I was surprised when I was asked to design the Christmas Card for The Foundling Museum. Surprised because I was on their radar, the artists they have worked with in the past are heroes of mine.

If you have not heard of the work they do here is a short summary:

‘The Foundling Museum explores the history of the Foundling Hospital, the UK’s first children’s charity and first public art gallery. We aim to inspire everyone to make a positive contribution to society, by celebrating the power of individuals and the arts to change lives.’

This work resonates with me for a number of reasons, both personally and artistically. The projects that struck me the most were the ones in which they bring artists and children together to create art, this feels to me extremely valuable. For a child finding another way of communicating the things they might not be able to express with words can be a life line.

Our card is called ‘A Token of Love and Hope, 2018’ and here is a bit about the illustration:

In addition to the lamb from the Foundling Hospital’s coat of arms, Bickford-Smith’s design includes references to the Foundling Museum’s eighteenth-century ‘tokens’. These small everyday objects were left by mothers with their babies as a form of identification, should they ever return to claim their child. As such, the tokens are a powerful symbol of love and hope, and find resonance with the Christmas story.

www.foundlingmuseum.org.uk