Writing Journals & Sketchbooks

A highly illustrated pillow book to prompt dreaming and creativity by Kate Greenaway Medal-winning artist Jackie Morris

Longlisted for the 2021 Kate Greenaway Medal

This Windrush pattern comes from a pencil and watercolour sketch that William Morris worked on in 18811883. Designed for block-printed cotton, Windrush highlights the creative approach Morris took to revealing elements from the natural world in his decorative furnishing fabrics.

Before Dutch still life painting developed, artists illuminated handwritten manuscripts to add emotional power to a written work. A celebrated practitioner of this style was Joris Hoefnagel. Reproduced here is a page he illuminated for theMira calligraphiae monumenta,a mid-16th-century manuscript by Georg Bocskay.

The kimono pattern that inspired this design was originally a woodblock print created by Japanese art publishers for theatrical costumes. This genre of artwork, known as ukiyo-e, dates to the Edo period (16031868), and this particular design was created sometime during the early 1900s.

During the Tang Dynasty (618907), the Emperor Taizong founded an opera school called Liyuan (Pear Garden). Chinese opera reached its pinnacle under the Qing court (16441911), giving birth to what is known as Peking Opera. Reproduced here is a piece of beautifully embroidered opera skirt from that era.