Cobbling it together

When I was much younger and thought the publishing world would fall at my feet on my graduation day, (1993) I dreamed of important brainstorming meetings, full of ideas whizzing around, ending with a nice lunch at *some little place*. It has taken eighteen long years for it to happen but I am happy to report that the reality is even better than the dream. Planning the world of Puddletown with Templar meant a few visits to the offices, where a few hours would be spent thrashing out the storylines and the basic design of every layer of each spread.

When I arrive at the Templar premises, I'm usually taken to this nice meeting room and offered coffee; much needed as to get here has meant getting up at 6am, to catch the early commuter bus to a train station, finally arriving at about 10.30. My eyes are like slits by now. This particular meeting was to deliver the felt toys for 'Mrs Mouse's Cupcakes' and to go through the next book. To celebrate, cupcakes had been bought in.

I get first pick, choosing the lemon one. This is a cover proposal for the next book, made up by Janie, the designer. Just a dummy. So many mock ups have been made as the formats have gradually evolved. The post-it note is querying the exact shade of blue for the outer frame, such is the level of detail invested in the production. Notice her thick pile of notes beneath.

The big moment, the unveiling of the toys! Although I have emailed jpegs of them to Janie, (who makes my work look beautiful in the books) neither she nor Hannah, the editor, on the right, have seen the real things. I am so lucky to be working with these ladies, who are on the same wave length as I am, which means that planning my books has been such fun. It's almost as if they've been to Puddletown themselves...

Janie, like myself, hates having her photo taken. Hannah has a gorgeous smile! She is the clever hand behind the stories; once we've made ourselves slightly sick on cupcakes, we spend a couple of hours going through the next story, 'Peggy's Lost Pennies'. Hannah takes my ideas, they are thrown into the pot and thrashed out almost word for word (do we use *grinning* or *beaming*? I decide beaming, more in tune with the character). Later she writes up the final story, far better than I could. Janie too puts in ideas for how the storyline develops, so by the end we have all stirred the pot, like three benign witches.

You would not believe how much work goes into producing a simple five page story book. By lunchtime, after an intense morning, with much scribbling, note taking and discussion, we have basically sorted out 'Peggy's Lost Pennies' and are ready for lunch. At *some little place*, just as I used to dream of. Lots of gossip and chat, because although Janie and Hannah are work colleagues, we all get on very well. And, because it is my big day out, I am treated to ice cream. Days like this are very special indeed.

A plea for help

I believe that the Puddletown books were offered in an Easter giveaway in a magazine called the Sunday Post Extra - I think I've missed the boat in finding a copy, so if anyone has the page (45) and is willing to send it to me, I'd willingly swap it for a pack of postcards like these.

A secret revealed

At last I can let out my breath; I have finally received my advance copies of the most exciting job I have ever worked on. And work it certainly was. Blog followers who've had the patience to stick around this quiet place might remember that I spent the first half of last year working on *stuff* which rendered me an exhausted hermit. And here is the first fruit.

'Mrs Mouse's Cupcakes ' April 2011 available for pre-order on Amazon.co.uk

Yes. My needle felt toys now have their own little world, 'Puddletown Tales', published by Templar UK. It has been over two years in the making; one year of waiting to hear if the books were going ahead, six months of creating them and then a long, slow wait for the first copies to arrive this week. Regular readers may recognise the mouse on the front, a bit altered from the original.

Dear Andy has looked after me for nearly twenty years. We aren't married, but we have stuck to each other like glue and he has been there for me all the time, solid as a tall oak tree. It hasn't always been easy, especially during the ten years when it seemed as if I would never get a break. Without his support, this book may not have happened. So this first *all me* book is dedicated to him. There is also a beautiful introduction composed by Hannah Wilson the editor.




Friends will know I adore silhouettes. They aren't terribly commercial, but Janie the designer (who shares my love) squeezed one in as the Puddletown logo - naturally, a goose. Although this first book has no geese in, long time readers will know that I have a 'thing' about needle felt geese and they star in the next title.




The first spread is flat. Every penny counts in book production and we had to choose between having the multi-layered cover (expensive) or five pop up spreads. So one pop-up scene was sacrificed to pay for the simply gorgeously produced cover.



Quite often I unconsciously drew on familiar home surroundings to create Mrs Mouse's little home.




The actual book design was put together by my friend and designer Janie. All the artworks were done as spots or separate layers and the needle felt characters photographed in-house at Templar by William Steele. I did enjoy making the cupcakes!




Thankfully in these days of Photoshop and digital magic, single items can be manipulated and reproduced, saving a lot of work.




