The Day finally came. We finally got to travel there again and see the exhibitions on its final day.
The Adventure of Travel/Nature:
It was an adventure traveling there and back, there’s something exciting and frightening about the possibility of not being able to get places or get home in this foreign place. It was beautiful, there in the dark as we panicked about the availability of country buses, I looked, as much as I could through the shadowed landscape, across the empty road at the rolling hills and distant forest. This was definitely not London. I was suddenly hit with a Fear, I thought, wow, this must have been what it felt like in the olden times when villagers had to worry about wolves or crazy murderers roaming around in the dark trees, waiting for the darkness to drape itself onto its valleys for its opportunity to attack. Fear teamed up, laced itself into the promised Darkness every day. Anyway, the brief moments like this during our travels - seeing oversized trees that must have been growing for centuries draping down just touching the grass - crossing a bridge that surely only exists in fairytales - spotting lonely pale benches situated across the river bank, for whom? there was no one here - and the cold, oh the bitter relentless cold, how do these creatures survive ? - moments like these, mark the clear contrast of living in the Big City. Sure, I was born in the very countryside in New Zealand, but as soon as I had a sense of memory I was moved to cities my whole life. Surrounded by cityscape, blocks of glass, reflections upon reflections, trains that lead somewhere that I will never go… it makes you really sad for some reason. So yes, I was very content to be surrounded by nature again - weaved with the sense of being unsafe, naturally, since I was practically brought up with technology and convenience - it felt like a distant dream that I was privileged to be living in that day.
The Exhibition:
We could barely contain our excitement. Walking in with childlike wonder, it was like I was opening my eyes to Quentin Blake for the first time. We were immediately introduced by the original artworks of his iconic works such as Matilda. There was a display showing the pens and quills and inks he used. It was like stepping inside his mind. Seeing so many original artworks up close was an Experience indeed. There’s something really special about seeing the Actual Piece of Paper Mr. Blake planned out his quirky illustrations. Yes, even though it seemed like he did everything by instinct, with his loose strokes and how genius he was as everything came together in perfect unison, he did plan some of his drawings. Everything was done so simply but the emotions, messages he conveyed about the characters, the plot, carried so much complexity. Truly a genius. He also uses my favorite mediums of ink and watercolor. I was surprised at the variations of the works as well, the well-known ones were there, of course, but there was one particular one about war/religious themes. I never would have thought I would live to see a Quentin Blake drawing of a hanging man. It was just amazing, since I was used to seeing his child-friendly works. As I moved through the exhibition I realized I haven’t read very many of the books he worked for, like the Twits. Definitely going to catch up with them. I also just realized - I don’t know why I didn’t before - that he illustrated my all time, All Time, favorite masterpiece of a stop-motion film Fantastic Mr. Fox. * I will look more into his drawings for that later, and compare that to my thoughts on the film.
As mind-blowing the exhibition was so far, the last section made a very, very lasting impression. Again, it was a theme that I didn’t expect at all. It was the original artworks from Michael Rosen’s Sad Book.
One of the most moving things I’ve ever experienced. Blake perfectly captured grief not like an observation or imitation, but like he really experienced it. It made me grieve for someone I haven’t lost yet. And losing loved ones is My Greatest Fear. I was having the idea of doing something to do with grief, and this Fear, and this is definitely a resource I will look at. I do not know a lot of people who have died, none with very close relations to me, but even so I grieved for them immensely. How am I going to survive when my loved ones Pass? I will die the day they do. I’ll expand more on this topic later as I explore the topic of grief. Reading the original email of the text that Rosen sent Blake was an entirely different experience to reading it alongside the illustrations. The text itself seemed like poetry. The last line about the candles rang in my mind again and again. But those drawings! wow. It was like I was the man Blake had illustrated. I felt it - the suffocating darkness, the grief that won’t go away, anywhere I go. I see others and I see my dead son. I see myself and I see him. It was truly harrowing. ‘There must be candles,’ the last page for this, Sad Book really left me in a state of, well, complete GRIEF. Overwhelming, yet a constant, familiar feeling of loss and love for someone who will never return. Hope they have safe travels.
Since we stayed in the exhibition for nearly three hours we lost track of the time we have left so unfortunately had to rush through the Lost Words one. But what I saw in that brief viewing - was mind-blowing as well. Combined with the poetry of Robert Macfarlane, Jackie Moriss’ watercolor illustrations bring to life the ‘lostness’ and playfulness of each animal. It made me want to write and draw freely. I am extremely passionate about Wild Animals, namely foxes, rabbits, and wolves. I would love to draw more or write about them someday. The topic this exhibition was focused on was the gradual disappearance of these precious characters - animals that could cease to exist very soon. A very sad reality explored by a rich fantasy of fiction and art combined. It was wonderful. Made me think of tales using animals as the main characters instead of humans - I’ve been in love with these kind of literature since I really feel like animals convey much more than humans sometimes. So much of children’s literature uses this as well. I remember distinctly the panicked animals in Narnia facing the White Witch. The scurrying rabbits in search for survival in Watership Down. The surreal dictatorship interlaced with humanity in Animal Farm. and of course the wonderful, witty film adaptation of Fantastic Mr. Fox. I have a love for animal being used as subjects in art and literature and this exhibition really satisfied this passion.
**I discovered that Quentin Blake also illustrated for the wonderful poems of Carol Anne Duffy - which inspired me to want to start writing poems and drawing.
*I am admiring how Jackie Morris wonderfully captured my favorite animals
