Blythe Hill Festival - this weekend

Hi, well we've spent a year with no electricity (!) which has been frustrating and fun in equal measure. Son has learned not to take it for granted, which is a good lesson in life. I keep stepping over imaginary extension leads and looking like I've lost my mind. But things are now fully repaired and working... sewing machines, computers woo hoo! If you need an electrician I can wholeheartedly recommend Tim Guthrie in Brockley.

So, I am taking my stall to Blythe Hill Festival this weekend Sat 7th July 11-4pm. Do come along, it's a lovely festival on a very high hill in South London with incredible views. Now we have the 'overground' tube line there's no excuse. And there will be donkeys.

The Little Toy Dogs are going along nicely and can be found at www.littletoydog.co.uk
I've just added some felt bowls and as soon as this weekend is over I'll make some coats and beds. I've been making them to order and never getting any spare for the shop so I've had to do two things: just say that I'm making them to order in the shop, and put the price up!

Three of us had a really successful Artists' Open House in May at my friend Kath's house on Lowther Hill. She is a jeweller, and her folksy shop is HERE...  Sarah McEvoy makes cards, prints, bags and more and you can find her at Under The Eaves.

Hope to see you at the weekend, and back on the blog shortly. We've got tickets to Tindersticks on 15th July at Somerset House so hopefully some Drawing in the Dark to come soon as well.

Toy Dachshund

Toy Dachshund, a photo by Alice Wood on Flickr.

I've managed to make up the Dachshund pattern. I elongated the body, shortened and widened the legs and made the ears a different shape. This one is black with brown details, but I'm going to make one up in plain brown too. I just need to order some nice fur. I'm a bit low on all materials actually and the fur is rather expensive. Materials cost per dog is high and the making time is fairly lengthy because it's quite involved with a fair bit of hand sewing. I think I will go for Spaniels next, and find some nice fur for Retrievers and Labradors.

and Treasure in the Post!

I was sitting here procrastinating when I heard the letter box go. Hooray, another distraction! Hoping for something better than bills or a pizza leaflet I skipped downstairs. And hit the jackpot. A book has been delivered, and better still, I am in it! It is the very lovely, touching and beautiful creation of Ruth Phillips, titled Cherries From Chauvet's Orchard. It is memoir that tells the story of the birth of Postcard from Provence, Ruth and her husband Julian's life in France, the life of his paintings after they leave the studio and their journey towards making a family.

Back in February 2005 Julian began a project to paint one small postcard-sized picture each day, and to post it onto a blog. The paintings were all for sale. It was such an extraordinarily patient, dogged, committed and serious thing to do. I had known Ruth for some years and wished them both well in their new life and home. I watched the paintings accumulate, they were very good. They cost $100 US dollars. They were tantalisingly affordable to someone like me and I so wanted to support them in what they were doing. I agonised over the first twenty or so paintings. I loved the colour in one, or the subject of another, the green cooking apple and the jar of purple plums or the red pomegranate? I bought Apple and Green Bowl.

As the months went on I found excuses to buy one more, and then another, and one 'for my husband' and 'one for my son'. You can see where this is going. By January 2007 I had bought four paintings. I spent such happy times looking at the new paintings as they appeared, and creating a fantasy shopping list in my mind of all the ones I was planning to buy when I had a little money spare again.


Then disaster struck. The New York Times ran a piece on Julian and literally overnight he sold every postcard on the blog. He sold other paintings too on his main website. I don't really mean it was a disaster of course, it was the best possible thing that could have happened, but my little secret treasures were suddenly in the world's eye.

After that article each painting sold instantly, often many times over, as soon as it was posted online. Fastest finger was the way to go. I tried for a few but wasn't quick or lucky enough. At last Julian decided to sell the paintings by auction. A very sensible and fair way to do things. He would receive a better price for his work and, the holy grail of artists, perhaps make a living from them.

As a last treat I bid on the first one to go to auction, and won it. Apple half on a gold rimmed saucer. It cost more than twice the price of the others, but I suspected it might be my last chance to buy.

I keep the paintings in my studio, unframed. I like their edges, the tactile quality of the little boards. I pick them up to look at, and move them around. They are like little characters with stories. They have a fixed date in time, and record the light and atmosphere observed on that day. They are lovely.