I was allowed to more or less indulge myself to my heart's content, which (as my fellow professional illustrators will know) is quite a rare and wonderful thing. The cake which Kitty Blue is pulling is just one example.




And of course, there had to be toadstools of some kind, illustrated and needle felted. ( am a very keen mushroom spotter and sometime gatherer).




There are a few little 'in-jokes' in the final spread.




For instance, this little picture of trees by moonlight...





...is *rather* similar to one we have hanging on a beam in our own tiny cottage.




It's a photo of a mixed media/textile illustration I made an awfully long time ago at college in 1993.





On this side you can see a grandfather clock which has a tiny wooden mouse on one side, referencing one of my favourite furniture makers, Robert 'Mouseman' Thompson.




And to end with (you will be relieved to hear) a cheeky nod to my own Red Flannel Elephant Designs logo, which anyone who has bought my cards or toys will recognise.

Thirty one years ago, a sad, angry and very alone twelve year old orphan stood under a favourite tree. Her parents had died, one after the other, in the space of a few months - her mother had passed away at Christmas. Now she was off to a strange new foster home - God help her, she didn't know then that it was to be as unkind as it was.

She stood under that tree, looked at the sky and whispered 'I will become an artist for you Dad and a writer for you Mum'. She swallowed the many tears that she couldn't bring herself to shed and walked off to her new - and very uncertain - future. Well Mum, Dad - it took three decades, but I finally got there. For you. With cupcakes.

The High Life

'Oooh it must be lovely to be a children's illustrator'...yes, it certainly beats mowing graveyards, washing up, cleaning, selling pine furniture and stacking supermarket shelves, all of which I have done in my time until fairly recently. These jobs all have one thing in common - a regular (if not gargantuan) wage. But next time you pick up a picture book, ponder this: for every pretty picture there will have been hours, days or even weeks of brainstorming, rough sketching, too-ing and fro-ing between artist/art director and maybe others, not to mention the final art work. There is the design, the text setting, the layout, the choice of paper/book size, the printing and colour proofing; it often takes about 14 months or so for a book to come to the shelf, and that is on a good day - sometimes it can take years. But not in my case.

It has to be art worked by the second week in July. So, a last minute request from my lovely publishers, to thrash out the first half of the project meant that I found my self travelling (via motorbike and train) to the outskirts of London, and a meeting with my Art Director. If you had to have classes in 'How to be a Brilliant Art Director', she would be the model example. We've known each other for quite a while now, and the first hour or so was spent yakkering about juicy news, all of which made me practically faint with excitement and none of which must pass my lips until it is in the public domain. With the yakkering came a shower of hardback picture books; many of my favourite illustrators work with Templar, including Alison Jay, who creates some of the most gorgeous images, using lush, rich colours; I can lose myself in her work...

'Counting'

'The Race'

'The Emperor's New Clothes'

'My Grandpa's Amazing Inventions'

'Beowulf'

Soon I had a comforting stack of bookish treasure to take home, including a limited edition of 'Varmints' signed (SIGNED!!!!) by the wonderful author/illustrator Helen Ward (article link) and Marc Craste.





You know the to-die-for Lloyds Bank adverts? That's him. Stunning work. Invent a new word for it, stunning is not enough.

'VARMINTS'

If you like Shaun Tan's work, you will love this - buy it. Just buy it. It is marvellous.


Templar Publishing have relocated from a lovely converted Mill to an equally delightful old Granary, so there was a tour of the new premises and I was introduced to the members of the production team for my small contribution to their new list - the production room being very large and a quiet bustle of designers and creatives working away on numerous titles. Up to the top level, where the art directors roost - and finding a few familiar faces last seen in the wee hours of the morning round a camp fire at the brilliant Templar party, two years ago. Having said that my AD is marvellous, it should be added that Templar, as a company, not only produce some of the finest, most innovative books in the UK, but are a shining light in what can be a pretty cut-throat business. Publishers - especially the very big ones, who are more like corporations - sadly do not always treat their freelancers as well as they could do. There are horror stories...but Templar are wonderfully friendly, inclusive, respectful and all round Good Eggs.

'Wizardology' from the famous 'ology' series. Website at www.ologyworld.com

Back down to the senior AD's office, (another familiar face) and more heart-palpitating inside knowledge about future publications (I have now stitched my lips together, so don't even ask!) and finally back to the board room and a highly intense, enjoyable three hour session spent working out the details of the new book. We were so absorbed we lost track of time, and thinking it must be about midday and time for lunch, we were startled to find it was nearly two...

