User:Leemutimer/Ray Mutimer

Early Career
Ray Mutimer was trained as a secondary school teacher. He eventually became Head of Art and Craft at St Aidan’s C.E. High School in Harrogate. Whilst teaching, he continued his own personal paintings and exhibited widely in the North of England during the sixties and seventies. His paintings developed from being semi abstract pictures based on landscape to more figurative work. He had two paintings in the Contemporary British Watercolours Exhibition at the Royal Watercolour Society Galleries. He went on to have thirty one-man shows. He was also selected for many annual regional group exhibitions such as the West Riding Artists’ Exhibition (Wakefield), Modern Art in Yorkshire (9 artists) and Yorkshire Artists exhibitions.

His first illustrations were cartoon drawings, about teaching, which were regularly published in the Times Educational Supplement and Teacher’s World.

Having a young son lead to the discovery of children’s book illustration. It had imagination, expressive colour, inventiveness, composition and drawing, everything he was aiming for in his artwork, plus storytelling. He was converted and after overcoming a series of rejections, Yorkshire Television used his artwork in the national T.V. school and pre-school programmes “My World “ and “Stepping Stones”. His illustrations for traditional and new stories, including some of his own, were shown on the programmes for four years.

Illustration
In 1980 he became a freelance illustrator, with his teaching limited to adult recreational painting classes for a few hours a week and occasional demonstration to art clubs. His school experience was valuable in securing illustration work with educational publishers such as - the Roundabouts series and the Tim and the Hidden People series for E.J. Arnold of Leeds. Relay Readers for older children, stories about a motorcycling group of teenagers for Schofield and Sims.

Working with Michael Benn Publishing, Ray originated and published educational material for industry. One of its successes was time charts which took the form of a 4 part frieze showing the history of an industry or institution. Each had about 50 pictures blended into a montage. Ray illustrated history Time Charts for The Inland Revenue, The Banking Information Service, The Royal Mint, Pilkington Glass (history of windows), Thames Water and The Atomic Energy Authority. He also designed and illustrated fourteen A1 and A2 posters for similar institutions, including The Royal Society of Arts.

Books
Postman Pat is a TV character created by Ivor Wood and writer John Cunliffe. In 1989 Ray started his first series of 12 Postman Pat picture books called “Tales from Greendale.” Published by Andre Deutsch Children’s Books and Scholastic. These were followed by four books based on new TV episodes. He also did associated activity and sticker books. For Egmont Publishers he did a number of Postman Pat board books for younger children drawn in a simple heavy black line style and computer coloured. Ray drew eight Postman Pat Annuals from 1993 to 2000. He illustrated the whole Annual - stories, picture strips and activity pages - working with his wife, Christine Mutimer as colourist.

Between 1997-2005 Ray worked on educational books for Africa and the Caribbean for MacMillan Education. Covering an enormous range of subjects in 24 books. Some were illustrations for a traditional African story, some were factual, some descriptive, religious, decorative, some picture stories, some comic, some pure adventure.

He brought his individual slant to classic rhymes and fairy stories in “The Award book of Tales and Rhymes”, published by Award Publications in 1999.

Magazines and comics
From 1982 to 1988 Ray, in collaboration with his wife - Christine Mutimer wrote, designed and illustrated pages of craft "how to make" activities for children. These appeared in various comics, mostly for girls. The longest running was "Make with Mum" in Pepper Street, published by DC Thomson.

For four years he drew another TV character created by Ivor Wood, Charlie Chalk. He drew 2 or 3 pictures strips and the occasional activity page each week in the Postman Pat Weekly Children’s magazine published by Fleetway. Towards the end of the comic’s life he also drew Postman Pat on the covers and inside. He gave the fortnightly “Play and Learn Postman Pat” spin off striking fully painted covers as well as interior picture strips.

Working for Marvel UK from 1992 to 1994, on Rupert and friends and Rupert Learn and Play – weekly children’s picture strip magazines, Ray illustrated four page picture stories and activity pages called Bingo’s Workshop.

Ray also contributed to various BBC Publications Children’s magazines.
 * Toybox and Toybox Teach me - Postman Pat picture strips and activity pages. 1997 - 2003
 * Noddy Picture strips - story illustrations and activity pages. 1994 – 1999
 * Starhill Ponies - story illustrations and activity pages. 1999 - 2000

Postman Pat Exhibitions
Ray had selling exhibitions of original Postman Pat artwork at Newby Hall, Near Ripon in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008.

From December 2007 to February 2008, Ray exhibited Postman Pat illustrations at Preston Hall Museum, Stockton-on-Tees to raise funds for the Butterwick Hospice Extension Appeal.