Cicely Mary Barker 1895-1973Cicely Mary Barker is better known for her 'Flower Fairies', but she also illustrated some wonderful Bible pictures. She obviously loved to draw children and flowers, and both found their way into her Bible pictures.
It is well known that her sister Dorothy set up her own school to help earn money for the family, and Cicely used the children as models to draw from, in both her flower fairy, and Bible pictures.
I love her delicate style, she manages to capture the innocence and wonder in the children's faces as they watched the Saviour. She was also another Bible artist who, like Frank Hampson, thrived on detail. The plants and flowers that she illustrated were observed with complete botanical accuracy. Her figure work was also anatomically perfect!
It wasn't only her color work that was impressive, her pen & ink work was superb also.
Cicely was a delicate child, who suffered from epilepsy, and because of this was educated at her Croydon home. After the early death of her father, she helped to earn money for the family by selling her pictures and poetry. In her later years she was described as a humble, modest lady. She had a strong Christian faith, and was an active member of St Andrews church in Croydon.
More about Cicely Mary Barker here.
Favorite Bible Artist #1 Frank Hampson
Favorite Bible Artist #2 Nestor Redondo
Favorite Bible Artist #3 Clive Uptton
