Ronald Ferns (14 October 1925 – 2 December 1997) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

illustrator, designer, cartoonist and

surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...

painter in oil and watercolour. He attended

Saint Martin's School of Art Saint Martin's School of Art was an art college in London, England. It offered foundation and degree level courses. It was established in 1854, initially under the aegis of the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields. Saint Martin's became part of ...

, London. His first major official commission was a mural for the 1951

Festival of Britain The Festival of Britain was a national exhibition and fair that reached millions of visitors throughout the United Kingdom in the summer of 1951. Historian Kenneth O. Morgan says the Festival was a "triumphant success" during which people: ...

, in the Country Pavilion, for the

Milk Marketing Board The Milk Marketing Board was a producer-run product marketing board, established by the Agricultural Marketing Act 1933, to control milk production and distribution in the United Kingdom. It functioned as buyer of last resort in the milk market in ...

. In the same year, he was also commissioned to create the scenic design for the premiere of ''Fate’s Revenge'' by the Ballet Rambert. Throughout the 1950s, he contributed witty line illustrations, decorations and cartoons to '' Lilliput'', for which he also painted several covers in colour, ''

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'', ''

Picture Post ''Picture Post'' was a photojournalistic magazine published in the United Kingdom from 1938 to 1957. It is considered a pioneering example of photojournalism and was an immediate success, selling 1,700,000 copies a week after only two months. ...

'', ''Scope'', and ''

Good Housekeeping ''Good Housekeeping'' is an American women's magazine featuring articles about women's interests, product testing by The Good Housekeeping Institute, recipes, diet, and health, as well as literary articles. It is well known for the "Good Hous ...

'', for which he drew a regular series entitled "Semolina Silkpaws". He also illustrated a series of full-colour booklets for Guinness advertising campaigns. Other important advertising work included elegant watercolour covers for

Fortnum & Mason Fortnum & Mason (colloquially often shortened to just Fortnum's) is an upmarket department store in Piccadilly, London, with additional stores at The Royal Exchange, St Pancras railway station, Heathrow Airport in London and K11 Musea In Hong ...

catalogues. In the early 1960s, he moved with his wife Iris to St Ives in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, so he could diversify from "

commercial art Commercial art is the art of creative services, referring to art created for commercial purposes, primarily advertising. Commercial art uses a variety of platforms (magazines, websites, apps, television, etc.) for viewers with the intent of prom ...

" into painting and other endeavours. As well as developing his noted series of surreal paintings in oil, which were sold through the Portal Gallery in London, he set up, with Iris, an initiative called "Studio 22". Together, they designed and made ceramic jewellery, art pottery and beach clothes such as

kaftan A kaftan or caftan (; fa, خفتان, ) is a variant of the robe or tunic. Originating in Asia, it has been worn by a number of cultures around the world for thousands of years. In Russian usage, ''kaftan'' instead refers to a style of men's ...

s. They moved back to London in the 1970s, where Ronnie continued to paint for the Portal Gallery and provide illustrations for the Bond Street fashion emporium, Ports. However, he was increasingly drawn to book illustration. Alongside a successful series in collaboration with the poet

Gavin Ewart Gavin Buchanan Ewart FRSL (4 February 1916 – 23 October 1995) was a British poet who contributed to Geoffrey Grigson's ''New Verse'' at the age of seventeen. Life Ewart was born in London and educated at Wellington College, before entering ...

– ''The Learned Hippopotamus'' (1986), ''Caterpillar Stew'' (1990) and ''Like It Or Not'' (1992) – he began writing children’s stories as well as illustrating them. His first book as both writer and artist, ''Osbert And Lucy'' (1988), was successful not only in Britain but also in the USA, and was translated into several European languages. It was subsequently included in the 2003 anthology, ''The Hutchinson Book of Bunny Tales''. His second book, ''Bumpity And the Big Snake'', was published in 1994.

References

* ''Who's Who In Art'', 1962. * Industrial Artists, Society of (compiler): ''DESIGNERS IN BRITAIN 3: A BIENNIAL REVIEW OF GRAPHIC AND INDUSTRIAL DESIGN he Great Exhibition 1851-The Festival of Britain 1951'. London: Allan Wingate, 1951. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferns, Ronald English illustrators English muralists 20th-century English painters English male painters 1925 births 1997 deaths St Ives artists Alumni of Saint Martin's School of Art 20th-century English male artists