Beloved story-teller Hans Christian Andersen spent much of his life travelling, earning his board and keep in the homes of his many friends by inventing charming evening entertainments known as "trifles", now cherished as some of the most interesting and entertaining fairy tales from Western European culture. While narrating his tales, Andersen snipped away at paper cuttings, creating large, cut-work illustrations which delighted his audience as he illumionated them with candle light.

I curated some of his images, and commissioned writer Sally Gall to let them inspire a new fairy tale, "The Ballerina and the Clown" the story of a love-lorn clown and his fey ballerina.