A Story for the Children of Today

Diana Thomson is a sculptor who studied at Kingston Polytechnic (now University) Sculpture Department, obtaining a BA in Fine Art. She has also written two film screenplays and some poetry. Shortly after leaving art college, she was commissioned to make several large sculptures, one of which, 'Father and Child', was shown at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 1982. Another is a life-size homage to D.H. Lawrence sited at Nottingham University. Married to the Oscar-nominated cinematographer, Alex Thomson, for 44 years, she has one daughter, Chyna. She wrote and illustrated this book not only for her grandchildren, Albie and Freya, but also for all children, in the hope they will have a future in a less polluted world. It was devastating when Alex died in 2007, so she decided to work with watercolour to cheer herself up. Influenced by the art in the Etruscan Tombs she had recently visited, she found herself painting a boy and a dog, diving into a pool of water. Once in the painting, they would not go away, and she was compelled to tell their story. Since leaving art college, she has practised life-drawing continuously, and she is now working on coloured figurative sculpture, inspired by the lively Minoan Art of Crete. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Sculptors, and an Honorary Friend of the British Society of Cinematographers.