It’s New Year Resolution time again!
There is a slightly doom-laden quality to January 2nd. Not only do a lot of people go back to their daily routines after the holidays, but all the mass media images of tinsel, bubbly and celebration have already morphed into bright, hard-edged images of summer holidays, weight reduction and home improvement. After a couple of […]
Children’s spooky Halloween art and bookmaking workshop at The Little Bookshop in Leeds
Are you looking for fun creative Halloween workshops in Leeds for the kids?
On Sunday the 29th of October, I will be leading two fun and free art and bookmaking workshops at the brand new Little Bookshop in Chapel Allerton. We will be making simple but cool books that kids can write their […]
My new shiny redesigned author and illustrator website!
Every few years I rethink my website, usually because technology has moved on and I need to catch up. This new incarnation has come about because people look at websites on mobile devices more and more so pages need to be readable at any scale. At this point, having had a number of sites, I […]
Summer Highlights: Orcas
And now for the most beautiful and terrifying highlight of my summer: watching orcas at close quarters in the Straits of Gibraltar.
When the bluefin tuna run from the Atlantic Ocean into the Mediterranean Sea, the orcas are waiting like hitmen to pick them off for dinner. We took an astonishing three hour boat trip […]
Summer Highlights: Return to Tallinn, Estonia
In spring 2012, I took a ferry trip from Helsinki across the Gulf of Finland for a day trip to Tallinn.
I fell in love with the Old Town’s medieval architecture, folklore and friendly people. One of the highlights of my day was a visit to the Estonian Children’s Literature Centre and
Summer Highlights: Leeds West Indian Carnival 50th Anniversary Project
As summer highlights go, this one is right up there. In the spring I had the honour of being asked to create an illustrated map for the Leeds West Indian Carnival‘s 50th anniversary as part of a Heritage Lottery Grant project.
Every late August bank holiday, the Carnival brings colour, […]
Holiday Greetings!
I’m giving thanks for the many wonderful days this past year – and reflecting on the ones that weren’t so good. Despite enjoying the fond memories of good times, I always find I learn more from the difficult days, even if it takes a bit of time to come around to realisations. This has not been […]
Inspiration Monday: Taking a Breath
I haven’t been near this blog since last month because life has been incredibly busy (in a good way). The last time I checked in with great news about JET BLACK HEART, I was at the start of a jam-packed schedule of teaching, school visits, events and workshops. The studio started to resemble […]
The Weeping Angels
I confess: I am a keen fan of Steven Moffat’s writing for Doctor Who. My all-time favourite has to be “Blink”, the chilling episode about the Weeping Angels, funerary statues who come to life. And they are back, much to my horror and delight in this week’s episode, “The Time of Angels”. […]