The summer holidays came to a close at Number Seven with a wonderful morning celebrating the sea. Nicola Davies and Emily Sutton took up residence in 'our kitchen' which was filled with sunflowers and books. Visitors were able to take a look at the preliminary sketches for A First Book of the Sea and go home with signed copies of the finished article tucked under their arm.
A First Book of the Sea is the third title in this popular series written by Nicola, the others being A First Book of Nature and A First Book of Animals. All are beautifully illustrated and feature Nicola's easily accessible nature facts in the form of short engaging poems.
Emily has illustrated for Nicola previously working on the images for Lots, and Tiny - both award winning titles. Her illustrations are meticulous in their detail and due to the subject of Nicola's text have to be factually correct. It was fascinating to look through her sketchbooks and a privilege to view new work in progress as she had also brought along the original drawings for the second instalment of the Castle Mice by Michael Bond, creator of Paddington Bear. Again, her attention to detail is astounding as the castle interior is based on Castle Howard in Yorkshire. Her drawings are also produced the same scale as they are reproduced, not reduced which is what one would expect.
The embroidered jacket pictured above is a current personal project of Emily's which highlights her sense of detail, skilled draftsmanship and skilled use of colour.
The morning went all too quickly, and we would like to thank everyone who was able to join us, making Emily and Nicola feel so welcome on Exmoor. Nicola will be returning in October for our event at Loyton Lodge and after having fallen in love with Exmoor during her brief visit Emily hopes to return to Number Seven in the future.
We have a selection of signed titles available to purchase, do pop in or call the shop if you wish to add any of their titles to your collection.
