This month Wayne is featuring two exceptionally beautiful books by illustrator/artists Angela Harding and Susan Ogilvy.
Angela Harding, you may remember, illustrated the memorable covers of Raynor Winn’s books Wild
Silence and the Salt Path. The second illustrator is Somerset-based artist Susan Ogilvy, who has
produced an exquisitely illustrated, one-of-a-kind celebration of the hidden beauty of nature and the
ingenuity of birds, ‘Nests’.
A Year Unfolding by Angela Harding £20 – signed copies available
A beautifully illustrated guide to nature through the seasons by much-loved printmaker Angela Harding. The cover of this stunning book has an exclusive triptych printed on the reverse – a perfect collector’s item, and wonderful gift.
This stunning work, the first book that is solely dedicated to Angela’s art, is a celebration of her beautiful prints, and a glimpse into her detailed and meticulous process.
A Year Unfolding is a journey through Angela’s year in nature, watching the seasons unfold in front of her from her studio in Rutland, and giving the reader detail into how nature transforms and evolves over the course of the year. A Year Unfolding also tells the stories behind some of Angela’s most popular images, giving context to Angela’s celebrated work, as well as new art created specifically for the book.
The beautiful illustrations and evocative imagery of the prose make this the perfect book for nature and art lovers everywhere.
Nests by Susan Ogilvy £20
Susan Ogilvy started painting bird nests by accident. Tidying her garden after a storm, she found a chaffinch nest – a sodden lump on the grass. She placed it indoors on a newspaper, and over the next few hours, as the water drained out, the sodden lump blossomed into a mossy jewel. She was amazed, dropping everything to make a painting of the nest at exact life size. It was the start of an obsession; Ogilvy has since painted more than fifty bird nests, each time marvelling at its ingenious construction. Every species of bird has its own vernacular, but sources its materials – twigs, roots, grasses, reeds, leaves, moss, lichen, hair, feathers and cobwebs, less usually, mattress stuffing and string – according to availability. Ogilvy would, of course, never disturb nesting birds; she relies upon serendipity, which is why all her nests have either been abandoned after fulfilling their purpose, or displaced by winds.
This wondrous book is all the more special for its rarity. Few modern books exist specifically on the subject of bird nests; the most recent among the author’s reference works was published in 1932. Exquisitely designed and packaged, Nests will be an essential addition to the libraries of all nature lovers.
Sherborne’s independent bookshop Winstone’s has won the ‘British Book Awards South West Bookseller of the Year’ four times and was winner of the ‘Independent Bookseller of the Year’ national award in 2016. Owner Wayne Winstone is one of the three judges for this year’s Costa Prize for Fiction. This year Wayne was selected as one of the top 100 people in the Book Trade’s ‘Most Influential Figures’ listing.
