(Above) cassiaslightbox.blogspot.com
Exhibition: Escape to Wonderland – A History of Children’s Book Illustration, The Lightbox, Woking, until January 2 2011
“The only thing I don’t like about this sort of thing is the decision making,” says Cassia Thomas, reporting back from her attempt to pick three pieces of her work for this show.
“I’m terrible at making decisions. I can’t even choose what cereal to have for breakfast.”
When she was asked to be part of this chronological journey through children’s book art through the ages, the illustrator responded with the ultimate display of excitement – she started her own blog about it.
Starring alongside the likes of Raymond Briggs’ Snowman and Quentin Blake’s Roald Dahl-inspired witches and giants, the Surrey artist has recreated an area of her studio for installation The Day in the Life of an Illustrator, including an audio interview where she sounds “like an infant mouse doing a bad Michael Jackson impression.”
More than 100 works from three centuries of illustration are covered in the surrounding exhibition, set among three-metre high books and lifesize models of well-known characters.
The show is a dead cert for kids, complete with crayon packs, drawing workshops, creative writing sessions and all the leaps of imagination you’d expect pictures of Rupert Bear and Alice in Wonderland to stir, but it’s also an evocative treat for adults.
“There’s something very special about the idea that whatever age you are, you’ll be able to see images from your own childhood,” says Thomas.
“I’m particularly interested in seeing Anthony Browne’s work – I’m a sucker for detail. And from yesteryear, I feel I may be drooling openly at a glimpse of Tenniel’s work.”
Thomas has launched an illustration competition for visitors to dream up their own underworlds, encouraging wannabe winners to escape their comfort zone.
“It is good to conquer things you find difficult to draw,” she points out. “But I usually find there is a way of doing this more organically than forcing yourself to sit there and torture yourself over it.
“For example, I'm not that strong at drawing buildings, but I'm pretty sure I'd make a darned good stab at rising to the challenge if I were given a sketchbook and a beautiful, empty ornate theatre.
“Often I find what I'm most pleased with in the end was the thing I was most worried about drawing in the first place.”
Admission free. Visit the exhibition online for full accompanying listings.
For more on Cassia Thomas, visit her website, blog or Facebook page.
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