MEMORY AND MUCHNESS
Illustrations For The Adventures Of Alice
In Dark Wonderlands &
Shattered Looking Glasses
"The Dormouse had closed its eyes by this time, and was going into a doze; but, on being pinched by the Hatter, it woke up again with a little shriek, and went on: "That begins with an M, such as mouse-traps, and the moon, and memory, and muchness-you know you say things as 'much of a muchness' - did you ever see such a thing as drawing of muchness?"
I started this series shortly before the death of my mother (Alice and the White Rabbit were the last pieces of my art she saw) and the series became a sort of eulogy for her and a working out of my own grief. She had always encouraged me to read and to create and also to believe there is still more than a little magic and wonder in the world.
In 2005 I exhibited most of the series at the Inspired Art Fair in London along with some curious little mirrors that were etched in the glass with tangled vines and leaves and, when one looked into them, showed a character in the series' face instead of your own.
In 2008 I entered 'Memory and Muchness' for the Dulwich Gallery Fairytalle Illustration competeition and won a joint first prize. The competeition was to accompany their exhibition The Age of Enchantment: Beardsley, Dulac and their Contemporaries, 1890 - 1930
You can find my original pages on the series (and also buy prints) here