Oxford

And so we made it to Oxford, and returned in one piece - indeed, we even managed to enjoy ourselves. The tourist season has not started yet, and it was possible to walk along the street without being pushed off into oncoming traffic. The city outdid herself, like a neglectful friend making amends for bad behaviour. She looks her best around this time of year I think, when the sky is almost painfully blue, and the sun bounces off the creamy white stonework of the University.

Ruskin College from the side

You could take several thousand photos of it, and still have only scratched the surface. This is a little present for Elizabeth in Marrakesh, as I believe she once attended the Ruskin School of Drawing.

Ruskin College seen from the High

Oxford was very - Oxford.




All it needed was a body and a rather grumpy white-haired Detective charging up the High, in a vintage Jaguar.

Magdalen College side entrance

Andy must be mellowing, as for the first time that I can remember, he not only noticed that noticed that there are an awful lot of gargoyles around (bearing in mind we have lived in this area since 1994)...

Gargoyles on Magdalen College

...but for the first time ever I persuaded him that visiting the Botanical Gardens would be a fun thing to do. And so it was.
We had a splendid time marvelling at gi-normous ferns, gawping at bulbously sinister carniverous plants, ogling outsized cacti and getting brushed up by impertinent creepers.




I have always had a fondness for the banana tree, and hoped it was still here, as I last saw it back in 1990 when I was a foundation art student. It had moved, I think, but it - or a descendant - was still thriving.

I took more photos than I care to inflict on the unwary reader, so HERE is the entire set of our explorings in the glasshouses. For those of you who like plants and the like.



I even indulged in a little filmy-thing; it has noise but there is not much to hear above the hush of the moist greenery...

So well done Oxford, we are learning to love you again, and although we didn't make it to the Ashmolean, there will be another time. Soon.

For my dear friend Tara - I though of you when I was there, and how much you would have loved it - for you, on your birthday - (as my little posted gift is as ever, sent late)...

Little studio snaps

My studio, it has to be said, is full of many things - it is my creative nest, where I can surround myself with the treasures I have found and been given. Although I may not use many of them from day to day, they inspire and console me. Many tokens from blog and non-bloggy friends...spot the Lily Moon card from my friend Maya -

(for detailed notes, please go to the Flickr image)

The old year ended with the little people in 'Cat's Cradle' journeying far away to their first job. It is always a wrench to know I will probably never see most of my paintings again, but good to know that they are watching over someone, somewhere.

The new year started with one of Rima's beautiful calendars. I cannot think of a nicer way of getting through the year - she still has one or two left I think, so if you hurry...

Entering January with some gorgeous letter blocks, with huge thanks to fellow illustrator Paula for her thoughtful gift...

...and my triple good luck charm, to keep bad things away from me this year, especially timewasters, as I had enough of them in 2007. White china heart from Tara, rosehip heart from Higgledy Piggledy, textile/embroidery heart from Border Tart - thank you my dears - I defy anything truly bad to happen with the combined love of these three friends.

A big red hand to point the way bravely forward to 2008 - there is something very commanding about this stern indicator. It arrived unexpectedly in the post this week, mysteriously unsigned...for a few minutes I felt like my all time hero, Tintin, receiving an anonymous signal summoning him to a new, exotic adventure. But then I remembered kind Alan Brignull of the Hedgehog Press, and his lovely picture on Flickr which I had fav'd. Thank you so much!

I am under the weather and feeling like this at the moment -



So I am going to retire for a few days, and bury myself in my sketchbook, as I seem to have got my drawing mojo back at last. Have a good weekend everyone!

Inning and outing

Greetings from Planet Head Cold where I have been marooned for what seems a lifetime - but is in fact only a week. A week in which things have come and things have gone. With a delightful accompaniment of sniffs, snuffles and pathetic coughing.

IN - A lovely bracelet from Etsy jewellery seller Definitely Different Designs, calling up images of the sea in autumn; dull green seaweedy stones and pebbly stone/red jasper beads, set in silver plate. Yep, I got suckered by the sea thing again...call me weak willed.