When Ruth began her book she wrote to everyone who had bought paintings and asked them to tell her how they fitted into our lives. I wrote back and sent her a photo of my studio where they are propped on bookshelves. So now I am in the book. This is magical, and I love the way these paintings create narratives, and histories. They draw people in with a sense of belonging, and they reassure me that choosing a creative life, with all its attendant difficulties, can be totally worth it and ultimately rewarding.

A New Woofer

I've finished a new dog. He's a sort of tufty black critter with a white bib. I think he's probably of mixed heritage! Have been trying out new ear positions. It's amazing how they all come out different from exactly the same pieces of pattern. It all depends on the way the mohair falls, or sticks up! Dachshund pattern is finished with one black and brown dog cut out and ready to sew. I hope to have one ready very soon.

Little Toy Dog Company

I've been making some little toy dogs recently, and have set up a new shop at Folksy for them. I'm starting out with the Jack Russell terrier, a Cheeky Brown Terrier, a Dalmation and a Black Collie dog with a white bib. The pattern is my own design and I'm thinking I might make an alteration so I can make sausage dogs too!


They are all fully poseable with articulating joints on all legs. The fabrics are various kinds of mohair which is often used to make posh teddy bears. Their little collars are removable too. I think I might make some little dog beds and dog coats...

Kate Stables Union Chapel 2011

This afternoon we went to the Union Chapel in Islington where my friend Kate Stables was playing with her band This Is The Kit. I love her music and she has a lovely voice. She is very talented. You can listen to her on their myspace page. Daylight Music happens every Saturday 12-2pm at the Union Chapel and it's free. You can take children as well, which is perfect! We saw three bands play today. I did a few drawings but nothing too hot. Wish I could have drawn the rest of the band but I was too slow!

Kate Stables, drawing without looking (at the paper). 2011

Drummer, The 99 Call, Union Chapel 2011.

A short story

A short story
Originally uploaded by Alice Wood

Found this in my sketchbook. I'd forgotten about it. Hopefully I'll find something else really useful in a bit, like a complete 32 page picture book all ready to go...

A Friend in Need pt4

A Friend in Need pt4
Originally uploaded by Alice Wood

Parts 1 and 2 of this story were published in Horse + Pony magazine before it ended publication with the August issue. Sue has kindly allowed me to post the rest of the story along with the final two illustrations...

Part Four

Jess got up slowly. She was drenched, her pony had disappeared into the storm and she couldn’t see Mrs Feather anywhere. She began to walk, hoping that Otter would have stopped to graze, but as she went on and on, there was no sign of him. The rain stopped as suddenly as it had begun, but even though Jess could now see where she was going, she still couldn’t see anybody else around. They had all disappeared and she had no idea where she was.

Gemma was feeling quite pleased with herself, because she had managed to stay on her pony during the storm. The new boots had helped, so did the sticky seat jodhpurs she’d recently bought. When the rain had hit them, Pip had turned so suddenly that without all these extra aids, and a good firm grip on the neckstrap, she would have been off, and there was no-one to help her get back on. She was not, however, looking forward to going back and facing her parents and Mrs Feather. She knew she would get the most awful telling-off and no doubt a punishment of some kind. It would probably be no riding, although she hoped that wouldn’t last for long, especially as the doctor had said how much good it was doing her. She had just turned towards home, when her racing thoughts were interrupted by a brown pony cantering towards her.
“Otter!” she cried, recognising the pony whose stable was next to Pip’s. Pip recognised him too and neighed a welcome. Otter was relieved to find a friend and as he nuzzled Pip, Gemma was able to reach his reins and catch him. “Did Jess ride you?” Gemma wondered. “Where is she now then?” She decided to follow Otter’s backtrail in the hope of meeting up with Jess. “I hope she hasn’t hurt herself coming off,” Gemma said out loud. “I shall never forgive myself if she has…”

Jess was never more relieved than when she caught sight of the two ponies heading her way, Gemma beaming with delight at finding her friend unhurt. They decided it would be better to go straight back to the stables than to search the moor for Mrs Feather. She could have been anywhere, both of them were wet through and the ponies had had enough.

