Nor could I, until I looked up the date of my very first dictionary commission (a mouse on 1892 dictionary paper)!
These commissions form a large part of my illustration work and I have been lucky enough to paint a variety of animals, birds and plants over the years, specialising mostly in British wildlife, but with a few farm and exotic animals included too. Please look under my Commissions page for more examples.
The dictionaries themselves are very special and very varied in terms of age, paper and condition. I spend a lot of time hunting around for “on their last legs, about to be skipped, pre-1900” dictionaries, (you name it, I’ve been there to try and rescue them!) They may be missing pages, covers, all foxed and unstitched – but to me, that’s all part of their charm.
I have never advertised my dictionary pieces; many people have been recommended to contact me, with a favourite animal/plant/bird in mind for a special gift… I find the appropriate definition in my dictionary and off I go! I’m pretty brave, I paint directly onto the pages and hold my breath…as you can imagine, if I make a mistake, that page is then unusable, and it’s on to the next dictionary.
Sometimes, of course, I don’t have any dictionaries in stock or a particular definition – so it can be a bit of a waiting game! Though that’s all part of the fun.
My mission in life is to offer people something very unique and joyful with these commissions – turning something unloved and forgotten into what I hope is a beautiful and beloved piece of original artwork, finding a home and beginning a new story, for many years to come.
