The Enchanted Forest: Celebrating 200 years of Grimm’s Fairy Tales

The Enchanted Forest

Celebrating 200 years of Grimm’s Fairy Tales

Wednesday 28 November – Saturday 8 December

FREE Exhibition

The first ever collection of Grimm’s fairy tales, entitled “Children’s and Household Tales”, was published in December of 1812, and two hundred years later it is still thrilling children and adults alike. To celebrate two hundred years of enchantment and magic; seven young up and coming illustrators will be interpreting these wonderfully dark and mysterious stories into a very special Christmas exhibition at Foyles. With inspiration taken from both the classics, such as Hansel and Gretel, and the less well-known tales like The Golden Bird; this exhibition is about interpreting and re-discovering a cultural legacy that has been with us for 200 years.

The contributing artists include Emma Block, Lesley Barnes, LauraBarrett, Natsuki Otani, Yelena Bryksenkova, Emmeline Pidgen and Karolin Schnoor.

Prepare to be spellbound as you enter The Enchanted Forest.

The Enchanted Forest is grateful to IdeasTap for providing funding through its Ideas Fund for this project.

enchantedforestshow.wordpress.com

Venue:

The Gallery at Foyles, Third Floor, Charing Cross Road

Opening Hours:

Monday – Saturday 9am – 9pm

Sunday 10am – 6pm

*Please note that the Gallery may be closed when instore meetings and events are taking place.

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Shelter Up My Street Art Auction: Amelia’s Magazine Collaboration

 Photo courtesy of Amelia's Magazine

A bit of news now with Amelia's Magazine illustrators participation in a wonderful charity art auction for Shelter, packed full of life Amelia chose to theme the work around the concept of a safe secure home. So the wonderful illustrators all created their idea of a comforting safe home and the final piece brought together into one home. Amelia Gregory, Lesley Barnes, Emma Block, Yelena Bryksenkova, Natsuki Otani, Antonia Parker and Thereza Rowe collaborated to create the unique piece of artwork in aid of the Up My Street campaign by Shelter.

This month Shelter hosts an exhibition of artwork in the concept of Up My Street at the Coningsby Gallery. Amelia Gregory from Amelia's Magazine commissioned some of the lovely illustrators who were featured in her amazing books, Amelia’s Anthology of Illustration and Amelia’s Compendium of Fashion Illustration and we are delighted to have also shared their talents as contributors to Illustration Rally as well.

Close up entrance by Lesley Barnes

Close up room by Emma Block

Close up room by Thereza Rowe 

Close up room by Natsuki Otani

Close up room by Yelena Bryksenkova

Close up room by Antonia Parker

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Children's book Rally:17. Lesley Barnes

The Firebird

By Lesley Barnes

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@lesleybarnes

Do you want to submit your story?

Please read our submission guideline here!

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News: I Didn't See It Coming directed by Lesley Barnes

Watch this magical and beautiful music video directed by one of my good illustrator friends and zine contributor for Paint it! Make it! Lesley Barnes! This animation is for the Richard X remix of "I Didn't See It Coming" by Belle and Sebastian, read about the project on their blog here! This awesome tune will be available on the Come on Sister 12" from Rough Trade Records, on the 18th July 2011.

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Artist 66: Lesley Barnes

For Amelia's Compendium of Fashion Illustration

A massive treat today, as we are featuring Lesley Barnes from the frozen lands of Scotland! Lesley is a wonderful illustrator and IR contributor with a fascinating and truly unique style. Animator Lesley has a wonderful way of bringing us inspirational patterns with elements from so many different and complex sources its impossible to define, with the dark stark clarity of ancient Greek pottery colliding with intense colour and pattern reminiscent of tribal art mixed with Turkish or even Russian design elements. One thing is truly certain, its a visual pleasure ride that grabs the viewer and forces them to look! Digital and at the same time natural and carefree there is a certain fantasy about her work that lends a fairy-tail mystery. Lesley has a real sense of fun with her use of colour and brings a powerful mix of just the right amount of vivid hues with her trademark stark solid black, that is not only instantly recognisable but also charming and affecting. Her characters are like little tin soldiers that are so full of life you expect to see motion and this is one of the defining features of all the work submitted to IR by animator/ illustrators. Motion is a really difficult thing to bring into an illustration and Lesley does it naturally and with ease. Her delicate work will have you instantly smitten, so lets have a big warm IR welcome to Lesley Barnes!


Who are you:
Hi my name is lesley and I am a lover of red socks, plaid scarves, brass buttons, choppy waters, an old fashioned murder mystery, high ceilings, large keys.and most of all a cunning smile!...

What do you do:
I am an illustrator/animator who is imspired by pattern, colour, kings, magic.......and animals with strange proportions.

How did you start:
I actually studied english lit at uni, which probably inspired me to become an animator so I could tell stories...but I have tried to increase my illustration work as I have loved drawing since I was a wee lassie.

A Personal statement about you or your work: 
Hopefully my illustrations can just give your day a touch of magic! 

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Book Feature: Amelia's Compendium of Fashion Illustration

It's our great pleasure now to feature this amazing book from Amelia of Amelia's magazine which many of you not only know as the place to find the latest in ethical fashion design but also as many of our readers and contributors have also been featured in her magazine. The book binds together thirty illustrators under the banner of fashion illustration and showcases not only their talent but the talent of a gamut of wonderful fashion designers.

Amelia herself says of the book that it is "A clarion call to listen to and to support all those who inspire change in this world"

And with her beautifully bound book featuring nearly fifty of the best in ethical fashion she can really be comfortable that her showcase is as excellently populated as it is designed. Many of the illustrators featured in the compendium are also regulars here on the rally and its a really positive community that she has given a great deal of support to.

The book itself is beautifully laid out from it's stunning pearlised front cover all the way through to its boxout features laid against vibrant patterns, its as tactile as it is visual. It's great to be able to bring you this feature shortly before her official launch and we will be the first to wish her the best of luck and get behind this driven exciting project.

So a big thanks to Amelia for this fresh and vibrant book, and a big nod to everybody out there that made it happen. With pleasure, it's Amelia's Compendium of Fashion Illustration.

Katherine Tromans

Aniela Murphy

Natsuki Otani

Yelena Bryksenkova

Krister Selin

Zarina Liew

Lesley Barnes

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K is for Kings Kestrels Knaves Knights

By guest contributor, Lesley Barnes

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