My Lovely Dad

This is such a hard post to write but I felt I should just let anybody who reads my blog know; my Dad died on Saturday 23rd August, just before midnight.

He was at home, with my Mum and sister.

He was a wonderful Dad and Grandad. I miss him so much and I can't believe he has gone. xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Illustration Friday - "Sail"

I should have been working towards our next exhibition, but only having an hour or so to spare, and no fusible web to carry on with my doll, I couldn't resist having a go at this topic. It's done with sgraffito - scratching into oil pastels. I've never done it before and I enjoyed it. I'm having a difficult time at the moment and it took my mind off things slightly- for a little while at least.

I've been having trouble uploading the image so I do hope I don't make some terrible mistake! Also it looks a bit "liney"...oh well. It's the thought that counts.

Illustration Friday - "Canned"

Tyson realised he preferred his food canned.

Illustration Friday - "Sour"

Here's a little drawing I did for Illustration Friday - my first go at submitting something, although I always look at it! As the theme was "Sour", I drew the Old Woman Who Lived In a Vinegar Bottle. I like this story - I can identify with the miserable old moo, as I always tend to look forward to moving to my next place! I've done some work on this story before, when I exhibited with the Inky Crows group at Thebes Gallery in Lewes last year -our theme was English Folktales. I made a doll of the character - here's a rather bad pic.




She has decided to stay put and improve her current vinegar bottle, what with the credit crunch, and now she resides in my dining room and keeps me company while I work.

I might start a new series of pics here next week, so watch this space. (Well not this one, but, you know, future ones!)

Have a great rest of week everyone. And Happy Birthday to my dad!

Happy Birthday Rebby!

A very special friend of mine hits the big single figure today.

(here's the card I made for her.)

Sketchbook

Sorry for the long absence. Life has been too full of family disasters and general awfulness for me to be able to blog. But, I did see this fine woman in the supermarket yesterday, collecting money for charity. I promise you it's not a caricature...she really was this wonderful. I tried to photograph her with my mobile, but fearing arrest I imprinted her on my memory instead and drew her in my sketchbook when I got home.

I did give her a donation, too!

Other news - currently helping Pam move - although I would rather stand in front of the van and prevent her leaving...

A "Pigeon" Post

Hello everyone. It's been a busy week. Let's start with Monday. I returned home from my evening dancing class to find a pigeon standing in the hall. Brad and his brother Beed were having a coffee in the kitchen, chatting nonchalantly, just as if there wasn't a pigeon standing in the hall.

"There's a pigeon standing in the hall," I said.

They looked. There was.

He was a racing pigeon, and he looked really pissed off. Who could blame him? After stopping to rest, he'd been mauled by the cat, bundled indoors through the cat flap, and then left to stand at the bottom of my stairs, ignored in his hour of need.




Beed had been at my house all evening, had had a bath, made teas, watched telly - and had actually trodden in blood and feathers, walked them through the house and still not spotted the pigeon.

"Put him in this box," I said to Brad. (The pigeon, that is, not Beed.) "He's probably going to die, but at least he'll be left alone."

Brad got a towel and edged slowly towards the pigeon. Then he edged back again. Then forwards. And back. While he worked out the best and most logical way to approach putting the pigeon in the box, I picked up the pigeon, and put it in the box.

Then, we found the cat and cast him out, shouting "MURDERER!" (Technically though as the pigeon was still alive it was only attempted murder - but that's not quite as effective to shout). And yes, I know it's natural for cats, and they bring things in as gifts, and I should praise him, and blah blah. But I'm not a cat, I'm a human, and a vegetarian at that. I don't want dead or dying creatures as gifts. A book token or scented candle would be far more appropriate.

Anyway, every now and then I peeped into the box, fully expecting the pigeon to have fluttered off to the big loft in the sky. But no, he just looked up at me, with an expression that said "I need something, and you are not giving it to me." I went to bed feeling inadequate.

In the morning, by some miracle, he was still alive. So I phoned local wildlife superhero Roger Musselle , who kindly agreed to take him. I really hope he lived to race again. I'd grown very fond of him.

