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PETER CROSS (BORN 1951)
Peter Cross was born in Guildford and educated at Parkside, East Horsley, and at Ewell Castle. At first he worked as a technical illustrator for Hawker Siddley, but from 1975 began to emerge as an imaginative illustrator of great originality. He made his name with eleven children’s books which continue to delight children and parents alike with their humorous detail. Subsequently, he responded directly to adults’ interest in his work by producing 1588 and All This... (1988) and The Boys’ Own Battle of Britain (1990). Unwilling to restrict his fertile imagination to two dimensions, he also created a series of eccentric cabinets of curiosities, centring on themes as diverse as Sigmund Freud, the Cheltenham Literary Festival and the equipment of a fairy seamstress. Such richness and variety were then directed towards advertising and, in particular, to delightful work for Wine Rack. The dry, yet charming visual-verbal wit of Peter Cross reached a wide international public through designs for phenomenally successful Harbottle & Co greetings cards published by Gordon Fraser (Hallmark 1995-2000).
Following this success, the challenge of renovating Bryony Hill, a beautiful country house in Surrey, allowed Cross the opportunity to develop his skills in interior design and landscape gardening. The house with its wonderfully eccentric bridge and turret, and dreamy views to the South Downs beyond, seemed to evoke scenes from his first book Trouble for Trumpets (1982). Indeed this almost fairytale world prompted one Hollywood producer to attempt to turn the book into a film. Inspired by his idyllic surroundings and by wife Kim’s bread and butter puddings, Peter has now started his own greetings card range published by The Great British Card Company. He is also working towards a major retrospective exhibition at Chris Beetles Gallery to be held in Spring 2009 to celebrate the 25 years of his fruitful association with the gallery.
