This month we’re close to home, as our friends at Beam Editions have launched a Kickstarter Campaign to fund a new book, Dear Nature by the Nottingham based, International recognised, artist John Newling.
Like the road trip that inspired this season's collection, John Newling began his career traveling and making artworks in California and the South West in the early eighties as part of his Fulbright Fellowship. He’s since gone on to exhibit his artwork around the world and currently has a major exhibition at the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham which we’re hoping to see when it re-open mid-July post lockdown (hopefully).
Born in Birmingham in 1952, John Newling’s artwork is centered around observing and understanding Nature and championing a more sustainable world. Over the last 15 years, he’s been busy growing plants in his home studio and garden and integrating them into his dazzling paintings and reliefs. In recent years he’s created artworks from growing and pressing the leaves of traditional jersey kale cabbages, whose stalks are so strong that they are traditionally used to make walking sticks, the tropical Moringa Oleifera or Miracle Tree, thought to be the most nutritious plant in the world and more recently he’s been growing flax, traditionally grown in Northern France and Belgium to make the world's finest linens.
For his new book, Dear Nature John wrote 81 letters ‘to nature’ in 81 consecutive days. The letters take us on a journey that explores our relationship within nature and how we can create a better future, certainty something we all need to consider. The book is beautifully designed and illustrated with each page showing flax plants at the different stages of growth over the 81 days. We think this is a great book with a great message so get behind the campaign and help make the project a success.
Here are some readings from the made by the artist.
Made by filmmaker Reece Straw.
You can read more on how to support the kick-starter project here.
