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Jackie Morris and Tamsin Abbott: Wild Folk
Award-winning author and artist, Jackie Morris, and Stained Glass Artist and Illustrator, Tamsin Abbott, have announced a one-night-only appearance in Kirkby Lonsdale.
At the event on Friday 8 August at the Methodist Church, Kirkby Lonsdale, these two highly-acclaimed artists will talk about their new book Wild Folk, a beautifully illustrated sequence of seven tales, marking their first book-length collaboration. Fresh from their sell-out appearances in the south of England, this is their only live event in the North.
Valerie Laycock, owner of The Book Lounge who is organising the event, says: “We’re delighted to welcome both Jackie and Tamsin to Kirkby Lonsdale for this truly special event. We’ve long been fans of their work, which is not only inspired by the nature of the world around them, but the world of myths, fairytales and our ancient connections to the landscape. Few can communicate the magic found in nature and everyday encounters in the way that they do. They are both outstanding artists and we cannot wait to host them at St Mary’s Church.”
Jackie Morris, an author and artist, is known for her evocative language and illustrations that celebrate nature and storytelling. She has written and illustrated over 70 books, including beloved classics such as The Snow Leopard, The Ice Bear, Song of the Golden Hare, Tell Me a Dragon, The Wild Swans and The Unwinding. In 2017 the internationally-acclaimed The Lost Words, Jackie’s collaboration with Robert Macfarlane, was released. The book, which aims to restore nature-based words to children’s vocabulary, has been praised as a “cultural phenomenon” and an “instant classic”. It won the British Book Awards Children’s Book of the Year 2018, the Hay Festival Book of the Year 2017, and the BAMB Most Beautiful Book Of The Year Award 2017. Following the publication of The Lost Spells in 2020. Jackie Morris has appeared, painting live, at Spell Song Concerts at venues including The Royal Festival Hall, The Royal Albert Hall, the International Hay Festival and The Natural History Museum.
Tamsin Abbott has been creating painted stained glass panels from her Herefordshire home for over 20 years. The whole of her adult life has been shaped by her determination to live in the countryside and to discover its ancient magic. Her work, inspired by the British landscape, folklore and fairytale, is created using mostly glass from the last remaining manufacturer of mouth-blown sheet glass in the United Kingdom. Tamsin is hugely influenced by the orchards, the hills, the woods and all the plants, birds and animals that grow and live around her home; as well as the world of myths, fairytales and our ancient connections to the landscape. Tamsin is a member of the British Society of Master Glass Painters and has exhibited with them as well the Museum of British Folklore, the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic, and many other UK galleries. Wild Folk is her first book as a stained glass illustrator.
Wild Folk comprises seven richly-illustrated fables of transformation and power, summoned from the ancient stones beneath our feet and transformed by word and image into portals between past and future. These tales from the stones are neither new nor old. They are full of ‘wild folk’, shape-shifting spirits that carry the energy that connects all things. You will meet selkies and silver trout and the black fox, as big as a wolf and so fast and cunning she drives the lord of the manor to madness and oblivion; the woman of flowers who is happier living as an owl; the boy who learns to feel the songs and stories of trees through his skin; Wayland, the smith who can hammer metal to such airy thinness he makes his own wings; and the great white raven, a bird so rare it awakens the king who sleeps beneath the stones of the wild west cliffs of Wales. This book brings together the words of Jackie Morris and the stained-glass paintings of Tamsin Abbott, but the stories come from both, a true collaboration born out of friendship and hope. These are tales to make you see, listen and most of all feel the wild magic that links stone, tree, fox and star.
Jackie Morris says: “It is very special to be able to bring Wild Folk to Cumbria, a county of such stunning nature as well as a rich tapestry of folklore. Creating a book with such a close friend has been a wonderful and profound process. This is a book made to be looked at and held and we hope it inspires and moves all who read it.”
Tamsin Abbott adds: “This book is born out of friendship and faith; a conviction that we could make something very special together born out of trust, excitement and a little madness. It was a fascinating creative process – the words came in beautiful strings from Jackie’s pen like dark pearls, each string a sentence with which I bedecked my mind with images. It really has been a joy and we cannot wait to share it with everyone at the event.”
Tickets
Book & Ticket £25.00
Ticket Only £8.00
(Books purchased on the night will be at a 10% discount, normal retail price is £25). Doors open at 6.30pm.