Rare – AmeliasMagazine

Kingston Rare illustration 2012
My graduate reviews are now running legendarily late – sorry, that’s what adding a baby to the mix does. But never fear I haven’t given up – there’s a crop of students out there worth celebrating and I’ll finish these write ups if it kills me! (and typing with one hand whilst breast feeding if I have to). Kingston University always produces some wonderful work, with many students showing exceptional skills in both illustration and animation. They also excel at putting together a professional show; not for nothing did they win this year’s Best New Blood Stand. At Rare in the Rochelle School this is what I found: part one.

Kingston Rare illustration 2012 - india rose harvey
India Rose Harvey seabed sensory toy
India Rose Harvey‘s Sea Bed Sensory Toys are designed with the needs of young people with unusual sensory processing patterns or limited mobility in mind. Her octo balls can be rolled, hugged or thrown and a play mat can be folded into a tunnel which provides an exciting and mysterious space for exploration. I think most kids would love playing with these!

hannah simpson barbican

Hannah Simpson has contributed to Amelia’s Magazine and also won a prestigious award from the V&A last year. She specialises in reportage and I love her recent sketches of sunworshippers and shadow lurkers at the Barbican. It’s good to see a graduate actively working off their own back – so many take the summer off and forget all about the need to keep their fingers in and find some paid work once they leave college.

Alice Wright Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier
Subtle paintings were made by Alice Wright to accompany the novel Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier, worked in muted ink to reflect the dark tones of the story.

Kingston Rare illustration 2012 -Simon Cheadle

Simon Cheadle‘s display was a real attention grabber – a bright geometric arrangement of graphic objects in primary colours, accompanied by a take away sheet describing the art of How to Make Mistakes. These wobbly drawing tools were designed to encourage the embracing of errors in making art.

Kingston Rare illustration 2012 -Luke Overin

The Kings of Grey by Luke Overin was part of a visual exploration of the world of Pigeon Fancying. I love his photography too.

Kingston Rare illustration 2012 Rebecca Truscott-Elves

Rebecca Truscott-Elves has previously contributed some ace work to Amelia’s Magazine – her tiny but beautiful works of art were inspired by travels across the world.

Kingston Rare illustration 2012 -kerry coulson

Kerry Coulson‘s graphic style was applied to the story of Coriolanus in a picture book for kids.

Kingston Rare illustration 2012 Sophie Traugut
Beautifully described birds were inspired by the theme of home, from Sophie Traugut.

Lorna Scobie Bradley
lorna scobie fox
Lorna Scobie Baboon
Lorna Scobie is a very familiar name to me because she has contributed numerous times to Amelia’s Magazine over the past few years and it comes as no surprise that she has also won lots of competitions for her animal characters drawn in an immediately recognisable style: both appealing and a little bit frightening. For her final piece she both wrote and illustrated a children’s book called Bradley, which explores the theme of concealed or unrecognised talents. I love that she considered how it might work as an app – cross disciplinary work that more graduating illustrators should be thinking about – for this she won the inaugural Macmillan Prize Digital Award.

Kingston Rare illustration 2012 -Danielle Louise Watt

Danielle Louise Watt‘s The Cult of the Only Child reminded me of why I want more than one. Here she presented a gold-leaf shrine for the ‘Divine Sibling.’

Kingston Rare illustration 2012 Suyeon Noh

Wooly Way was one of the slightly bonkers stories by Suyeon Noh – she writes about giant sheep and a flying whale.

Kingston Rare illustration 2012 -Joe Mortimer
Joe Mortimer was Discreetly Continuous in his project exploring the transition from analogue to digital formats.

Kingston Rare illustration 2012 -Hannah Cullen
Now Here’s the Mystery! by Hannah Cullen explored science for children, so that they will be inspired before they even encounter it at school.