Drawing from the heart with Lucy Claire Dunbar.
Most people I think it is safe to say, will have stumbled across one of Lucy’s illustrations by now, whether knowingly or not. From her heartwarming celebration of our late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee encompassing Paddington Bear or her tributes to the late Matthew Perry who famously played Chandler in Friends, Lucy’s pieces are touching and the emotions they evoke ripple through the screen and across the world into the homes and hearts of millions.
With her debut book having been released this week, now seemed the perfect time to share this story from the revival Edition of In The Country which is available to purchase here.
Lucy Claire Dunbar’s story though, isn’t without its challenges, there have been setbacks along the way, including my own rejection when it came to the In The Country calendar illustrations. I have since followed Lucy’s journey with great admiration and knew I had to interview her the moment I decided to revive ITC.
“It all starts with my parents really, Dad is an animator who was very successful in his time and Mum is more crafty. She does the best cards, if you need a gift for someone, you go to mum.” Lucy explains off the bat as we delve into the origin of her creativity. As one of five, all creatives, it is safe to say creativity and a love for art runs in the family. She goes on to share how, “if we went out for dinner growing up, we’d be sketching on drawing pads to keep us entertained.”
Referencing her eldest sister as her idol, owning her own business in nursery decor, Lucy explains how it was almost impossible not to feel inspired by her family, “it felt like a given that I’d follow their footsteps, though I didn’t believe I could make a career out of drawing, I had no idea how to make money as an artist, and so I thought I’d go into fashion.”
Throughout her education, Lucy pursued art, studying it at GCSE and A Level which is where she recalls truly falling in love with it. “I wouldn’t be doing what I am doing today without my A Level Art teacher Miss Holden. She helped me through a tough period as my health was beginning to take a nose dive.” Despite a diagnosis of Type 1 Diabetes and through genuine tenacity, Lucy completed her A Level and signed up for an Art Foundation which was, as she put it, “tumultuous darling,” thanks to a tutor who told her she wouldn’t make it as an illustrator as she wasn’t ‘good enough’. “I enrolled in a PA course,” as a result of her lousy lecturer’s words, no longer wanting to pursue anything art related, resigned to the fact she couldn’t, heeding the ill-directed advice.
“My parents agreed to sign me up to the course, but only if I completed two more weeks at college. I was coming home crying most days, I just couldn’t get on with it. I think, in hindsight, I was listening to others too much and comparing myself and my work to people who had found their flow, when I hadn’t yet.” During that fortnight, Lucy discovered graphic design, and suddenly a world of possibilities opened up to her. “I could still draw, I think ultimately I was trying to convince the tutor more than myself.”
Following the completion of her Foundation, Lucy went to University at Southampton Solent to study Fashion Graphics and here, thought she’d venture into print design, following in her sister’s footsteps. Here, the support was in stark contrast to that which she’d received on the course prior, “my tutors were amazing, Rachel (I don’t recall her surname) was incredible, she told me I could draw and advised me not to lose this in my graphics as it is what differentiates me and my work from others.” Lucy went on to share how, “the team at Southampton really believed in me and nurtured me and my skill throughout my time there, I was a woman on a mission on that course, my course mates would likely have thought I was crazy, but I loved it.”
However, it was during this time that Lucy’s health really began to deteriorate and she ultimately lost her sight for the first time. Her sight loss was by her own admission, a result of “not looking after myself, it was a complication from this in relation to managing my diabetes,” she shares. “No one knew how bad it was then, my sister was shocked when she first discovered the extent of it. I couldn’t cross the road by myself as I couldn’t see oncoming cars. By the end of uni, I basically couldn’t see much at all, my friends had to sign university documents for me. Though at the time, I buried my head in the sand, hid from it and didn’t want to face the problem, I was so focused on my work.”
Miraculously, managing to finish with a first, Lucy admits that she hasn’t been able to revisit her work from those dark days yet due to it being triggering. “Once I graduated, I don’t think I drew for four or five months, which is crazy because now there isn’t a day that goes by where I don’t draw.”
After receiving surgery which incredibly, restored her vision fully, Lucy shares how she feels as though she was given a second chance. It was during this time that she decided to launch her Instagram account @lucyclaireillustration, as a way to, as she puts it, “a) start drawing again and b) process what I had been through. I didn’t realise at the time what I was doing, but it became almost like a journal of my healing process.”
Looking back at that time, and opening her eyes for the first time after her operation with a clear view, Lucy humbly divulges how, “I’ll never forget seeing my grandparents for the first time since. I hadn’t realised how much they’d aged. I realised then, I hadn’t really seen people age for the past three years. Seeing the leaves for the first time on the trees, and noticing how green they were. I was amazed that I could distinguish between single leaves on the trees, they weren’t just one big blurry green blob. I didn’t know how little I could see until I could see again.” She explains how the surgeons fix one eye first, and then the other and so, “at one point, I had a literal split in half representation of what I had been living with, and clear sight.”
Though, the ride wouldn’t remain smooth for long. Two years later, Lucy lost her sight for a second time after a really serious episode with her diabetes, “I’m very lucky to be alive, I’m like a cat with nine lives.” After another pioneering operation, her sight was restored, something which for an artist is vital for the job, though she laughs to herself as she recalls how, “I came up with all of these back up plans if they couldn’t fix my eyes. I even thought of starting a new Instagram account called Blind Eye Designs,” she remembers, in between laughter which we share, “I was still going to draw, I thought people might like it and find it quirky,”
Thinking back to that time, I ask Lucy what the hardest thing about it was, she replied, “I actually found not being able to read, worse than not being able to draw. To escape in a book is one of the greatest things you can do, and the thought of never beingable to do that again was heartbreaking.”
With that said, Lucy’s book: The Book of Gifts is available to order now through Amazon, Waterstones and numerous other literary retailers. The description reads: ‘sometimes we all need a gift to help us through our life, or even just through the day. A chance to stop. Take a breath. Listen to your heart. That is the promise in The Book of Gifts.’
This is a snippet of Lucy’s full interview with Editor-in-Chief, Holly Thomson, to read the full story, you’ll need to order a copy of the magazine within which you can discover this, and so many others for yourself. Lucy is a genuinely inspirational individual that I feel hugely lucky to have interviewed. To browse the full collection of prints visit her website at: lucyclaireillustration.com