IN - I inadvertently won a draw on the lovely Vintage Pleasure blog; 'Something to Do', a Puffin book from the Seventies, when it was not beyond the realms of imagination that children should occupy themselves cooking, sewing, bird watching and crafting. Most of it without the aid of an adult and blissfully lacking in 21st century health and safety warnings ("please be aware that making hand shadows can result in a sprained finger...") I do so love getting beautifully wrapped things and this is a fantastic book - thank you Kirsty!

IN - my SOSF Tea Party from Tara of the Silver Apples blog, who also packs a pretty - and generous - parcel. Herbal teabags from her own garden, lemon geranium sugar tea, a tub tea bath bag and other wholesome goodies - thank you Tara, the herbals are just what I need to flush the darned cold out of my system.

IN and OUT - In from the library and out again for someone else to enjoy - The Lock by Frank Egerton. I used to review books for a specialist magazine, and while I read some darned good stuff, I also read some unutterable tripe. The worst offender was a nauseatingly cosy pot boiler penned by a well known TV personality. So I felt obliged to give the drivel a halfway positive review, even though it deserved to be dipped in watery porridge and fed to the birds. With a certain High Street book chain gripping the book industry in an iron fist, small, quality publishers need all the help they can get. What follows is not a book review; I have lost my book review skills, or at least they don't work on Planet head Cold...this is my opinion.

Suffice to say that this is an Oxfordshire writer, and the Lock is set in and around Oxford, which is given its full share of attention, and described with love and knowledge. But the main story - the straying off the marital path of a middle aged Oxford don, and the consequences of his actions on his family and friends - is cleverly and thoughtfully written. Egerton has the rare gift - in a male author - of being able to write strong female characters realistically, making each one individual and interesting - sometimes even infuriating. Any fan of Oxford and its university scene will love reading this; the detail of the city and its inhabitants is true to life and hugely enjoyable. If I had to be so crass as to give it a catchey genre, it would be (highly) superior Joanne Trollope. For while it concerns itself with similar themes - middle class affairs/guilt/angst - it is so intelligently written that it is a joy to read, the more obvious subject matter belying Egertons sophisticated language skills - this is no mere 'Aga saga'. It has had a shining review from John Bailey, the late Iris Murdoch's husband. Get your library to order it in, read it and savour it. Or even buy it - let's give small publishers like Smaller Sky a fighting chance, God knows they need it.

OUT - the hope engendered by my recent London trip. (The so-called new dawn as optimistically mentioned in my fortieth birthday post.). Not wishing to go into details, let's just say it was like being invited out by the School Hunk. At first you can't believe he really wants to see a little mouse like you. Then you spend days fretting and sorting out what to wear. You buy a dress you can't afford and dream of being Mrs School Hunk, having little School Hunk babies. You draw hearts in biro in the back of your exercise book with your initials entwined. The big day arrives and with trembling fingers you apply the last coat of lip gloss, heading off with beating heart to your dinner date. But when you arrive it appears you are not the only chosen one - he has several candidates for the prized position, who he is also wining and dining for suitability. And you know - you know - that they are prettier, slimmer, sexier than you. And so does he. He lets you down gently, and tells you that you have a nice smile. You crawl under the duvet and cry. You wake up the next day and realise that you didn't want to be Mrs School Hunk anyway. Or so you tell yourself. And life goes on.

so we won't be eating here just yet...

OUT - I finally got my Robert Snow snowflake finished and whizzed off to America. Each snowflake is decorated by a published artist and is auctioned after exhibition. This raises money for the Dana-Farber cancer Institute. It's not well known in the UK, so I do suggest going to have a look at the Robert Snow site, as it is a remarkable and touching story and I was proud to be able to contribute.


front back

OUT - My first repeat order for the Lost Toys cards, from Pad in Manchester. I've managed to get a few gorgeous shops to stock them (see the list on the left) but they are also available from my Etsy shop, from where they have been going nicely. I am printing off various designs in small numbers, just to road test them - the first being this ginger cat cat design from the very first incarnation of Red Flannel Elephant cards. (another story, another time). Available in packs of six, so that's one to keep and five to send. Right, that's my feeble energy used up, I wonder if I can summon the strength to do Illustration Friday - the theme is 'Moon' and I am sorely tempted...

