A festival of colour
Some of Stratford’s best-loved sights have been transformed into a picture postcard scene for the programme of the upcoming Stratford Literary Festival.
Illustrator and bookseller, Tamsin Rosewell, was tasked with creating the artwork for the programme of the festival, which will be holding its 15th anniversary from the 3rd to 8th May.
Taking in sights such as The Dirty Duck and Holy Trinity Church, as well as lesser-spotted gems like the ice-cream barge, Tamsin was asked to capture the colour and festival atmosphere of Stratford in spring, something she found hugely rewarding.
“It’s been a great joy to work on.” said Tamsin. “I've done displays for the festival in the past, and the director, Annie Ashworth, approached me because I think she wanted somebody local, who knows Stratford and knows what the festival is about. So it was really nice to be able to say yes and have that opportunity.
“It was interesting because as an artist you’ve got a canvas and your instinct is to fill it, whereas in working as an illustrator for Annie she said that they need space for the logo and the festival announcements, so you have to get inventive about presenting it in the right way. She wanted something bright and fun and springlike, with lots of warmth and humour in it, which is why I've painted it the way I have.”
With so many scenes in the town to choose from, Tamsin, a resident of Leek Wooton and a bookseller at Kenilworth Books, had to consider how to put across the unique character of Stratford in a single image.
“When you think about where Stratford is, it’s a bustling town surrounded by countryside.” she explained. “It’s got sheep and fields on all sides, along with the sheer amount of water that courses around the town. So I had to somehow communicate that in a really small space. This is going to end up as an A5 size brochure, so as I do with a book cover, you've got to convey an awful lot in one very small image.
“I just loved putting in the detail because there is a lot of it in Stratford. If you look on the upstairs floor of the Waterstones there's shelves and shelves of books. I was really tempted to get out a pin and try to paint all of my friends’ books into the room, but thought that might be a bit much. I’d still be doing it now.”
As well as providing a handy guide to the goings-on at the festival, Tamsin hopes the programme could later be a colourful memento for those attending in May and serve as a reminder of the joys of spring in Stratford.
“I hope that people will pick one up and end up keeping it, or maybe send it as a postcard of Stratford that they think is fun.” she said. “I'd love that. It’d be the ultimate compliment as an illustrator if somebody kept the brochure or one of the postcards because they like the image. I think that'd be fantastic.”