As they rode back, Gemma & Jess talked. Jess understood that Gemma had gone on the spur of the moment, and didn’t feel upset.
“Just think of what you could do,” she said to Gemma. “Look at Lee Pearson –he’s won about ten gold medals at the Paralympic dressage.”
“When I get older I might be able to have an assistance dog too, then I could really be independent,” said Gemma, dreaming of a bright future.
Gemma grew quieter as they neared the stables; she was right to be apprehensive. Her parents were furious with her for disappearing like that and there was a huge row as they told her exactly what they thought of her. Mrs Feather was tight lipped, she had been through a lot that afternoon, and felt absolutely worn out.

Jess left them to it, and went to rub down the ponies and give them some hay, then she made everyone a cup of tea, hoping that by now the atmosphere had calmed down a bit. Gemma’s mum was just winding down, but at the sight of Jess’ bedraggled hair, she started off again.
“And look at poor Jess!” she shouted. “Bad enough that you worried us sick, but Jess had to go out in that awful storm to rescue you.” Jess couldn’t help herself, she started to laugh. “I don’t see what’s so funny…” Gemma’s mum began to say, but then Gemma caught the giggles too and they were both off.
“I’m sorry, Mrs Morgan,” Jess said, when she could speak again, “but you know, you have got it the wrong way round. It was Gemma who rescued me!”
“So you see, Mum, I can do things on my own,” said Gemma. “only, it would be more fun if Jess could come with me next time.”
“Huh!” snorted Mrs Feather, sounding just like one of her horses. “Jess will have to have some lunge lessons first. Coming off like that when your pony shied – you need to work on improving your seat!”
Jess and Gemma smiled. Riding lessons, a good friend to ride with, and big dreams for the future – they both felt that they had everything they wanted.

Pegdolls

I've been busy making lots of pegdolls for the school Christmas Fair. Then it snowed, the school closed, and the fair has been postponed until next week. Hmm... maybe there's time to make something else as well. Or perhaps I'd better finish the last Horse + Pony that's sitting half finished on my desk under a pile of other things.

Christmas Cards

I have donated an image to be used as a charity Christmas card by the charity Rett UK. You can find out more about the charity and their work, and order the cards (£4.50 for a pack of 10) at www.rettuk.org.

The illustration was the original cover art for my book One Magical Christmas, but it was substituted at the last minute for something more commercial! I'm very glad it's having a chance to be used for something worthwhile as I really like it.

Books, books and Apps.

I've been designing two new books for Tom Phillips which are soon to be published by the Bodleian Library. The Bodleian has recently acquired the archive of all Tom's correspondence and his vast photographic postcard collection. They are planning to publish a series of small volumes from the collection, each one containing over 200 images in a particular theme or subject. The first two will be Readers with a foreword by David Lodge, and Women & Hats with a foreword by Philip Treacy. These were really good fun to do, and the photographs are fascinating. Also a little bit easier to work on than African Goldweights in which all the weights were reproduced at actual size. All had to be measured and the image sizes set to be completely accurate. This made the layout a nightmare! I'm now starting work on Bicycles and Weddings which will be out next year.


The covers are all coloured in 'period' liveries like old cars of the 30's and 40's. I have a lovely new set of pantone CMYK samples which I pore over endlessly. I once borrowed a set of old BMC paint sample chips when we were restoring the van, and tried to chose the paint colour from it. I had a terrible time deciding as they were all so lovely. It even had the lilac paint used on the Minor Millions in it. In the end we went for Pale Primrose. Not a Morris colour, but one used on early MG Midgets. It matched a set of 40's teacups I'd found in a charity shop. Cars nowadays are so dreadfully boring.

We've also been developing an iPad App with Jonathan Hills and John Bowring based on Tom's treated Victorian novel A Humument. This is a very exciting thing. The last published edition of A Humument was in 2004. Tom has since made 39 brand new pages and we've used all the tiff files from the 2004 Thames & Hudson edition, many scanned then for the first time since they were created. It should be in the App store in a few weeks and an iPhone version will follow. It's a lovely, fun thing, and seeing the pages in the iPad screen in full luminous colour is a real joy.

