Author & Illustrator

ADRIAN BELL (b. 1954) is an Australian cellist, teacher, composer and arranger who also writes poetry and fiction. Mother Moth was his first full-length novel. ‘The book arose,’ he says, ‘from a song of mine, whose melody ran down a flight of stairs into the nether-world. Those stairs went so deep, I turned back, and found myself at Elspeth’s place, Milkcow Farm. Music is the wellspring of my work. After music, poetry speaks next true. Fairy tales are prose poems. Their music grabs us, and we cannot choose but hear.’

Many of Adrian’s original compositions and arrangements are available for free download at adrianbellmusic.com, with an option to donate in support.

FRANCESCA BELL (b. 1964) completed her illustrations for Mother Moth as the creative component of a PhD at University of Newcastle, Australia. Her thesis was The salvaged image: a study of fairy tale, Mervyn Peake and the creative process, a personal view of the meaning and purpose of art as ‘effing the ineffable’.

She describes her work: ‘The illustrations use a lacquering technique, building from rough sketch to a patina of depth and brilliance. First thoughts, false starts, slips of the pen are all there. I wanted to reflect the book’s sense of interior depth and dissolved boundary. The pictures grew the way fairy tales grow, reinforcing some elements, sending others to the shadows.’

Francesca’s first love is painting animal portraits. At francescabell.com you can view more examples of her work and order a Pet Portrait online.

Adrian and Francesca share life and travel insights at endlessway.org.