Laid low and listless

Oh me, oh my. What a difference one small, sweaty pork pie can make. We are laid low with the collywobbles, and it is not a pretty sight. And of course, the Gods like to tweak our tails when things are at their worst. After a dreadful, unspeakable morning, feeling pathetic and floppy, I was (almost) happily sat with my sketchbook watching a Cirque de Soleil dvd. I've yearned to see them ever since they first came on the UK scene, but live shows being beyond my meagre pocket I've had to content myself with collecting cuttings from the papers. Sad but true.

Then the other week Andy came back from work with four borrowed four dvds and I've been so busy with one thing or another that I haven't watched any of them. It has taken a tummy bug to allow me the time to indulge; thank you tummy bug. So there I was, being quite overwhelmed by the visual cornucopia of Varekai, in pathetic artist-y tears at the exquisite beauty of it all, and almost forgetting my Condition, when I heard a splashing coming from our tiny kitchen next door, and there was water dripping down into the sink from the bathroom; the toilet was leaking again. Pause dvd. Shake my puny fist at the Gods. This fine specimen of seventies plumbing has leaked several times in the last five years and our landlord has had various bodged solutions to the problem, none of which include actually replacing the darned thing and strengthening the floor. Now the panels have been soaked so many times they are rotten and bulging between the beams below, which is the kitchen ceiling. So in optimistic anticipation of a visit from one of the workmen, we heaved our sorry selves up and had a major house tidy. But our landlord was out for the day, so we have been drifting about the Hovel sighing and sleeping and generally being unbearable. But there are more important things going on than my dicky stomach.
My paper cutting mentor has gifted me his vintage Ulano swivel knife. As you can see, (or maybe not), it has a teeny tiny blade a few millimetres long, and apparently needs sharpening with an oil stone (none of yer wasteful disposable nonsense). I am hoping to be able to get better detail in my paper cuts. Thank you Reg, you are a star.

Now you may have noticed the lovely jazzy decoration on the package it arrived in. That is a sample of Reg's paper cutting. We first came into contact nearly a decade ago, when I was printing these little things -

Shop display unit, the very height of sophistication. With tabs!

The entire back catalogue of the Pocket Magic series...

...reproduced in glorious monochrome.

My macro-publishing company had just had a mention in the Country Living 'Emporium' pages and I had several mail order enquiries, one of whom was Reg (another was Lindsay of Border Tart) and it turned out (as far as I can remember) that he liked the scraperboard illustrations because they reminded him of paper cuts, which was his field. And so I was introduced to the world of paper cutting. Ever since, our families - well, his family and we two, have exchanged Christmas cards and in every box of treasured cards I have, there is one of his lovely designs. Now, afer a bit of nagging from me, he has set up his own blog, Paper Tiger, cataloguing his work. He hasn't started writing yet, but I live in hope, because he can be very funny. More importantly, there aren't a right lot of paper cutting blogs around, they are a rare species. Go and look, and enjoy some lovely scherenschnitte.

Oh, my feeble fingers can barely type anymore; I am weak, I am overflowing with self pity and general waffiness. I can just muster the last of my ebbing energy to inform you all of a SOSF event, generously hosted by my very busy fellow admin fairy Tara. It's a tea party!

This event's theme is "Handmade card, favorite tea and a treat"! (One of each.) To keep mailing costs low, be creative with light-weight, flattish items that you personally enjoy and will fit into a small, padded envelope. For example- a couple of packets of your favorite tea, with your great-aunt Tursell's recipe for scones or petit-fours tucked into a beautiful handmade card in which you write your own tea rituals to share with your recipient. Add a wrapped piece of gourmet chocolate or biscotti, or something non-edible, but tea-themed as a *treat* and you will be set! This is just one possibility - use your creativity and love of sharing tea with friends.

To take part, you need to visit her blog, Silver Apples or the official Society of Secret Fairies site where you will find contact details and guidelines. These are Important. Very Important.

I can feel a faintness coming over me, it's all too much...au revoir!

Fairy Valentine

My lovely friend and fellow admin-fairy Tara (Silver Apples of the Moon ) is hosting a SOSF Valentine event; send a scrummy chocolatey gift and a handmade friendship card to your secret fairy match-up. (Just in case there's anyone out there who hasn't eaten enough chocolate this Christmas!) Any applications to be made to Tara through the SOSF website.
You do need to have a blog to take part though, which is a painless and free procedure available to anyone with an internet connection. Can you resist this gorgeous invitation?