During these March days passing from winter to spring, the group of cold hardy plants emerge–things like crocus, winter aconite, early daffodils and snowdrops. A favorite illustrator who used flowers like these in her work was Cicely M. Barker, whose beloved works include the seasonal Flower Fairies series.
Born in 1895 in the Greater London suburb of Croyden, Cicely was a self-taught artist who took art correspondence courses. Her father was partner in a seed supply company and an amateur artist himself, so she was likely familiar with packet illustrative art. Her works are known for botanical accuracy; she would go to Kew Gardens to study specimens meanwhile developing skill in many media: oils and pastels, watercolors and pen and ink.
She was an epileptic and spent much quiet time in art studies close to home and was cared for by family, though she began contributing at age 16 with sale of pictures on postcards and then in 1923 with the first of her Fairies. There was a great interest in these “wee folk” ramped up by J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan and Sir Arthur Conan Doyles The Coming of the Fairies. For models, she used children from her sister’s kindergarten school and even sewed theme fairie costumes for them.
Cicely was considered a pillar of her church; a devout Anglican, she was always looking for ways to serve. She freely donated her work to raise money for missionary work and church fundraising. She gave her pictures to the children’s parents and friends. Later in life, she began to concentrate on art for the church, feeling she needed to lend stronger support to that endeavor.
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