New Website

I've been seriously fretting about my website for months. It's a very old-fashioned set-up and a total nightmare to edit. To my great delight I've found a website hosting company called Other People's Pixels who run a content managed hosting service for artists. Their templates are totally brilliant, easy to edit, and just what I'd been dreaming of! Cool. Check it out at www.alicewood.co.uk

A Friend In Need by Sue Howes, part 3

A Friend in Need pt3
Originally uploaded by Alice Wood

Parts 1 and 2 of this story were published in Horse + Pony magazine before it ended publication with the August issue. Sue has kindly allowed me to post the rest of the story along with the final two illustrations...

A Friend In Need by Sue Howes, part 3

Gemma waited on Pip behind the barn. She was sure that Mrs Feather would search the woods, once she had phoned Gemmas’s parents to tell them what was happening. Gemma reckoned she had about twenty minutes before her parents arrived to join the search, and she hoped the first search party would leave soon so she could get away. Within five minutes she saw Mrs Feather and Jess leave the yard on two of the school ponies, and head towards the woods. As soon as they were out of sight, she hurried Pip out of the front gate and was soon threading her way through the back streets of the town.

She felt bad sneaking off like this, especially without telling Jess, but she was certain that she would not have been allowed to do it on her own, and to be on her own with her pony was what Gemma desperately wanted. She hadn’t really been alone at all since her accident and she was hoping for an hour or so before she was caught. Her head was filled with Jess’ description of the little valley on the moor, and she decided to see if she could find it.

Jess and Mrs Feather had each taken one end of the track through the woods, looking carefully between the trees. When they met in the middle they were both disappointed, there had been no sign of girl or pony.

“We’ll have to go further afield,” decided Mrs Feather. “Have you got any idea where she might have gone?”
“I did wonder if she might be looking for the place I found the other day,” said Jess, “only it’s a long way away. I don’t think she realised how far it is.”
“In that case, we’d better go back to the stables and change ponies. These two are too old for an extended ride. You can have Otter, & I’ll take Briony. You can show me where but we must stick together, I don’t want two of you missing!”

While Jess tacked up the two ponies, she could hear Mrs Feather talking with Gemma’s parents who had arrived, white-faced and frightened. They were imagining Gemma, fallen from her pony somewhere, unable to move and helpless. They were going to look round the roads nearby, and had already talked to the police.

Jess led Otter out of his stable. If it hadn’t been for the seriousness of the search, she would have been thrilled to be allowed to ride the sleek brown pony. He was the youngest in the yard, at eight years old, and was very keen. Only the most experienced were allowed to ride him. He bounced a little under Jess as she checked her girth, and led the way out of the yard at a brisk walk.

They had been riding for about half an hour when Mrs Feather spotted the first signs that a pony had been that way – a pile of fresh droppings. They hurried on at a trot, the feeling of urgency driving them on. The path cut across the side of a steep hill, and there was a sheer drop down on one side of it. Jess looked down, hoping she wouldn’t see Gemma lying in the bracken below, but thankfully there was no sign of her there.

“It looks like we’re in for some nasty weather,” called Mrs Feather, pointing to the darkening sky to the west. “And Gemma’s coat is still hanging up in the tack room.” She frowned, her face drawn with worry.

As they reached the top of the slope, the wind hit them. It was much stronger than they had expected and Jess shivered, wondering how Gemma had coped with it as it was quite unbalancing. It became hard to talk, with the wind snatching the words away, so they continued in grim silence.

It was then that the rain began. In no time at all it was coming down so hard that Jess lost sight of Mrs Feather. Otter fought Jess, he wanted to turn his bottom into the wind and they struggled on into the storm. She must find Gemma. Just at that moment, a pheasant flew out right under Otter’s hooves, and the pony shied in fright. Saddle slippery with rain, Jess slid out to the side and hit the soft ground with a squelch. She could just make out the pony’s wet brown quarters disappearing into the rainstorm. How would she find Gemma now?

................................................................
Part 4 to follow shortly.

