Small Things tells of a lonely boy, struggling with worry. But the author also had mental health issues, and died before it was finished

It would be too easy to draw parallels between the suffering artist and her creation: she draws a child, sad and anxious, being eaten away by strange shapes, the self diminishing.

There are no words. Just a silent world of intricate artwork, hundreds of black and white drawings of a small boy, lonely in his ordinary life, with an obvious theme of mental torment. The artist works doggedly on this one picture book for eight years then, when she is so close to finishing, only a few drawings to go, she takes her own life.

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This is the story of Mel Tregonning. Her book Small Things has been released this month after a concerted effort by her family, her publisher, and the award winning artist Shaun Tan to get it finished and posthumously released to the world as a poignant legacy.

“I feel some caution is due,” Shaun Tan says, “that one would do well to avoid drawing simple conclusions.



“For many artists dealing with inner difficulties – which is most – the making of art represents a moment of heightened clarity and mindfulness, not an expression of malaise, and this is the feeling I find in Mel’s work; a clear and critical gaze upon matters that are universal, familiar to everyone.”

For Violet Tregonning, this is the spirit of Mel’s work. The terrible, gutting loss of her sister to suicide is inextricably linked to this story of a child feeling alone with his worries, but, Violet says, “it’s too simplified to say ‘this is Mel’.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘One would do well to avoid drawing simple conclusions’ Photograph: Allen & Unwin

“Perhaps this is what she was feeling, but I don’t necessarily believe she was depressed when she started,” she says. “She knew those feelings of hopelessness and loneliness – we all experience feelings of isolation at some stage in our lives – but her illness was something that developed in a short period of time.

“I think that she was a little bit isolated as I had moved out of home and had recently got married – I try not to blame myself – but I think that she was a little bit alone, and because mental breakdowns happen so quickly there just wasn’t enough time. She hadn’t got enough sleep, and sleep is so vital to maintaining good mental health.”

Mel Tregonning’s moment of crisis came in 2014 when she had been released from hospital on a weekend, and fell between the cracks in the system. She was 31.

And so began the mission to finish her defining work. When Tan, who had recommended Tregonning to his publisher after seeing her work years earlier, said yes to coming on board, “Mum and I were dancing around the kitchen,” says Violet.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘Mental breakdowns happen so quickly’: Violet Tregonning (left) and her sister Mel at Violet’s wedding

“And I think Mel would be ecstatic, she would be really happy to know that Shaun Tan has contributed ... She would be over the moon, and to know its complete, it completes her vision.”



Tan, who was responsible for picture books The Lost Thing, The Red Tree and The Arrival among others, is an expert in silent narrative. He downplays his part to simply “merely assisting in the technical realisation” of the work, although it is no small thing to so seamlessly finish off another’s work. He contributed three drawings, though it’s impossible to tell which ones are his.

“After examining Mel’s original drawings closely – very large works using soft graphite on medium-weight paper – I realised I was familiar enough with this technique to be able to emulate Mel’s style. Not perfectly perhaps, but enough to carry the reader through certain passages without noticing a difference.

“Fortunately Mel had left such intricate preliminary work that this was not difficult to do, only time consuming, as if she had conscientiously left instructions as to how such work should be carried out.

“The whole time working on these pictures I could imagine Mel’s critical eye examining every line and smudge, wondering what she would think. It was a very strange experience not being able to ask for advice or approval, even as Mel seemed so present among the original drawings I was using for reference, but perhaps this absence made me try even harder to get it right.”

In Small Things, the lonely boy ultimately finds that help is at hand, and that it is close by. He and his sister wordlessly share their worries and their fractured sense of self. He sees then that vulnerability is all around him, and this sense of connection uplifts him. And the reader too.

Says Violet: “All we can do now is use this message and this legacy to try to help other families to be better educated on the seriousness of mental health issues and to hopefully get better resources for mental illness.

“I see the book as a resource for families, so that they are able to have that conversation, to be able to ask – are you OK? – without actually saying it.

“That can be the biggest thing sometimes, just sharing what you feel, and understanding that you’re not alone, especially children who don’t understand how they feel or know how to talk about how they feel.”

• Small Things by Mel Tregonning is out now through Allen & Unwin

• If you need help please call Lifeline on 131114