This event has made me think...why do pigeons race? Do they know they are racing? What do they win? Oh, and it has taught me something too. If you want a man to notice you, don't dress as a pigeon.

Other news this week...I've been quite ill with a cold (Bad times). But yesterday Pam and I went to sunny Sarfend and visited the splendid Kitty and Den. (Good times!) We looked enviously at the treasures in their lovely house, had cream teas at Leigh-On-Sea and a superb lunch made by Den, and caught up with some essential Inky Crows business. I even got a beautiful print for my birthday!



(Copyright Kitty Guthrie) Isn't it fab? have a good week everyone.

Goodbyes!

On Saturday evening I met up with my Bags of Books friends to say goodbye to the splendid Matt, who starts a new job today - and whose name you shall all one day see on children's books worldwide! Here's a card I made for him...just drawn and collaged.


And on Sunday I said goodbye to my thirties! Gone are my dreams of being a successful human being by the age of forty. Forty-one will have to do. I had a lovely birthday, and my family and friends got me fantastic presents and cards...I really am lucky to have such thoughtful people in my life.

We rock!

Hello! I worked at Oxfam this morning - I'm a weekly volunteer nowadays, since deciding to upgrade my contribution to the Burma/China disasters from its former "weep feebly while watching the news" status. (I still do that). I really enjoy it (working in Oxfam, that is, not the news!) As well as meeting lots of nice people, I get to rummage through interesting bric a brac, old clothes and tons of books. Just like at home, come to think of it...

This afternoon, Charlie and I have been painting stones. When I was little, I wasn't interested in being a pop star or ballerina, oh no. My ultimate goal was to find either a perfectly spherical stone, or one that's evenly flat and oval for painting on. I've always aimed high...

Many centuries later my interests haven't changed much, although I now also pick up stones with holes right through (they are lucky). Charlie seems to have inherited my ways. Here are our efforts...



(Charlie hasn't inherited my taste in music however. He likes heavy metal, which explains the cross with angel wings on his stone!)

Woeful Wednesday

Yes it's here again, my worst day of the week. Made more bearable this week by a visit to Pam's, who is tragically (for me) going to be moving away from Newhaven in the near future. Whatever shall I do? Go back to staying indoors alone watching the herds of chavs sweeping majestically past my house I suppose. I'll have to start sketching them...Pam, I shall do it in your honour!

Here are a few character drawings I did yesterday, by the way.

Weekend & Mossycoat

Hello everyone. It's been an eventful few days for me...here are a couple of highlights!

Saturday - a day at Seaford beach. Here are my lovely boys braving the icy sea...

Followed by a family bbq...

...relaxing in what I laughingly call my garden. (No pics of me I'm afraid. I don't want to scare people).

Sunday was spent gardening, and today was just pretty stressful. Not much work got done, except I finally mounted a doll I have been working on...

The doll is all fabric; the face needlesculpted. It's a character from the story "Mossycoat", an English Folktale. The girl's mother makes her a coat from moss and gold thread, which lets her move around and to change to other forms by wishing. I used the idea of the mother making the coat as a theme for the mounting, and collaged some treasures from women's sewing boxes I have into an old drawer. I love sewing boxes and button boxes, and I've been lucky enough to have some of these passed on to me by friends recently. The next theme for our touring Inky Crows exhibition is "English Heroes and Villains" and I think I would like to develop the women's work box idea further for this - I think they have a quiet power and are quite magical. I love the way they are passed down, too. Especially if it's to me!

(By the way, I don't mean to be sexist and suggest that only women have sewing boxes. It's just I have never seen one belonging to a man!)

Now off to my dancing class...don't laugh - it's my only form of exercise other than housework or gardening!

A Treat!

