The beautiful beasts of Wallace Edwards

Dec 15, 2011

Photo: Award-winning children’s book author and illustrator Wallace Edwards at Gallery Perth

Award-winning children’s book author and illustrator, Wallace Edwards, was front and center at Gallery Perth on December 10, signing copies of his books and chatting with admirers of his work. Edwards, who resides in Yarker and cottages on Sharbot Lake, had on display at the Perth show a wide selection of his framed watercolor works, representing his diverse skills as a watercolor artist. The show was his first at the gallery.

Edwards won the Governor-General’s Award for the illustrations in his first children’s book “Alphabeasts”, which came out in 2002. Readers might recall his colorful, magical but realistic depictions of 26 beasts, each representing a letter of the alphabet, and each painted in a highly unlikely pose and situated in a homey interior setting. Who can forget the illustration for his “R for Rhino, daydreaming for hours” page, where a rhino with open eyes is transfixed in an imaginary world of his own making, his massive chin squashed into the tiny corner of a room much too small for his enormous bulk. Or his “O for Octopus changing a light.”

Since Alphabeasts, Edwards has published five more exquisite children’s books: Monkey Business, 2004; Mixed Beasts, 2005; The Extinct Files, 2006; The Painted Circus, 2007; and most recently The Cat’s Pajamas in 2010. Included in this show were works from many of the books. “Painted Circus” depicts various scenes from a fantastical circus with the characters each performing impressive carnival feats. In one framed work a very pink and perfect Sid the Squid juggles five pink balls and in a second, a serenely confident and very glamorous egg named Isadora Dumpty balances on one tiny tippy-toe, high above the impressed onlookers.

Also on display were a series of framed illustrations from a more serious side of Edwards' creative self; meticulous and highly realistic water-color renderings of various fish, birds and other beasts as they appear in the real world from a book titled “You are the Earth”, which Edwards worked on with Canadian nature guru David Suzuki.

Wallace said he enjoys the process that leads to the final works that the gallery had on offer. “My ideas usually start as fun sketches and the fun part is watching them slowly evolve from a blank page to something that approximates my initial idea.” Asked if they change much in the process, Edwards responded, “They do change; sometimes for better and sometimes for worse but they are always a surprise and that is what makes it fun.”

The hardest part, he said, is, “Getting started. Once begun it’s half way done.”

Wallace has other books up his fantastical sleeve. One is a new children’s book titled “Uncle Wally's Old Brown Shoe”, which will depict a shoe’s adventures in the world. The book is to be published by Orca Press and should be coming out in the fall.

Perth Gallery owner Veronica Airth was pleased with the turnout and the enthusiastic response to Edwards’ work, and this will probably not be the last we will see of his fantastical creations in Perth.