I AM YORKSHIRE
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An A3 illustrated poem written by East Yorkshire's town crier and writer Michael Wood,
and East Yorkshire illustrator and artist Eleanor Tomlinson.
" I’m five-million people who enjoy a big brass band,
I’m the place where aliens would mostly like to land,
I’m a tyke (in the nicest way) with a welcoming ‘Howdo’,
I’m the City of York, two-millennia old – and new,
I’m the soap opera Emmerdale, I’m artist David Hockney,
I’m thankfully not Eastenders, who would be a cockney? "
These are the opening words of 64 verses written by local town crier and writer Michael Wood in his “lockdown love letter to all things Yorkshire”. As a Yorkshire lass, and the illustrator of 62 images to these wonderful, smile-twitching lines, Eleanor was excited from the beginning to work with Michael and bring his words to life. A quirky and colourful collaboration by two East Yorkshire creatives to celebrate everything they love about their home county during a global pandemic.
Both now are delighted to be bringing I AM Yorkshire to the public in celebration of Yorkshire Day 2021 after keeping this project under wraps for so long. The feedback they have started to receive already for their creative endeavours has been heart-warming. Phillip Bell, Chief Executive of The Yorkshire Society said: ‘Can I commend you and Eleanor on the work -
I think it is excellent and I'm sure will prove very popular'.
From their first meeting after coming out of the first lockdown in 2020, the pair knew this would be something to lift spirits for others local and fond to Yorkshire. Especially at a time when so much of what ‘I AM Yorkshire’ features have not been possible to be experienced by so many throughout the pandemic. With every landmark, venue, landscape, and hidden gem (natural or manmade) that Eleanor and Michael's collaboration celebrates, they're confident the result of their creative process will bring smiles and chuckles to folks far and wide.
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“The challenge wasn’t so much what to include, but what to leave out!” - Michael Wood
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