The Stubborn Light of Things

I had the wonderful opportunity to work with Faber & Faber to illustrate the cover for this wonderful nature diary by Melissa Harrison.

The book follows the author’s journey to reconnecting with nature after becoming accustomed to a city life where one is in many ways detached from it. In London Harrison felt insulated from the cycle of nature, moving from flat to Tube to air-conditioned office and barely noticing the passing of the seasons. After adopting a dog and beginning daily walks, she starts to notice the subtle changes in nature heralding new seasons and soon becomes immersed in joyful observation of nature which is followed from city to countryside

For the illustrations, it was important to convey both the changing seasons as well as the contrast between urban and rural environments. I worked together with art directors Eleanor Crow and Donna Payne who had come up with this brilliant concept of a cut away ‘half-jacket’ where we could show a more stark architectural scene on the jacket and include more wild, overgrown meadows and fields on the hardcover. It cleverly makes the cover stand out amongst other traditional nature books with busier artwork.

I commenced work on this project at the start of the 2020 pandemic when the U.K. was in the first lockdown. During this time I would go for the permitted daily walk and keenly connected to Harrison’s writing. As a muddy winter gave way to a warm and inviting spring, I enjoyed observing and appreciating the nature around me down to the humblest of weeds. I used many of the photos and observations I made on these walks to inform the illustrations in this book.

In addition to the cover illustration I created 6 interior illustrations in linocut (shown below).