NEW STUDIO!

I've moved into my new studio. As you can see 'some of us' are making ourselves right at home. Bella the other dog was feeling too shy to be snapped! The window in front of my desk is proving very distracting!

Grandad Sid

Today would have been my grandfather's 84th birthday. His name was Sid and he was one of the biggest influences on me growing up to be a children's writer and illustrator.

He retired from teaching the year before I was born and, as he only lived around the corner from my house, I think I must have seen him every day throughout my childhood (even if it was just me flashing the light on and off in my bedroom at night and peering out of my window to see him and my grandmother do the same from their kitchen!)

Sid had been Head of English at a large school in Birmingham (having moved to Coventry from Wales to be with my grandmother which is another story!) but in the evenings and at the weekends he wrote and he wrote and he wrote. He was passionate about books and the english language and even wrote a book on the subject which was published.

He also wrote articles for magazines and newspapers and even had a few radio plays produced and broadcast. But what he enjoyed writing the most was books for children and he must have written hundreds ranging from very short stories to longer novels. But this was before the days of Young Adult books and although lots of publishers enjoyed the stories, they couldn't ever quite find a market for them.

When I started school, my grandmother decided that rather than have our dog mooching around our house on her own all day whilst we were all out, she would send Sid over to fetch her so she could spend the day (being spoilt) by them. I would leave my best ever toy, a grubby cardigan wearing bear called Silver (not my choice - his name was on his label), on the sofa for Grandad to see.

Imagine my surprise when I came from school to find Silver holding in his paws several piece of A4 pieces of paper addressed to me on which was written a story starring Silver and ME!

It was the best day ever and from that day for the next 4 or 5 years when I came home from school I would find Silver holding a new story nearly always about what the toys in my bedroom had got up to while I had been at school!

Then one day shortly before the summer holidays in 1994, just before my ninth birthday I came home to find not a letter in Silver's grubby, much loved paws, but an entire book! In an old, unused diary, Grandad had painstakingly copied out by hand some my favourite stories and collected them up for me to keep for ever. Above is the dedication.

Since that day the book, called ' The Royal Pool and Other Stories', has been on my shelf in every house and studio I've lived and worked in and even traveled with me when I ( very briefly - another story) studied at university in North Wales.

Sid and I had a very close relationship - he was more of a friend than a grandfather. Always supportive and excited when I visited with a new picture to show him or a new story I had scrawled in a notebook.

When I finished university and got my first book deal I think he almost burst with pride.  I had just moved into a titchy flat where there was no room for me to work so he converted his unused back bedroom into a studio for me and I worked there for quite a while. It was brilliant. Grandad potted about downstairs (writing) and I would draw upstairs and every so often he would call me down to the kitchen for tea and cake and to catch up on every thing I was doing and how the book was progressing. I wish it could have lasted longer as it was a very happy time.

Unfortunately Sid became ill very quickly and died shortly before my first book hit the shops three years ago. My publishers were brilliant though and rushed out a bound proof copy for him to see and he was so thrilled by it.

He is greatly missed by me and all our family. But he lives on and still regularly pops up in illustrations, in the background and the character of Claude is a little bit based on him. He was terribly clever, but at the same time seemed to bumbled through life going from one hilarious mishap to another.

Not only was he a super grandad and a great story teller, he was a gifted musician and after my grandmother died he wrote a short, very beautiful piece of music dedicated to her. 

So there we go, I have good old Grandad Sid to thank for my job and love of books and for the gift a book written by him, just for me.

Happy Birthday Sid, you great big eejit! As it's your big day and it's coming up to late afternoon - treat yourself to a little whiskey and a good book (maybe Claude? I've heard that's quite good!)

Illustration Friday: Giant

Click to enlarge.

Attack of the Giant Bunny!!!

( Poor thing - he's trying to step gently and all he wants is a nice cup of carrot tea..:-/ )

Vegetable Dreams

We had a lovely sunny, weekend here which allowed us to get on with some nice Spring things. We did some gardening- tidying up the winter mess in our titchy little courtyard and getting all of our pots and planters ready to plant lots of vegetables.

