5
Wild at Art!
By: Gemma Thompson
Our local talent is taking on the Tate! Meeting Simon Wild was a surprise, looking at his work I was half expecting to be greeted by someone with a jovial face, sporting a large moustache and covered in colour – think the Red Baron meets Timmy Mallett! Instead the man that meets me is soft and dreamlike, modest and quiet. He talks passionately about his work, both as an artist and as a teacher of art but yet never once comes across as arrogant in spite of his success. And he is enjoying success in spades; he is incredibly prolific and has featured in a variety of exhibitions over the last couple of years, including becoming a customary exhibitor at the Lielow and Sketch exhibitions at the Graham & Oldham Gallery in Ipswich. He gets regular commissions from the likes of the
Orient Express to create illustrations for various exclusive retail items. His work has appeared in Made and Sold by Lawrence King (978-1-85669628-9) and Illusive: Contemporary Illustration Part 3 (978-3-89955-250-8) a book described as ‘the definitive reference for contemporary illustration’. In 2007 he won the Egmont Children’s Books Award for being the Student with most promise in the children’s book industry, and indeed he has recently finished a commission for a children’s book to be published by Macmillan’s late next year, I was allowed a sneak peek and it is fantastic! Quite a range of achievements for someone who was told he wasn’t skilled or talented enough to do art at school!
It is obvious from his work that still waters run deep – but his waters don’t just run deep, they bubble and gurgle up images every second
A
Rendlesham
B Manningtree
C Clacton