Now I have never attempted to insert a link in a post before. So if you get porn, or even worse, Rick Astley, please accept my apologies. But if all goes well, you should see a sight to cheer your heart. Peregrine falcons are nesting at the top of Sussex Heights, a Brighton tower block, and they have kindly allowed a webcam to be installed! They've been coming back for a few years now. Please take a look - it's great. http://www.regencybrighton.com/birds/webcam/

Broccoli

I really don't like Wednesdays. I used to go and clean for a lovely 94 year old friend, who sadly died last year. I still clean, but now I do it for her son, so the house is empty when I go, and it still makes me sad. We used to have fantastic conversations. I wrote one down in my notebook once. Here it is:-

Mrs B: Do you know, I heard something the other day that made me feel sick.
Me: Oh?
Mrs B: That actor, you know, one of the top film stars...Well his wife is pregnant, and he's only said he's going to EAT the afterbirth when she's had the baby! Eat it!
Me: Really?
Mrs B: My John says he's one of them...scientists.
Me: A Scientologist?
Mrs B: Is he? Oh, that must be why then.
Me: I just think he's got more money than sense.
Mrs B: Do you know what I think? I think he's got more money than sense.
Me: Mmm.
Mrs B: Here - can you imagine getting your husband to eat an afterbirth?
Me: Ooh no.
Mrs B: I couldn't even get mine to eat broccoli.

Great, isn't it? I miss my friend. Sigh. Enjoy the sunshine everyone.

Princess & the Pea

Just been trying out some collage.

Work!

Behold my latest painting project. Yes, it's my garden fence, which I painted yesterday, all six panels and one gate of it. The weathered look had gone beyond stylish, so I found a small tin of something-or-other in the cupboard and just started. The tin ran out after two panels, so I walked, yes walked, to B & Q, only to find the stuff I needed had been discontinued. Using the splashes of paint on my hands and arms as a guide I chose what I hoped was the same colour in a different range. I queued up for ages. You always have to in B&Q, to allow the till staff time to make constant staff announcements while serving people: "Staff announcement, 306 to checkout two please, 306 to checkout two, customer waiting." Everyone in the queue can then glare accusingly at said customer - usually an embarrassed-looking bloke carrying a really long, white strip of plastic. I finally reached the front of the queue and oh! how I hooted with laughter when realised I didn't have my debit card in my purse. I nearly grabbed the mike and shouted, "Staff announcement, evacuate the store please, homicidal customer at checkout one, checkout one homicidal customer, thank you!"

Long-suffering Brad came to my rescue, and the fence got finished. Followed by the weeding in my Mum & Dad's garden. Don't be fooled though - these jobs were only done to prevent me from doing things I actually should be doing.

Have a nice weekend everyone and more illustrations here next week when I have access to a scanner, I promise.

Holiday!

Oh well, it's back to reality after four days in lovely North Devon. It was fantastic. I mean just look...






I did do some sketching too, but I don't have a scanner, so apologies for the rather rubbish photos.







These were both done on Woolacombe Beach.

Off on hols!

Hi everyone, just a quick post before I go off to Devon for a few days. Have spent the weekend helping Bags of Books (the finest childrens bookshop in the land), at the Brighton Children's Book Festival, at Brighton uni. Our stall was very quiet, leaving lots of time for reflection - but it was unfortunately positioned directly opposite a huge (5 foot square) photograph of a woman lying on a bed with her legs wide open. Granted, she was wearing underwear, but let's just say she wasn't over familiar with the Veet. Bless her. Anyway there were people from all aspects of the children's book world there, most of whom tend to be kindly folk, so I had a good time.

I'm hoping to do lots of sketching on holiday so I will try and post when I get home. See you soon!

Well hello!

Yay! I've got a blog! I'm new to all this malarkey and a bit of a technophobe, so I apologise for any errors I might make. (For example, I've been trying for over an hour to put text under the images below and it kept going weirdly down the sides, so I gave up!) Anyway... the images are monoprints for some mini books I'm making based on skipping rhymes. I did them during an illustration course run by the splendid Pam Smy (link to follow when I know how!) and they will hopefully be in a future exhibition with our group of artists the Inky Crows. (Again, link to follow when I know how!)