Kate Greenaway: Staying True to Your Own Style

How do memories transform creativity and imagination?

For artist and poet Kate Greenaway, childhood memories created a swirl of color, shapes, scents, and textures. As if she’d seen them only an hour before, the color of a flower or the shape of a bonnet stayed sharp in her mind years later..

She turned the colors and shapes into her unique vision of art—a place where apple trees bloom and invite us to step inside a world where it is forever spring.

Little Miss Muffet by Kate Greenaway

Critics—including well-intentioned friends—offered all kinds of advice. They urged her to become more conventional, change the expressions of the people in her drawings, or even erase the shadows under their shoes (Spielmann and Layard).

At times, Kate struggled to grow in confidence and make up her own mind about what to keep and what to change.

How did her childhood memories act as navigational stars to help Kate stay true to her own creativity and style?

First Star—From Sepia to Color