How I would love to have a tail of my own.

Carried away with painting mountains, luckily weariness overtook me. Fortunate timing as I had forgotten that I need to leave space for the type.

A few days ago hundreds of ravens flew over heading north. Yesterday they were back, in pairs, dancing in the wind, a pair high, another higher still and yet more, declaring their sovereignty of the sky. They flew in courtship dances with folded wings and tumbling delight. For a while I stood in the garden, earth bound, and watched, with a wish for wings in my heart.

Roughs

Cat cover

East of the Sun

Today

I have walked on the beach with a healing bowl and learned about water and changes in tune.

I have set up a youtube channel, had a good idea or two and learned a little about youtube which has made my brain ache.

I have made hummus with sunblushed tomatoes for supper and watched as my garden is transformed into a useful growing space by a good friend.

I have painted a creature of the high wild mountains for I am Cat.

I am Cat

On the beach today, some peace of mind for a broken heart.

Yesterday I buried Maurice, my beloved cat. Today I worked on the first painting for my new book called 'I am Cat', which will be dedicated to all the cats who have walked through life with me and those yet to come.

A van full of dragons

Dropped Tom off at Tretio and he headed off to rowing. Took the dragons and the dogs to Abereiddi. The Blue Lagoon was deep prussian green and the cliffs gold. While I was away the dragons played and got up to mischief in the van.

 

Back home, after dropping Hannah at work I settled to paint a sleeping cat curl and inched further into my next book.

 

I am Cat

Trying to paint a dreaming catcurl.

Fast cats and flowers

Working on the first spread for the cat book and thinking about leaving home . 
Yesterday I watched a skein of jackdaws chase a merlin along the hedgerows, a peasant mob after a small falcon.
There is too much to do, as usual and I am trying to do it all at the same time and as a result getting nothing much done.
So far my list of things that need doing is morphing into having sub-lists. Not a good state to be in.
1. Finish cheetahs. I want to do this before I go away, for peace of mind. 
2. Stretch paper. I want to do this before I go away so that I have blank paper ready to begin when I get home.
3. Make list of things to take away. I want to do this before I go as there won't be much point when I get back, and I have to take dragons and bears and maybe my bowl, and amber and silver and paints and brushes.
4. Tidy studio. I want to do this before I leave home so that when I come back I can sit down and work. I have a lot to do.
5. Tidy bedroom. Hmmm...... trolls live here.

It is raining now, and the sunshine and rain and lack of frost makes the vegetables grow. I still marvel at the bright flowers on the courgette plants, like jester's hats and so golden saffron coloured.

 

Leeks

This time last year I had a new roof put on the house. Now I have raised beds that have grown out of left over building materials and old roof beams.

And I have leeks from the old roof beams, but a different kind to the leeks I had last year.

Courgettes are still growing, and beetroots and spring onions which are so lovely to pull fresh with the lambs lettuce for lunch.

Today I started painting for I Am Cat. I have until Tuesday to get the dummy book and a spread to London in time for the presentation meeting for Frankfurt. 

Finding cats

Working hard on drawings for I Am Cat and I have had help from the cats, but especialy Pixie who managed to cat-sneak into my studio in order to act as editor and designer, and life model all rolled into one.
Putting the pages together so that they work as a book, illustrate the text, add to the words, is always difficult, especialy when there are so few words.

Small sketches come first, doodling around a design, asking questions. Like dreams, in my head I can see these in colour as finished pieces, the drawings just remind me later, what goes where and how. And sometimes pages change altogether.

The sketch above is for the last but one page and I realised half way through that it needed to change to be more intimate, closer.

Still have a cougar and a leopard to find.  

 

A confusion of blogs, a charm of goldfinch, and an alarm of blank pages.

Morning walking and looking back towards home from the airfield. I can see my house in a pool of sunlight. Goldfinches fly, bright flashes of colour, beautiful charms.

Back home, working on the cat book roughs for Frances Lincoln to try and get work finished and ready for Frankfurt book fair. All the time I am watched by my cat editor.