Alice In Wonderland

It was with delight that 60 years ago I read Alice in Wonderland. I can still remember the pink and blue cross-hatching on the cover; I can recall the serifs of the typeface. But most important of all, I can vividly recall the brilliant Tenniel illustrations: the weeping gryphon, the depressed mock turtle, the stoned caterpillar, and so on. The problem is that I cannot get them out of my head; there seems to be no room for an alternate view of the happenings and characters of Dodgson's epic of imaginative imagery and language.

So when I began illustrating and illuminating Alice for Adam and Jachym, my grandsons, I began rethinking the purpose of illustrations in children's books in terms of my experience with Tenniel. With these illustrations and illuminations I hope to open up the reader’s/viewer’s imagination to the myriad possibilities in these wonderful tales.

I hope that whatever you conjure up in your imagination, dear reader, will live alongside those wonderful Tenniel drawings.