I feel like I need some sort of badge or certificate as I managed to put together a massive new wooden planter which is a huge achievement for me as I was so rubbish at Design Tech at school. It was also a huge achievement that I didn't hurt myself/anyone else in the process.

( The Gnomes are from the Garden Centre down the road. I might have to buy one.)

We also looked at the thousands of daffodils which have suddenly sprung up all around the old city walls. This photo shows quite a sparse patch. In other areas around the place you can't see any grass at all. They seem to have all pitched up, fully formed over night when none of us were looking... makes me very suspicious...
We also had a nice cup of tea and a sit down with a big slice of cake. This is pretty much my idea of Paradise. I may have to frame this photo or at least put a mini version of it in my wallet.

But all this busying about in the fresh air has been very draining and has taken it's toll...

By Sunday night *some* of us were too tired to move and the only thing for it was to lie stretched out on a cushion, staring into the middle distance....

Helping Paws...

Shoddy phone picture of Bella and Billy helping me at the light box by clambering on my lap and settling down to sleep. *They* were extremely comfortable. I wish I could say the same for myself...

AOI Images

My work is on the left.

Last night I rattled down on the train to London to attend the private view for the AOI Images 32 exhibition. Three pieces of my work had made it into the book and the show and it was great to see the spreads from 'Bella and Monty: A Hairy, Scary Night' framed and up on the walls. I was in good company too as both Oliver Jeffers and Mei Matsuoka had pieces hanging in the children's book section. It was great to have the chance to look at their work close up as I've been a fan of their work for a while now.

Going to the exhibition was also a great chance to catch up with my agents - the lovely ladies from Arena. GROUP SHOT!

Tamlyn, Justine and Caroline.

(Alison was somewhere else at this point!)

I had to dash before it was all over as I had to catch my train home! I've never run so far in my life and was thoroughly exhausted by the time I eventually shlumped into my seat for the journey home. Only to have to endure two and a quarter hours of screaming children, the trials and tribulations of the woman sitting in front of me and a carriage full of dubious smells... yuck.

I'm still tired from the 6 hour round trip but it's ok... I have this to soothe me. Aah... fish... just the sort of place for a mermaid or two...

Studio

Hello!

Am busy, busy, busy at the moment and unfortunately most of it is at the TOP SECRET stage so I can really show you much of it ... so as  special treat I though I'd show you what my studio looks like! (Try to contain yourselves please.) 

Now I'm not joking when I say my studio is just a smidge bigger than a stamp - you could probably fit it in your lunch box if you tried. Saying that however, it might be small but my goodness have I managed to pack some stuff into it...

Above: Here's my inspiration wall. ( that's a posh way of way a couple of bits of string nailed to the wall with all sorts of bits hanging from it so I don't lose them...) The lady in the photograph is one of my Grandmothers - Alice, looking rather stylish in a wool coat.

Above: The Desk.

This is actually quite tidy. The penguin toy is one I'm in the middle of making. The open sketch book is one from a holiday in France last summer - I got it out to look for a man's face I'd doodled which I thought would be just right for something I'm working on. Note the bookshelves- absolute disgrace.

Above: This is the corner with the inspiration pin boards - another place for me to put nice things to look at/things I must not lose.

Above: Vintage suitcases.

These contain  a massive collection of trinkets and treasures. Fabric for scanning, buttons, ribbons and mini pom-poms. All waiting to be used one day in a book or to be made into a toy or something.

The middle one was, I think, the suitcase my grandmother used to come over from Ireland in the 1930s. It still has her name written on the inside. 

Well I hoped you enjoyed that little tour! Now I've found/bought a new thingy for uploading my pics to the internet I'll try and post pictures more often. Right... back to work and that means absolutely not making a detour via the packet of Party Ring biscuits in the kitchen...

:-)