When the first London lock down was a reality Cecilie Maurud Barstad found inspiration to what was closest to her: home, thoughts, emotions, imagination and her unique view. From her balcony in Highbury Stadium Square, the old pitch ground for Arsenal Football team, she drew her neighbours and penned short stories as a new daily routine in between baking sourdough bread, working from home, sporadic exercise and childcare.
Fast-rewind to her childhood growing up in the Norwegian country side in the eighties without nothing else to do than to use your own imagination she has always been writing stories and doodling. The sudden lock-down, the fact that everything was closing down, reminded her about childhoods endless days in solitude caused friends living far away and no shops (or entertainment of any sort) in walking distance. She decided to sit down for 20 minutes every day just looking out of the window. A method to let ideas come to her head by observation and daydreaming.
Rear Window front cover in green. Photo: Nina Ansten..
Portrait of Cecilie, the author and illustrator. Photo: Charlotte Wiig.
AUTHOR BIO:
Cecilies work explores how we relate to each other. She has always been interested in relationships, conversations and everyday problems between people, in particularly within households. What do they talk about? What are their secrets? What motivates them? How can they watch TV every day? How can they live like this or that? Her genuine interest in what is close to us is an endless source of inspiration. Everyday things like routines, perfection of routines or getting rid of bad habits.
Cecilie Maurud Barstad live with her partner (in life and business) Gilles Jourdan and their daughter in Highbury, London. Together they started Gilles & Cecilie Studio in 2006 after they met during a fire alarm at Central Saint Martins. Their studio provide illustrations, animation and murals. Storytelling is a big part of their work. Cecilie always loved writing and this year she was determined to embark a new journey. 2020 looked like it was going to be a tough year.
“I really needed to create some positive experiences and personal investments to keep my mind on something else than current affairs. As a creative practitioner I have responsibility to paint the time we live in. This book of short stories and illustrations is my contribution to 2020, the year everything was suspended.”
THE PROCESS
Cecilie’s process always begins with sketching the image she wants to create. She use pencils and ink on paper to find the right compositions and then move onto her Ipad to continue drawing and colouring. At the beginning of the project she created colour palettes for different times of the day. “ I have created a set of colour palettes for the sunny days, for the evening lights and for the warm shady afternoons,” she says.
Some days she found a particular point of view, a ray of sun that made a beautiful reflection or a couple in an intriguing conversation that she sketched in her book. Other days she wrote stories that could be triggered by a conversation or an observation, or sometimes her own experience.
INFLUENCE
Influenced by one of her favourite Hitchcock films Rear Window, where professional photographer Jeff is stuck in his apartment, recuperating from a broken leg. Out of boredom, he begins to spy on his neighbours and comes across a shocking revelation.
Inspired how the backyards all over the world become stage for opera, concerts, parties and conversations, with a distance. The togetherness and kindness of neighbours when we need each other the most.
“Neighbours are so close and yet in big cities they are often invisible and ephemeral. This year has pivoted and I found kindness and care in my neighbours.
She found….
She walked in the courtyard. Strolled around the square garden. Everyday she bumped into her neighbours. Learned to know them and formed new friendships. A strong community spirit arise when neighbours are welcoming and have time to stop for a chat. This year everyone have something in common. (or at least we had the time to stop and reconsider value of time.)
“I wanted to paint this year. To document the waiting, the not knowing. It has been almost impossible to not be influenced by the turmoil of the pandemic. I could not afford to let this opportunity pass by. I had to document feelings and thoughts daily to make sure the stories and drawings was authentic and a true capture of the time and not written in hindsight.”
THE TEAM
The results of this series of drawings culminated in a publication designed by her colleague and friend, fellow St Martins Alumni, Nina Ansten. She took the lead and built a small team to help create the content of the book. The book is 160 pages filled with essay by author Benedicte Meyer Kroneberg and an interview by art writer Sondre Sommerfelt, the foreword is written by Lene Renneflott, leader of Grafill in Norway. In addition the team consist of copywriter and translator Andrew J. Boyle, printers ETN Grafisk and Bookbinder Johnsen in Skien, Norway where the book was produced.
