Martin Springett
Martin Springett is an author, illustrator, and musician. He has performed in musical groups in Canada, England, and Europe, and he has worked as a freelance illustrator, beginning in the 1970s. Recordings include "The Gardening Club" (1983) and (with band Freefall) "Rough Magic" and "Bright Weaving". Life. Born in Crayford, Kent, England, in 1947, Springett grew up in Appledore, where his family ran the local pub. He took up the guitar in his teens and studied art for two semesters at the Brassey School of Art in Hastings, Sussex. Springett emigrated to the West Coast of Canada in  1965, and pursued illustration, designing posters, doing work for the Uvic Martlett, and creating an iconic bookmark for Munro's Bookstore.  He also formed two bands, The Iliad and Rain, then moved to Vancouver and was hired as a songwriter for Studio 3 where he worked with  Robbie King, Wayne Kozak, Duris Maxwell, Ann Mortifee, Tom Northcott, Howie Vickers and others, and recorded an album of Lord of the Rings songs which was not released for copyright reasons. In 1973 he returned to the UK to pursue music and spent time in Germany and touring through Europe with his band  Gateway Driver with Rob Burns, John Darnborough, Thomas Kretchmer (), and Jim McGillivray. While in London Martin illustrated and designed record covers for Columbia records, including ones for Stravinsky's Firebird Suite, Ian Hunter, and an interior for Argent's Circus album. He also worked for the children's magazine Look and Learn, a favourite of his growing up. Upon his return to Canada's west coast, Springett found illustration work with the publisher, Douglas and McIntyre, and with Potlatch's Canadian Children's Annual, where he produced comic strips and posters. In 1978 he moved to Toronto, where he did  editorial art for the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, and various magazines, including Heavy Metal and On Spec, and worked on album covers for Coney Hatch (1982) and Heads in the Sky (1983). He released his own album, “The Gardening Club”, in 1983. In 1984 he was commissioned to illustrate the cover of “The Summer Tree” by Guy Gavriel Kay. This and the subsequent volumes of The Fionavar Tapestry Trilogy were published around the world along with Martin's covers.Martin continued his interest in fantasy with illustrations for “The Traveller In Black” by John Brunner and in  1990 he  illustrated his first children's book, “Mei Ming and the Dragon’s Daughter” written by Lydia Bailey. Over the years he continued to produce illustrations and covers for many children's and young adult titles, taught courses at Sheridan, and visited schools and libraries across Canada leading presentations and workshops on creating an illustrated book. Martin has been nominated for various awards, including the Governor General's Award for Illustration and has won the Blue Spruce Award, Shining Willow Award, Aurora Award For Excellence in Fantasy Art, two Silver Awards from the Art Directors Club of Toronto and Best Classical  Record Cover of The Year Award (UK) among others. Continuing his work within the fantasy genre, Springett illustrated the covers for Caitlin Sweet's Telling of Stars in 2002 and Pattern Scars in 2011, and Heather Dale's songbook, Legends of Arthur in 2003. He did album covers for David Lanz's Christmas album (2014) and Rick Wakeman's Christmas album (2017), and continues his musical interests with his band, The Gardening Club, which was first formed in 1983 and has produced several CDs of Martin's songs along with contributions from his co-musicians, currently Norm McPherson, Kevin Laliberte , Drew Birston and Sari Alesh. Martin Springett lives in Toronto, Ontario with his wife Hilary. Their daughters, Rebecca, and Miriam also live in Toronto. Work. Art SELF-WRITTEN ILLUSTRATED BOOKS BOOKS ILLUSTRATED FOR OTHER AUTHORS Music Awards Winner of the Shining Willow Award 2013 Saskatchewan Winner of the Colorado Children's Book Award Nominated for the Norma Fleck Canadian Children's Non Fiction Award Nominated for the 2013 Information Book Award