Day 3

London. Morning, breakfast and then blogging whilst Suzanne and Brigit performed morning rituals in the shrine room below and loved the sound of bells and owls and chanting, and the click clack of pushchairs outside. Then walking through the London Street in sunshine to the offices of Frances Lincoln where I signed books and we had a meeting about works in progress then on to Foyles and Hatchards to sign books.
Next to The Illustration Cupboard for the Amnesty International event to auction and sell artwork from We Are All Born Free. I have been to the gallery before but was really knocked out by how well the whole evening went. The auction, for seven pieces of work from the book, including mine, is a silent auction and the paintings are on display at the gallery in Bury Street.



http://vimeo.com/29703706 from Bellotheque on Vimeo.

I met Jane again, and haven't seen her for years. She is still as beautiful as ever and her image in We Are All Born Free must have been one of the hardest to illustrate and is one of the most powerful pieces. I think I can speak for all those involved when I say we are all proud to have been involved in this amazing project. The chief exec of Amnesty in the UK did an amazing short  speech about the project and I will try and get a transcript of it to post. One of the things I remember from it was how he spoke of a woman in Africa. She is a champion of human rights and has lived through terrible times. When people asked her what they could do to help her and her cause she asked for copies of this book so that she and her team of people could go into schools and educate children, teach them their rights and shape a new generation who will hopefully grow up with respect for each other. Powerful.
The auction will run until 10th December, International Day of Human Rights and you can bid online or go in to the gallery to make bids and 100% of all money raised will go to Amnesty International
It was a long day, but I was so pleased and impressed with The Illustration Cupboard and the beautiful work they had on the walls and also the books, signed that they had for sale. We were so well looked after by Brigit and Suzanne, where we were staying, and Cho Cho the butterfly faced cat and Haiku the dog with extraordinarily short legs!