These are illustrations for a book written by Rheta Thola and published by Ancient Faith. I worked closely with the editor Jane Meyer and designer Amber Iragui. We looked at some illustrations from graphic novels which inspired the direction we took, particularly Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. I was also inspired by Jacques Tardi, and his illustrations for the Nesta Burma graphic novels, particularly 120 Rue de la Gare.
Mother Maria Skobtsova was a Russian emigrée who came to Paris after the Russian Revolution. She lived in St Petersburg at the start of the twentieth century and was part of the circle of poets of the Silver Age of Russian poetry. She also was an artist and made artworks to accompany her volumes of poetry. She fled the Soviet Union in the 1920s and eventually came to Paris. Here she started working to support the many immigrants that were arriving from the Soviet Union, becoming a nun. She helped many Jews to escape during the Nazi occupation of France and was caught and send to Ravensbrück concentration camp where she died in the gas chamber in 1945.
The book can be bought from the Ancient Faith website at: https://store.ancientfaith.com/stubborn-love-a-story-of-saint-maria-of-paris/
