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For the tenth year running I have been asked by the Musicians Benevolent Fund to design a Christmas card for them.
Each year I have tried to make a new image whilst keeping some of the elements from previous cards so that a kind of narrative runs through the whole series. In this years card my friend's dog Sky is whispering into the ear of a polar bear and some of the owls that haunt my dreams are here. In the curve of the moon a wolf sits. This is the symbol of an American musician called Moondog. He was a percussionist who lived on the streets in New York and made many of his own instruments. His work now appears in many places, often in advertisements sometimes in concert halls. To see a larger version of the image click on the image above or on this link. To order cards go to mbf.org.uk
The cards will be available for purchase from the Musicians Benevolent Fund, and this year they may have selection packs of the last nine years worth.
2005 Shalom card is still available in limited supply.
Last years MBF card is called The City of Music.
Cards will be available for sale from 1st September 2007 and this year the Fund will also be producing a limited number of selection packs of the old designs from past years. To order the cards for 2007 please contact the Musicians Benevolent Fund.
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Below are designs for the last five years. Click on each image for a full size version.
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In 2000 I was commissioned to paint an image for the Musicians Benevolent Fund for their Christmas card. The brief for this was very loose, "to produce an attractive image which included musical instruments".
The lady who had commissioned the card had seen a card of mine designed for
Aries, one of a series of four, on which the design extended to the reverse
of the card.
I painted the image of Three Ships, which was accepted and became a big seller.
The next year I was asked again, and this also became a best seller and I
began to get messages from around the world from people who received the cards.
Because of the success of these
designs I was also commissioned over the next two years. Each time I looked
forward to working on these cards, as the brief was so open and I was allowed
to be very playful with the designs.
A whole world has grown up around them, and they have inspired poetry and
music and creative writing, by schools and individuals.
In 2003 James Mayhew, illustrator and author of many books including Katy and the Sunflowers, wrote a text for me inspired by the images from the MBF cards. The book is called Can You See A Little Bear, published in the UK by Frances Lincoln in September of 2005 and one of Child Magazines top 50 children's books in America. The book has also been picked up by the Bookstart Scheme in the UK. Now James and I are working on another book together for Barefoot Books and to follow the books progress I have been writing a blog.