I have recently been reading an autobiography. It is an autobiography of a woman who many people will have heard of, and also have access to her many drawings and paintings on their children’s bookshelf. I am writing about Shirley Hughes, my all time favourite illustrator, and latterly, children's author.
The autobiography is cleverly entitled ‘A Life Drawing’ and Shirley has drawn the front illustration showing an older woman, sitting on a low stool, with a satchel by her side. She has a floppy hat on, and is of an indeterminate age, from an indeterminate age. She is Shirley herself, presumably.
There is the question of art imitating life, or life imitating art. In my own world, it has been life imitating art. I started to read the Alfie series of books to my own children at a time when I was living in a modern box-like house.
The Shirley Hughes illustrations showed me where it was that I preferred to live. I wanted to live in an Edwardian or Victorian house, with mantelpieces and rickety kitchen tables. I wanted rugs on floors, and knobbly banister rails up the stairs. I wanted a home where the kids could pull everything out of the saucepan cupboard, and play on the floor with them, and which would allow my naturally untidy self to have clutter around without worrying about the neighbours. I wanted Alfie’s house!
I got it, too, a few years later.
Shirley began life in a comfortable home in West Kirby. Her father owned a department store in London Road, Liverpool which was expanded during the 1930’s. He was from a strict Welsh Methodist family, and was something of a workaholic. The young Shirley didn’t see much of her father. She was taken shopping regularly by her mother, and with her sisters, and they enjoyed matinee’s and going to tea shops, sometimes watching tea dances. There is a beautiful illustration of this early in the book. There are also several photographs of the family, all with smiling faces.
Unfortunately, Shirley’s father died when she was five years old. Her mother continued on with the family business but was of a retiring nature and does not feature very heavily within the book as one would imagine a mother would. Maybe Shirley prefers those memories to remain private. The early part of her life though was not one of sadness, but one of lots of high jinks with her sisters, and of parties, dressing up, playing on the beach, reading comics and watching shows and films. Particularly films as Shirley has always had a passion for the cinema.
All through the autobiography, Shirley has used past drawings from her sketch pad, or from book illustrations she has drawn, to recreate the atmosphere she is trying to purvey. It really is a beautiful book if you like her artwork.
Shirley Hughes has led a very extraordinary and full life, through her Oxford days, to Florence then onto London, meeting many of her contemporaries like Kingsley Amis, or other famous artists like David Hockney. It takes a journey through her days as a struggling artist with revolting editors, then onto the movement of women’s editors who were very forceful in nature but gave Shirley the break that she needed, then marriage and motherhood.
I suppose what I find the most enchanting are the drawings of the children, all chubby faced, snub nosed and bright eyed. She also catches the movement so well, and the feel of adrenalin that children have when dashing here and there. So many colours, but never lurid, always muted greens, blues and yellows.
My own copy of the book was bought for me by my daughter from Methuen’s in Canterbury. I don’t know how much she paid for it, but the inside sleeve says £19.99. It was published by Random House, and the ISBN is 0-370-32605-9.
If you are a Shirley Hughes fan, I highly recommend that you add this to your Christmas wish list. You really will not be disappointed.
Orlando 2004
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