With help from their community, fans, family and friends they raised funds through pre-sale to cover the production costs. The book was published December 2020 on newly established Ansten Press. Many thanks to Norsk Illustrasjonsfond for a grant in support of the project. Thanks also go to Robert Clay for his generous support. We are truly grateful to everyone who supported our crowd-funding campaign through pre-purchasing books and art prints. Finally we would like to express our thanks to everyone who has purchased the book.
Nina Ansten ( designer and publisher) at the printer. Photo: Charlotte Wiig.
Nina and Cecilie inspecting the first prints. Photo: Charlotte Wiig.
A SHARED LOVE FOR BOOKS
Nina Ansten and Cecilie Barstad share the love of books. Nina has designed art books for almost 20 years and worked for the the biggest art museums in Norway. Cecilie learned the craft of bookbinding in Central Saint Martins and at the Wyvern Bindery in London. They knew that the production and making of the book was going to be important. The choice was simple, Nina recommended ETN Grafisk and Bookbinder Johnsen in Skien, Norway, that she had been working with several times before and that provide top quality printing and binding. The pair wanted to produce locally and within easy travel distance to oversee the print start and binding day.
EVERYDAY MOMENTS
It is a mix of a diary, her own thoughts, excerpts of conversations between friends and neighbours formed into short stories and applied into familier settings. Each illustration portrays people together or in solitude. Quiet, mundane and everyday moments captured on paper. Looking at all the illustrations the viewer get a feel of the space, a personal window into the balcony lives of Highbury Square. There is a stillness and sense of waiting in the visuals. A moment floating in time. “ I have always liked the word -in limbo- now this year, I can say for sure that I can feel the origin meaning of that word, of being in a place rather close to the borders of Hell“ she says. She is tapping into what we all have: fear, despair, unsolved questions, things we never said, stuff we always wanted to do, procrastination, feeling of being useless, lack of hope. The short stories are about ordinary life with all it entails with a sense of hope, with a glimpse of light.
“The short stories is all the questions and conversations I had in my head since March. The book project became a special room for myself where I could rest and create.”
Nina and Cecilie overseeing the print start. Photo: Charlotte Wiig.
Nina and Cecilie visiting Johnsen Bookbinder in Skien, Norway where the book is bound. Photo: Charlotte Wiig.
THE EDITORIAL TEAM
Rear Window / Vinduet mot bakgården
Author and Illustrator: Cecilie Maurud Barstad
Editor: Nina Ansten
Contributors: Nina Ansten, Cecilie Maurud Barstad, Benedicte Meyer Kroneberg, and Sondre Sommerfelt.
Translation and Proofreading: Andrew J. Boyle
Design: Nina Ansten, Ansten Studio
Print: ETN Grafisk
Bookbinding: Bokbinderiet Johnsen
Publisher: Ansten Press
© Ansten Press & Cecilie Maurud Barstad
160 pages / 176 x 246 mm / Edition of 700 copies distributed on four different types of covers.
ISBN: 978-82-692291-0-3
“As in all major changes in the world, it is artists we can rely on to capture and convey the essence of our experiences.”
HOW IT ALL STARTED
Cecilie Maurud Barstad and Nina Ansten are both Central St. Martins alumni, and have worked together on different projects. They share a passion for art and bookmaking, and have held several talks and workshops on the topic. Cecilie learned the craft of bookmaking at the Wyern Bindery in London, and Nina has designed numerous art books for artists, museums and galleries. Cecilie and Nina are also friends in life, and that’s where the story of this book begins:
We were all compelled to stay where we were at the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Cecilie took her sketchbook and seated herself on her balcony in Highbury. She drew what she saw and wrote down what she thought. Nina found herself safely ensconced in her flat in Oslo, from where she planned new projects for an unsure future. They kept in touch through video calls, discussing their ‘new normal’ and talked about everything from how to grow plants on their balconies, to life, work, and new ideas for new projects. The ideas turned into the planning of the book Rear Window.
