"Through collage it is possible to try out [an] endless number of combinations and find the best possible solution. That is why I find collage such a creative medium to work in. It is not planned completely but in part discovered and revealed. It is necessary to play with the materials but this is creative play. There is a difference between the play of children and artists. Children's play is aimless; they do not play with the aim of creating something lasting whereas the artist creates a ‘passionate being', a final work."
(Cleaver, Elizabeth. "The Visual Artist and the Creative Process in Picture Books". Presented at Loughborough 1975, 8th International Summer Seminar on Children's Literature -- New College, University of Toronto, August 14, 1975.)
During her short career, Elizabeth Cleaver published several critically acclaimed children's books including The Wind Has Wings: Poems from Canada (1968), the first Canadian children's book with full four-colour illustration, and her posthumously published The Enchanted Caribou (1985). The original illustrations, so much more vivid than their reproductions, attest to the scope of her imaginative and artistic abilities with her favourite medium, the collage. From the botanical material -- pine needles, cedar branches, green plants, and potato prints -- which she incorporated into How Summer Came to Canada (1969), to the brilliantly coloured torn paper and puppet-like linoleum-printed shapes she used for Petrouchka (1980), Elizabeth Cleaver was continually experimenting with different artistic media. Shortly before her death in 1985, the National Library acquired the original illustrations for eleven of Cleaver's thirteen books, meeting her wish that they be kept together in a place where they would be valued and preserved. In addition to the original illustrations, the Cleaver holdings also include an assortment of preliminary materials, scribbles, sketches, drawings, research materials, readings, thoughts, and correspondence. Colour proofs, additional collage materials, and linocuts enable the researcher to trace the creative process and development of most books in detail. Each of Elizabeth Cleaver's books was painstakingly researched and carefully illustrated in her inimitable and vibrant style, and succeeds in providing an exciting, visual entry into the legend, myth, story or poems she illustrated.
Awards
 1971 | Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Award for The Wind Has Wings: Poems from Canada. |
| 1972 | Hans Christian Andersen Certificate of Honor from IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) for The Wind Has Wings: Poems from Canada, The Mountain Goats of Temlaham, and How Summer Came to Canada. |
| 1974 | Canadian Library Association Book of the Year Award for Children for The Miraculous Hind. |
| 1978 | Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Award for The Loon's Necklace. |
| 1980 | Canada Council Children's Literature Prize, English language, illustration, for Petrouchka. |
| 1982 | Hans Christian Andersen Certificate of Honour from IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) for Petrouchka. |
Selected bibliography
Books for Children
ABC. Written and illustrated by Elizabeth Cleaver. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1984.
55 p.: col. ill.; 13 cm.
ISBN 0195404661
La Biche miraculeuse: une légende hongroise. Written and illustrated by Elizabeth Cleaver; translated by Irene E. Aubrey. Montréal: Éditions HRW, 1973.
64 p.: col. ill.; 24 x 32 cm.
ISBN 0039282791
(French edition of The Miraculous Hind: A Hungarian Legend)
Canadian Wonder Tales: Being the Two Collections, Canadian Wonder Tales & Canadian Fairy Tales, Collected from Oral Sources. Written by Cyrus Macmillan; illustrated by Elizabeth Cleaver. Toronto: Bodley Head (Canada): Clarke, Irwin Co., 1974.
xi, 276 p.: ill.; 26 cm.
ISBN 0370012798
The Enchanted Caribou. Written and illustrated by Elizabeth Cleaver. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1985.
30 p.: ill.; 22 x 28 cm.
ISBN 0195404920
ISBN 0195410742 (pbk.)
The Fire Stealer. Written by William Toye; illustrated by Elizabeth Cleaver. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1986, c1979.
23 p.: col. ill; 27 cm.
ISBN 0195405153
How Summer Came to Canada. Written by William Toye; illustrated by Elizabeth Cleaver. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1978, c1969.
32 p.: chiefly col. ill.; 26 cm.
ISBN 0195402901
The Loon's Necklace. Written by William Toye; illustrated by Elizabeth Cleaver. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1990, c1977.
24 p.: col. ill.; 25 cm.
ISBN 0195406753 (pbk.)
The Miraculous Hind: A Hungarian Legend. Written and illustrated by Elizabeth Cleaver. Toronto: Holt, Rinehart and Winston of Canada, 1973.
64 p.: col. ill.; 24 x 32 cm.
ISBN 0039282783
The Mountain Goats of Temlaham. Written by William Toye; illustrated by Elizabeth Cleaver. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1969.
32 p.: col. illus.; 27 cm.
ISBN 0195403207
The New Wind Has Wings: Poems from Canada. Compiled by Mary Alice Downie and Barbara Robertson; illustrated by Elizabeth Cleaver. New edition. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1984.
110 p.: ill. (some col.); 26 cm.
ISBN 0195404319 (bound)
ISBN 0195404327 (pbk.)
Petrouchka. Written and illustrated by Elizabeth Cleaver. Toronto: Macmillan of Canada, c1980.
32 p.: col. ill.; 22 x 28 cm.
ISBN 077051877X
The Wind Has Wings: Poems from Canada. Compiled by Mary Alice Downie and Barbara Robertson; illustrated by Elizabeth Cleaver. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1978, c1968.
95 p.: col. ill.; 25 cm.
ISBN 0195400267
ISBN 0195402871
The Witch of the North: Folk Tales of French Canada. Adapted by Mary Alice Downie; illustrated by Elizabeth Cleaver. Ottawa: Oberon Press, c1975.
54 p.: col. ill.; 28 cm. (An Oberon Book)
ISBN 0887501605
Books for Adults
Love and Kisses Heart Book. Written and illustrated by Elizabeth Cleaver. Montreal: Melville Press, c1979.
1 folded sheet (18 p.): ill.; 55 mm.
Original Illustrations and Manuscript Material Available at the National Library of Canada
Elizabeth Cleaver papers, 1968-1985 [manuscript].
Petrouchka
ABC
Canadian Wonder Tales
The Enchanted Caribou
The Fire Stealer
How Summer Came to Canada
The Loon's Necklace
Love and Kisses Heart Book
The Mountain Goats of Temlaham
The New Wind Has Wings
The Witch of the North
20 m.
Illustrator of children's books. Montreal, Quebec.
Correspondence; research materials, sketches, tracings and original illustrations for How Summer Came to Canada, The Mountain Goats of Temlaham,
Canadian Wonder Tales, The Witch of the North, Love and Kisses Heart Book, The Loon's Necklace, The Fire Stealer, Petrouchka, The New Wind Has Wings, ABC,
The Enchanted Caribou.
Finding aid available.
No restrictions.
|
