Each Thursday morning I teach a comics class on Zoom – it’s always fun, but the highlight of each term is the Zine swap. We vote on a theme, everyone makes a little Zine out of an A4 folded paper – and then we swap. Delightful bundles have been arriving in the post from as far afield as Minnesota and the Netherlands, each one a perfect little treat.
Here’s this term’s set – aren’t they neat?
Our theme was ‘Let’s Play the Music’ which has led to some brilliant stories, from a dance-floor-clearing DJ, to Mozart writing Don Giovanni with a hangover. I didn’t have to go far back in my diary to find some material for my zine – my five-year fiddle-playing journey has provided plenty of ‘comic diary gold’ over the years!
A huge thankyou to Blazin’ Fiddles and everyone at Blazin’ in Beauly for helping me overcome my fears. Have you seen the film ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’? It’s full of fiddling and donkeys – but they never appear at the same time. Now you know why!
Today was the last class of term and we played games from Lynda Barry’s brilliant book ‘Making Comics’. I’m going to miss everyone!
Music has been a strong theme for me recently – here’s a fiddle-playing fox I drew for the music venue St George’s Bristol. He’s going to be displayed on an internal door there – and in the meantime you can pick up some of my drawings as colouring sheets if you visit. Do drop in if you are in the area – apparently it has the best acoustics for chamber music in Europe. And a great café!
Earlier in November I visited the Museum of the Home for the launch of Stay Home Stories – a research project from Queen Mary University looking at artists’ response to the lockdown in 2020. I was interviewed for the project about the Family Creative Challenge I started on Zoom, and it was lovely to meet some of the other artists featured and read the report. You can find out more with this link:
…and catch up on the Family Creative Challenge videos (showing many many ways to use cardboard boxes) here:
Illustrating picture books is a great pleasure but it can be lonely. And that’s why I love the chance to join in with a community event. I’ve recently discovered Paradise Co-operative, a community garden that started ten years ago on a disused site near Wandsworth Common.
I was delighted to be invited to join their Thanksgiving Supper, held at Home Café at the end of November. I ran an art activity to create an illustrated map of the garden. People collaged bats, cabbages, watermelons, swarms of bees and much more.
Here are my two favourite participants, who were very proud to do the ‘Big Reveal’ at the end of the evening.
And I love this detail of the fire engine on standby in case the marshmallow toasting gets out of hand! I’m looking forward to collaborating more with Paradise Co-op in 2023. By the way the dinner was absolutely delicious, you should definitely visit Home Community Café if you find yourself in Earlsfield.
Last month I spent two days at Canons House in Mitcham, working with local people to create the ‘ingredients’ for a pair of wall hangings. This beautiful historic house belongs to Merton Council and has just been restored with the help of a Lottery grant – but the walls are currently bare…
Two schools, some family groups and various individuals created some marvellous collaged plants as well as drawings of the people who might have visited the house and walled garden over the centuries. I’m just waiting for the finished panels to arrive so will show you more about this project next time.
I’m going to end with a hint to anyone with under 5s in their life that picture books make an excellent Christmas present. Do support your local independent bookseller, or if you want a meticulously curated online selection I can heartily recommend Bookwagon. I’ve also put together a handy link for you with all my books in one place…
Better still, come and see me at PSAD Xmas fair on Sunday 4th December, where I will have books for sale and can sign and doodle them for you – I’ll also be selling some ORIGINAL ARTWORK from the books. Imagine what a unique gift that would make…
I hope you have enjoyed this newsletter, if so do please share the link with friends!