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.

Learning and watching a master at work.

Learning something new and thinking of cameras and where the time will come from to do such things, and in the meantime I found that it is so interesting to see how someone else works. P J Lynch has also illustrated East of the Sun and West of the Moon. I love the bee Man of Orm and watching him work is too mesmerizing.

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.

Bowl

On the beach today walking with healing bowl mingling the sound of the bowl with the wind and the waves. It is as if the bowl is alive. She loves to be outside and always rises quickest to the music when touched by the wind, resonates the longest. Walked the length of the beach and she sang all the way as I hunted images for the new MBF card. Each year it gets harder as I hope to do better and sell more so that more musicians can draw from their fund, in times of need or to finance learning, making.
Back home with ideas and a peaceful heart, but her song is addictive and I want to hear it again. 

What I was doing when I should have been working.

I bought a car sticker for my van as the old sticker was so faded. It looked ugly. So, I decided to design my own. Unlike the Olympic circles the symbol of the Welsh Dragon belongs to the people, to everyone. I am waiting for Jane to add the type for me and then hope to get some printed. They will simply and proudly carry the word Cymru in red and my website address, very small.

Much more elegantly suited to being stuck on the Dragon Wagon.
The original artwork is for sale over at The House of Golden Dreams and I am hoping that we will be able to have stickers available for sale soon from Solva Woollen Mill at Middlemill.

Welsh Dragons.

 

Yesterday during the evening I went to Croesgoch School. They had invited me in as part of their World Book Day Celebrations. I have a great fondness for this school as my two children went there and the teachers gave them the best start they could have. They both learned to read in the school in St Davids with Gill Thomas, a wonderful teacher and lovely woman, but when they left Gill's class we moved them both to Croesgoch. Here they both prospered and grew and became fluent in Welsh. So funny to see them both yesterday, towering above all the younger children, and the teachers!

The school seemed very full during the eveing and as there were so many people there I did two sessions, with Tell Me a Dragon and Starlight Sailor. I took my healing bowl, for summoning dragons and my dragon puppets, which may soon have to travel to France with me. Infact there were so many people that we ran out of books. Anna from Solva Woollenmill was running the book stall and signed books are always available at the mill, in Middlemill, and online in her shop.

The children had all worked on wonderful paintings of 'their' dragons and I have the unenviable task of judging them. I couldn't do this there as they were too good and I need to take time to look at them all, so will post some more pictures later.

All day today I painted and wandered around in peace and quiet. I have been working on a red dragon on gold. A real Welsh dragon.

Drawing a dragon

Norfolk Libraries posted a short film clip of me drawing Little Dragon Small at their event for the book awards. Try as hard as I can I couldn't get the share link to work so click on the link to the library to see the film.

It's A Book - By Lane Smith

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.