'Monsterology'

Lunch was an informal but delicious affair at Pizza Express, courtesy of Templar and there was more - much more - chattering. About two hours later we sleepily emerged, full of garlicky carbs, and strolled back through Dorking Center, past the old church with its albino squirrel, to collect my large pile of work-to-do and of course, my books.




The final cherry on what had been a monumental gateaux cake of a day was bumping into one of my all time favourite illustrators - and his agent - Simon Bartram. We shook hands and I went all quiet and shy and went a bit pink; as you do when you meet one of your heroes. (Earlier I had also had the privilege of seeing some of his original artwork for his next book, which was breathtaking).

More Alison Jay: baby board books in a box - absolutely delightful!

I managed to get my precious books all packed and waterproofed (another British summer and therefore a seasonally rainy day). I made the trek back home, finally arriving, after two crowded trains and a bus, in Witney at 8pm (having left home at 6.15 that morning) and was whisked back via motorbike through wet, green country lanes, home. Wonderful home.

Through my little visit, I snagged another toy order; I'm trying to get the needle felting done at night after I've spent a good stint in the studio and I am going to be somewhat absorbed until mid-summer. But yes, on the whole, it IS lovely being a children's illustrator. Toymaker. Card company. Gardener. Head Cake-Maker. Housewife.

'The Wind in the Willows' illustrated by the Great Robert Ingpen. My favourite book. Ever.

"Home! That was what they meant, those caressing appeals, those soft touches wafted through the air, those invisible little hands pulling and tugging, all one way...shabby indeed, and small and poorly furnished, and yet his, the home he had made for himself, the home he had been so happy to get back to after his day's work..."

excerpt, 'Dolce Domum' , Wind in the Willows

Templar party

I've been drifting for a couple of weeks...done not-a-lot, especially not artwork. Needed a break. Got a bit bored by the end. So, the invitation to attend Templar's summer party seemed like an ideal way to round off July. Held in the lush, cushioned landscape of Surrey, it was no ordinary bash; no hot offices, warm white wine and sweating canapes.

This was more like an informal wedding reception, with camping. It took me two buses, two trains, another bus and, after a much needed pint of London Pride at the village pub, nearly 2 miles walking with a large rucksack to get to the venue. It was quite refreshing to see different countryside; as I rarely leave our patch of Oxfordshire, I get pathetically excited at seeing different field layouts, and stonework in cottages. More red brick and darker stone. Very pretty.

Just when I was thinking I was on a long, winding road to nowhere, I found the promised balloons - red and black, as the party theme was pirates, celebrating the launch of Piratology.

At last...at last...after another 20 minutes I reached the site. Someone kindly took me under their wing and helped me put my tent up, (although I still had to ring Andy at work for a bit of help with where the poles should go...). It wasn't quite right, but we agreed it would do for one night. Then it was off for mingling and hopefully beer. Everyone was so friendly - I hovered on the edges at first, feeling like a spare part, but the MD herself bounded up to me, introduced herself and led me to where a whole keg of London Pride was about to be tapped...after that, it was fine. There was a country band playing, the ubiquitous bouncy castle, hog roast, bowls of salads, a 'publishers amount' of alcohol and a warm, friendly atmosphere, with lots of children and dogs tumbling about having fun.

Several people from the company knew my name, and to my delight, two of the other three 'Princess's Handbook' illustrators were there - Georgina Mcbain and Sophie Alsop. We got together with our lovely (and incredibly patient) art director, and the writer, Stella Gurney and compared notes on the project. We were all thrilled to hear that although the UK version is not due out for a couple of months, it has been taken on in the US by the mighty Candlewick Press, which is very promising for sales. 'The Numptys' came up in conversation...sent to them in April and apparently vanished into the ether. Promises were made to find and review them. As well, to my mixed terror and wonder, I was introduced to one of my illustration heroes, Helen Ward, who is, in my opinion, one of the UK's most skilled picture book artists. I went kind of quiet...and didn't really know what to say. As you do. Or rather, don't.


With a few more beers, some foot tapping to the nightime band performing barn-storming covers, it was soon way past my bedtime. I accepted someone's offer to walk back to the camping field, thinking I was headed for bed and blissful sleep, when I saw, in the distance, a large campfire. The party beyond the party. Where I got to talk sensibly to Helen Ward, about this and that, and got another promise from someone else within the company to find the Numptys. In fact, with one thing and another, I didn't get to bed till the sun was pushing the night sky up. I did very well on four hours sleep, scrounged a lift to the train station and repeated my journey backwards. Met Andy with bike at the new cricket field, and we watched our side Eynsham win a legendary Airey Cup game against Tetsworth - now we go into the final!