Artist Omar Rayyan - The story behind the book The Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti

In 2016, Omar Rayyan published an illustrated book, The Goblin Market. It was the culmination of many years of work, a personal project based on the narrative poem by Christina Rossetti. A successful Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign helped the project come to fruition, and the result was a beautiful hardcover book packed with over 100 full-color watercolor paintings. 26 of the paintings from this book are on exhibit in the Friends Art Gallery this month.  Omar will be talking about the creation of the book and the process involved in bringing it to publication.

Omar Rayyan is a Massachusetts artist who is known for his children’s book illustrations of fantasy, fairy tales, and folklore. The bucolic surroundings of his year-round home on Martha's Vineyard compliment and help inspire his “old world” aesthetic toward painting.  He enjoys looking to the past for inspiration and guidance from the great oil painters of the Northern Renaissance and the Romantic and Symbolist painters of the 19th century such as Rembrandt, de Hooch, van Dyck, Rubens, Bruegel. Rayyan also cites John Singer Sargent, Arthur Rackham, and Persian miniatures as having an effect on his work.  

This event is sponsored by the Library Foundation of Needham and will be a live event in the Community Room of the Needham Free Public Library. Registration is required , as we have a current capacity limit of 100.

Books will be available for purchase at this event.