Patrick James Lynch (born 2 March 1962), known professionally as P. J. Lynch, is an Irish artist and children's book illustrator.
Contents |
Born in Belfast, Lynch was the youngest of five children.[1] He was interested in art from an early age, often choosing to spend his free periods during school in the art department.[2] According to Lynch, Belfast was a "scary" place for a teenager in the 1970s (see The Troubles), and he used drawing and reading as a "way of escaping for a while from the horrors that were happening around me in the real world."[3] He attended the Brighton College of Art, leaving in 1984 to begin his career as a children's book illustrator.[2]
Lynch's first book, a collection of folklore tales from England and Wales entitled A Bag of Moonshine (written by Alan Garner), was published in 1986. This was the beginning of a recurring theme in Lynch's work; many of his books focus on traditional stories, legends, and fairy tales.[4] For his illustrations in A Bag of Moonshine Lynch received the Mother Goose Award,[5] given to the "most exciting newcomer to British children's book illustration".[6]
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey (authored by Susan Wojciechowski) tells the story of a gloomy woodcutter who gradually recovers his ability to find joy in life. The book, which was published in 1995, proved to be very popular with sales in the United States exceeding one million copies.[7] Lynch's illustrations in The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey were lauded for their "exceptional range of texture and colour",[8] and earned him both the Kate Greenaway Medal as well as the Christopher Medal. James Earl Jones recorded a Grammy-nominated reading of the book,[9] and a movie based on the book was released in 2007.[10]
Lynch has created posters for both Opera Ireland[11] and the Abbey Theatre.[12] He has illustrated four sets of Christmas stamps for An Post, as well as other individual stamps. The stamps he has designed have been acclaimed for their "level of detail, mood and emotion", which give them "a vivid life of their own."[13]
In 2006 Lynch completed work on two large scale murals in oils on the theme of Gulliver's Travels for the new Cavan County Library.
Lynch married his wife Barbara on his fortieth birthday. They live in Dublin with their three children.
Lynch has illustrated 20 books: