffes have the same number of vertebrae in their necks as humans; and macaws can live for up to 60 years and mate for life. These add an extra layer to the books and make them suitable for all ages, which I also really appreciate. In fact, I think they would make particularly wonderful gifts for any lover of nature or art.

Aside from that, there’s not much else to say, so I’ll just let his work speak for itself.

Some examples of Braun’s beautiful artwork, taken from his two books.

Spotlight | Robert Ingpen

Robert Ingpen

It’s been a while since I’ve posted an instalment in my spotlight series, in which I highlight a person, place or thing from the bookish world that I love. Today is the turn of Robert Ingpen, an illustrator and writer from Australia who is probably best known for his beautiful artistic interpretation of several children’s classics, including the likes of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Peter Pan and Wendy, The Jungle Book and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, to name just a few. Many of these are available in lovely unabridged hardback editions from Templar Publishing, which are my favourite editions to collect with regards to Ingpen’s work.

His style is warm, colourful, enchanting, and expressive yet detailed; perfectly suited to the charm and whimsy of timeless tales such as those mentioned above. I think he has a particular flair for depicting animals, which form some of my favourite pieces by him.

Some examples of Ingpen’s animal portraits

There’s not much else that needs to be said, really. Instead, I think I’ll just let his work speak for itself and urge you all to check him out if you haven’t already.

Some more of my favourite pieces by Ingpen

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Do you have any books illustrated by Ingpen? Which is your favourite?

Let’s Recommend | Art & Photography Books

Let’s recommend some books about art and photography.

This time I’ve decided to recommend books that centre around art and photography. I’m certainly not claiming to be either an artist or a photographer, but I do enjoy both mediums and appreciate a beautiful book that celebrates them, so let’s get started.

The Singing Bones by Shaun Tan

Tan is one of my favourite artists in general and in this book, he combines his beautiful work with another of my loves: fairy tales. Each double spread has an excerpt from one of the classic Grimm tales on one side and a sculpture inspired by it on the other. His pieces are visually striking and wonderfully successful in capturing the eerie mood of the original stories that we know and love.

Some examples of Tan’s fairy tale inspired sculptures.

Georgia O’Keeffe Museum Collections by Barbara Buhler Lynes

O’Keeffe is another of my favourite artists and this hefty hardback was produced to mark the 10^th anniversary of The Georgia O’Keeffe Museum in New Mexico, the largest collection of her work in the world. It includes many high-quality reproductions of her pieces and helps to show how broad her style was.

Some examples of O’Keeffe’s work.

Some more examples of O’Keeffe’s work.

Wonderland by Kirsty Mitchell

This might be an odd one for me to recommend in that I don’t actually own it myself. Retailing for about £100, I haven’t been able to justify buying it (though it is huge and incredibly high-quality). Mitchell’s stunning photographs are like the aesthetic of my dreams, however, so if like me you want to aspire towards owning it one day, or if unlike me you happen to be very wealthy, I thought it was worth a shout-out.

Some examples of Mitchell’s Wonderland series.

Some more examples of Mitchell’s Wonderland series.

Photos That Changed the World by Peter Stepan

This is one for those who maybe aren’t looking for ‘beautiful’ photographs as much as they are looking for influential ones, or those that show the effectiveness and importance of the form in documenting history.

Art Made from Books by Laura Heyenga

This one’s a bit meta, as it’s a collection of work by various artists who all use actual books as the medium with which they create their pieces, from sculptures made with paper to book spines lined up to form a canvas, and pretty much anything else you can imagine. There’s a big variety of different styles and ideas in here, and it’s definitely one for those who appreciate the beauty to be found in books as a physical object.

A sample of the kind of work to be found in Art Made from Books.

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What are some of your favourite books about art and photography?

It’s All a Matter of Taste

I unashamedly judge books by their covers. There, I said it. This obviously doesn’t mean that I will read a book purely for its cover, nor would I dismiss a book simply due to a bad cover, but there’s no denying that one of the first things to grab my attention is beautifully designed artwork, so much so that I’ve often been known to pay more to get different editions shipped internationally because I much preferred the covers.

With all that said, there are many stunning covers on my shelves (and many more I would like to add to them in the future) and when thinking recently about what my tastes seem to be, I noticed two main trends amongst many of my favourite covers. Firstly, I seem to prefer artistic rather than photographic covers, and secondly, I evidently love animal motifs. I thought it was interesting that without even realising it, I had a ‘type’ as it were when it comes to what hooks me in. Here are some examples, some of which I already own; others I hope to get my hands on one day; all of which I love:

The Gracekeepers, Vixen and The Raven King.

The Tusk That Did the Damage, The Collector, The Maker of Swans and The Crane Wife.

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Have you noticed any trends in what attracts you to a book cover?

Poetry in Song

One of my favourite quotes

It’s just a quick, random little post today because I wanted to share a lovely bit of trivia.

I’ve long maintained that a good poem can feel incredibly lyrical and rhythmic, and that a well written song reads like a poem in its own right. I thusly found it really interesting to hear that in Japan, the word ‘uta’ can apparently be used to mean both ‘poetry’ and ‘song’.

I don’t think it can be a coincidence that the country often considered the hub of great poetry writing has noticed and embraced this obvious connection between the two forms.

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Do you have any fun or interesting language facts to share?

Sharing Beauty

There’s no more precious gift than beautiful art.

I had a tricky relationship with poetry for a long time. It was something I found fascinatingly powerful as a reader yet entirely unapproachable as a writer. To try and rectify this, I made a conscious decision in the New Year to produce a lot more of my own poems and for better or worse, I’m glad I did. Naturally, when looking to write more poetry, I also spent more time reading it and decided it would be nice to share a few of my favourite poems with anyone else who may be interested in the beauty the written word has to offer.

Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep – Mary Elizabeth Frye: This is, in my eyes, one of the most poignant pieces ever written and it has been a huge influence on my own work. Hauntingly simplistic in its use of language, yet utterly moving in its sheer beauty; I adore it. Allegedly Frye had never written any poetry before and scrawled this verse on a paper shopping bag. Even as it grew in popularity, she only ever circulated it privately, never seeking formal recognition through publishing or copyrighting the piece. This origin story only makes me love and appreciate it even more.

Revelation – Liz Lochhead: I think Lochhead is one of Scotland’s finest poets. I remember first reading Revelation (largely about a loss of childhood innocence) years ago and its vivid use of imagery that engage the senses has stayed with me ever since. It’s very accessible yet no less commanding.

Still Falls the Rain – Edith Sitwell: This incredibly powerful poem is somewhat ‘heavier’ than I normally read and enjoy but something about it just totally engaged my mind. Sitwell’s war imagery is incredible and though it took me a few readings to fully appreciate its many layers, the piece is now one of my firm favourites.

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings – Maya Angelou: Easy to read yet hard-hitting in its message, this poem can resonate in so many ways. The inspiration is touching and the imagery hugely effective.

I could go on, as there are many poems that I love. In the spirit of not rambling on too much however and at risk of inevitably forgetting some, I will leave it at that for now. If you read any of them, I hope you enjoy them as much as I did and please do share any poems you like in the comments. I would love to check them out.