In an exclusive women in literature series, artist Kirsty Maclennan was commissioned by the Crow Emporium to inspire women all over the world by capturing the great literary heroines of our time.  Featuring some of the greatest writers of our time, this tea towel will capture the imagination of all literary lovers to remind us of the great courage, talent and incredible futures we can all aspire too.

Kirsty Maclennan - Artist Bio

I grew up in Gateshead, a stone’s throw away from the vibrant city-centre of Newcastle.

I owe my ability to draw to my grandfather, who let me riffle through his extensive Reader’s Digest library, filled with world history and astronomy and poetry. It is here that I found the ‘How to Draw’ manual, a large dry volume, filled with painstaking step by step guides, to drawing everything from sleeping cats to space rockets. With this stately tome by my side, I sat in my grandparents’ frontroom each day after school and learned to draw the world.

I decided to sacrifice one love for another when picking my degree, and studied English Literature at Northumbria University. In between assignment deadlines and reading lists, it was my secret pleasure to rise early on Sundays, make a good strong pot of coffee, fill my room with music and dedicate the morning to painting sea-blue canvases.

I am inspired by many things: trees and wind and rain, lost afternoons wandering around any gallery I happen upon, and by the words and lives of great writers. I have read for as long as I have been able to draw, and words seem to flow into my artwork of their own accord.   

By way of Grasmere, Liverpool, a definitively inclusive tour of  West Yorkshire, and too many jobs to mention, I find myself in the beautiful town of York, with a man, a tortoise and a studio filled with light

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