A new exhibition is set to open at Cumbria’s Rheged this month, celebrating over 30 years of the work of Jackie Morris.
Lost Spells, Lost Words: Beyond & Before will open in Rheged’s Gallery, near Penrith, on Friday June 21.
Jackie is a prize-winning, internationally best-selling illustrator, wildlife artist and author, best known for her children’s books, The Lost Words and The Lost Spells – collaborations with Robert Macfarlane.
The exhibition will include over 250 original artworks from over 30 of her books, on display together for the first time.
The exhibition is set in three parts, beginning with a timeline of Jackie’s life and career, including her early works and original sketches from her many books, including The Ice Bear and The White Fox to Tell Me A Dragon and Lord of the Forest.
Visitors will be invited to follow Jackie’s path to becoming one of the most recognisable children’s illustrators, sharing her career highlights, like having her books translated into over 14 languages and being adapted for the stage in the Lost Words BBC Prom at the Royal Albert Hall.
The exhibition shines a light on Jackie’s collaborations, including commissioned illustrations for work by Ted Hughes, Terry Pratchett, Robin Hobb and James Mayhew to name a few.
The second part of the exhibition, created by Warwickshire art gallery, Compton Verney, with Hamish Hamilton and Penguin Books, is dedicated to the phenomenally successful, Lost Words; a unique collaboration between Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris, which honours nature’s power to spark imagination.
It was motivated by their shared belief that nature was in retreat from our children’s stories. Lost Words was voted the most beautiful book of 2016 by UK booksellers and Children’s Book of the Year at the 2018 British Book Awards.
From Lost Words, the exhibition moves onto to its sequel Lost Spells: Listening to a Landscape of Voices. This exhibition was developed in association with Penguin Books and commissioned and produced by Northumberland National Park.
It showcases original artwork alongside poems written by Robert Macfarlane. The Lost Spells was created to invite readers back to what is often lost from sight, by reading aloud spell-poems that conjure the sights and sounds of the natural world.
Jackie said: “When I was asked if I might consider exhibiting at Rheged I was excited, interested and intrigued. I’d heard of the centre, but was yet to visit it. When I realised the breadth of the vision the team had in mind for the show, as well as the size of exhibition space I was blown away. Rheged is such a wonderful place, to visit and to show work.
“I hope the show will help my work reach a new audience, inspire people in their own creativity, and bring peace and healing in these difficult times.
“This is the first time The Lost Words and Lost Spells by Robert Macfarlane and myself have been shown together. Many of my earlier pieces are kindly on loan from private collections and have never been shown before.
“Some pieces, like the Red Fox with Macfarlane’s hand written spell, created for The Lost Words Prom at the Albert Hall, are pieces that form bridges between works.
Gallery manager Claire Harrison added: “We have been extremely lucky to bring such a sheer volume of Jackie’s original artwork together, and hope to take visitors on a truly magical journey in our gallery, that includes everything from dragons and bears to British wildlife. Jackie has been so open, supportive and trusting with us when creating this exhibition and we cannot wait for people to see it.”
To celebrate the opening of the exhibition, Rheged will host an intimate and magical evening of music, words and illustrations with Jackie and The Bookshop Band, on Friday June 21.
Lost Spells, Lost Words: Beyond & Before will be open daily from Friday June 21 to Sunday September, 1 and is £5 to enter, under-3s free to enter.
