Meet the Team!

Here at the Illustrationcupboard gallery we have a small but perfectly formed team working every day behind the scenes. You may have met some of us before at an exhibition or event, or perhaps spoken to us on the phone. Maybe you've even joined us for a cup of tea and a slice of cake on a Friday! Here we'd like to introduce you to our gallery family and tell you a little bit about why the Illustrationcupboard is such a special place to work!

Meet John
Managing Partner

"I started Illustrationcupboard in the spare bedroom of my sister’s flat in 1995 with only a desk and a telephone,  when there was little interest in collecting contemporary book illustration artwork. Over twenty years on I am pleased to regularly show the finest artwork in this field to a broad international collecting audience from our three floor art gallery in St James's, Mayfair. I often think how lucky I am to have the opportunity to see this original work when so many thousands of others see only the printed page."

Meet Jessica
Framing and Curation

What do you do at Illustrationcupboard?
I keep track of the artwork, mount, frame and hang all of the exhibitions. 

Which illustrator’s work would you love to own?
Neil Packer’s 'Look at your room Nausicaa!' published in The Odyssey

What do you love most about your job?
Getting to work so closely with such incredible artists.

Favourite Illustrationcupboard moment?
One of many – Babette Cole prancing round the gallery with bunny ears for James and the Giggleberries and Babette dressed up as Princess Smartypants for the celebration of 30 years of Princess Smartypants in September 2016.

What was your favourite book as a child?
‘Not Now Bernard’ by David McKee

Meet Daphne
Deputy Gallery Manager

What do you do at Illustrationcupboard?

Everything!

Which illustrator’s work would you love to own?
Either something by John Vernon Lord or Angela Barrett.

What do you love most about your job?
I love getting to see all of the different artwork and having contact with so many artists. Everyone here is really friendly - even the postman!

Favourite Illustrationcupboard moment?
Having lunch with Jan Pienkowski at his house and looking through all his artwork - it was like an art museum! One of the great benefits of this job is occasionally getting to meet great artists in their studios and homes, it's not a chance most people would ever have so I really appreciate it.

What was your favourite book as a child?
Red Rose, White Rose illustrated by Gustav Tenggren.

Meet Molly
Marketing

What do you do at Illustrationcupboard?
I help people to discover the gallery and spread the word about our upcoming exhibitions.

Which illustrator’s work would you love to own?
Definitely something by Shaun Tan. His work is completely breathtaking, it stops me in my tracks every time I walk past it. 

What do you love most about your job?
Getting to meet some of the most talented artists working today and seeing the original illustrations that I grew up with as a child.

Favourite Illustrationcupboard moment?
Having tea and biscuits with the amazing David McKee whilst looking through his original paintings of Elmer the elephant!

What was your favourite book as a child?
Would have to be either The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr or Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.

Meet Anne

Sales and Events

What do you do at Illustrationcupboard?
I run the gallery on Saturdays and help out with private views.

Which illustrator’s work would you love to own?
I would love to own an original Brian Wildsmith, as I think his colours are just fantastic. I love the detail in his pictures that you can only see close-up in the flesh, which don't always come across when you see the images in his books.

What do you love most about your job?
I love that no two Saturdays are the same - sometimes it is quiet so I get on with updating our contact database, and then other times it can be very loud with lots of families getting excited about artwork that they have seen in books they read growing up.  

Favourite Illustrationcupboard moment?
This is a difficult one - there have been so many!  Getting to meet the artists is always a wonderful experience.  It was always a pleasure to host an event for Babette Cole, who was a ball of fun, and a huge personality.  Meeting Shaun Tan was also pretty fantastic, as he doesn't come over to the UK very often, but I love all of the artists that we get to work with; they are all so talented!

What was your favourite book as a child?
Each Peach Pear Plum, written by Allan Ahlberg and illustrated by Janet Ahlberg.  Apparently, when I was very small, my mother took me to the local library where they were having a book reading, and I stood up and recited the whole thing!  I even had a dolly called Baby Bunting.

Meet Jenny
Administration

What do you do at Illustrationcupboard?
I'm the admin assistant at the gallery.

Which illustrator’s work would you love to own?
I would love to own a Brian Wildsmith! 

What do you love most about your job?
I love working so closely with all this art – being able to have a wander round the gallery and have a good, long look whenever it’s quiet. I also love finding hidden gems down in the basement archives that we’d forgotten about!

Favourite Illustrationcupboard moment?
I really enjoy meeting the illustrators, they are always so lovely!

What was your favourite book as a child?
I was a big fan of Peace At Last by Jill Murphy.

Meet Stella
Accounts

What do you do at Illustrationcupboard?
I make sure John stays in line! ... and I keep the books.

Which illustrator’s work would you love to own?
I'd love to own something by either John Vernon Lord or Shaun Tan.

What do you love most about your job?
Working with such nice people.

Favourite Illustrationcupboard moment?
Having dinner with Shaun Tan when he came over from Australia.

What was your favourite book as a child?
It's hard to pick a favourite from my childhood, but my favourite to read to my child now would have to be either Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak or Room on a Broom by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler.


We love nothing more than meeting visitors and chatting about the wonderful illustrators we work with, so please come and say hello next time you're in the gallery. If you have any questions about any of the artwork we're always happy to help. We look forward to seeing you soon! 

Discover more at www.illustrationcupboard.com
Get in touch at gallery@illustrationcupboard.com
Drop us a line at 0207 976 1727