Yvonne Skargon (1931-2010), was a British

wood engraver Wood engraving is a printmaking technique, in which an artist works an image or ''matrix'' of images into a block of wood. Functionally a variety of woodcut, it uses relief printing, where the artist applies ink to the face of the block and pr ...

watercolorist Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

, and

typographer Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing ( leading), an ...

who was best known for her work related to botanical and culinary subjects.

Career

Yvonne Skargon was born in 1931. She attended the Colchester School of Art and the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

, London, and studied with

Blair Hughes-Stanton Blair Rowlands Hughes-Stanton (22 February 1902 – 6 June 1981) was a major figure in the English wood-engraving revival in the twentieth century. He was the son of the artist Sir Herbert Hughes-Stanton. He exhibited with the Society of Woo ...

and John O'Connor. She worked professionally as an illustrator of books about nature, gardening, and cooking, and regularly illustrated for the British horticultural journal, ''Hortus''. Skargon was an instructor in wood engraving at the Royal College of Art for five years until the programme was ended in 1980. She illustrated dozens of books and wrote several on gardening that were printed in fine press editions. She illustrated three of

Jane Grigson Jane Grigson (born Heather Mabel Jane McIntire; 13 March 1928 – 12 March 1990) was an English cookery writer. In the latter part of the 20th century she was the author of the food column for ''The Observer'' and wrote numerous books about Eu ...

's books: ''The Mushroom Feast'' (1975), ''Jane Grigson's Vegetable Book'' (1978) and ''Jane Grigson's Fruit Book'' (1982). Skargon also wrote and illustrated two books about her cats that achieved popular fame, ''The Importance of Being Oscar'' (1988) and ''Lily and Hodge and Dr. Johnson'' (1991), issued in

fine press Fine press printing and publishing comprises historical and contemporary printers and publishers publishing books and other printed matter of exceptional intrinsic quality and artistic taste, including both commercial and private presses. Histor ...

and

trade edition A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) books are bound with cardboard covered with cloth, ...

s by the publisher, Primrose Hill Press. Skargon designed the commemorative issue of postage stamps to honour the 9th World Congress of Roses,

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

, for the Royal Mail in 1991 Yvonne Skargon died on 16 March 2010.

Known for

* Wijk, Olof.
Eat at pleasure, drink by measure
'. (Constable, 1970) *
The Importance of Being Oscar
' (Primrose Hill, 1988) *
Lily and Hodge and Dr. Johnson
' (Primrose Hill, 1991)
''A Garden of My Own''
(Silent Books, 1996)
''A Concatenation''
(Primrose Hill, 1999)
''Watermarks : an anthology of rivers, seas and lakes with wood engravings''
(Primrose Hill, 2003)

References

External links

First World Congress of Roses, July 1991, Royal Mail First Day Cover stamps
designed by Yvonne Skargon.
Yvonne Skargon works in the V & A Museum Collection
British women artists 1931 births 2010 deaths British illustrators Alumni of the Royal College of Art English wood engravers Women engravers {{UK-printmaker-stub