A Bird's Song

The proof copy of A Bird's Song has arrived back from lulu.com and it's looking quite good. The printing is digital so the colour matching isn't perfect, but for that you need proper CMYK printing presses and thousands of pounds. The binding is secure and well put together. The paper is a good weight with no show-through. I managed to send the pdf file without the bleed setting, because their job option file didn't include it, so there are small white edges on the trimmed sides. I will have to change that next time, but it's only a small thing at this stage. The best thing is that the production cost is reasonable enough to sell it at a market price. All in all I'm pretty pleased with it!

Now I have to do the missing illustrations, and then get another proof. It seems that they only allow the option of selling directly on amazon for certain sizes of their available production options and this one, 9" x 7", is not one of them. I'm not sure why, or if, it matters but that's another thing to think about... anyway - back to work.

The Eddystone Press

Over the last year or so I've been thinking more and more about starting a small publishing press. I've thought about making hand-bound letterpress and etching wonders, or simple photocopied multiples. I've considered just about every format possible, from the one-off artist's book to the mass produced paperback.

I've come to the conclusion that whichever way I do it I am extremely unlikely to make a penny out of it, so I might as well please myself! The liberating thing will be the creative freedom. No more changing this-that-or-the-other to please somebody else's idea of how your work should look. No more waiting for feedback and getting frustrated because all I really want to do is scribble, draw and paint all day.

I have so many stories and ideas which will never see the light of day if I rely on finding a commercial publisher for them. They are officially 'uncommercial'. So here goes... Maybe they will be rubbish! Maybe they would have been better with a publisher's art team behind them, and maybe this is an act of fantastic folly. The worst I can do is fail, and as an artist I do that every time I make something, so what's the worry?


First up will be A Bird's Song as a 32 page full colour picture book. I wrote this story years ago, and it's been in many forms over the intervening years. It's lyrical, poetic, obscure and lovely. I need to finish the artwork but I am aiming to have it ready by the end of the year. There are a couple of self-publishing websites now which offer fairly reasonable full colour printing, blurb.com and lulu.com. I am in the process of researching isbns, pdfs, bleed sizes, spine width calculators and generally getting confused. I'll be ordering a proof to see what the quality is like.

I will post more news as the venture progresses...

...and a Happier Day

Boy with Morris Owner magazine of May 1927, collection Tom Phillips.

For the last three months I have been working with Tom Phillips on a series of postcard books for the Bodleian Library. He has an extensive collection of private real photo postcards dating from the turn of the century to the 1940's. They are going to be held in the Bodleian Library Archive and they have decided to publish collections of the postcards in small volumes, each covering a different subject matter. The first two books will be Readers and Women & Hats.

There can be a little research involved when trying to date the cards, so when Tom came across this card of a little boy holding a Morris Owner magazine he gave it to me to investigate. As a long time Morris Minor owner I was excited to find the card and sent a scan of it to Nicola Parkins, the new editor of the Morris Minor Owners Club magazine. When I enlarged the card I discovered, to my great surprise, that the cover featured two military tanks!! I wondered to Nicola if Morris had built tanks. She came up trumps and in this month's Minor Matters there is a fantastic article about the magazine the little boy is holding (from May 1927) with the history of the one-man Morris-Martel tankette, a colour reproduction of the original magazine cover, AND I get my name splashed about all over my favourite subscription!

Minor Matters Vol XXXII no 1 July/August 2010

Meanwhile, my 'tankette' has failed her MOT on some worn out bushes. Nothing serious but I'm not sure I'll be fixing them in the spare room...

The van (Elsie), Kitty, Joey and Ralph in Topsham, August 2009.

A Sad Day...

I heard today that BPG Publishing who produce Horse+Pony magazine will not be renewing their license to publish it from Bauer Publishing, who own the rights to H+P. The magazine has been going for 30 years, and been published by BPG since 2005. I have worked as the short story illustrator for the last 3 years, and loved it.

The August issue will be the last, and this story (A Friend in Need) will end half way through!! Argh!! When I get a minute I'll do the two final illustrations and see if the writer, Sue Howes, will let me post the two final installments of the story here on my blog. The magazine was going from strength to strength and I enjoyed my time working on it. What a sad day :-(

The drawing competition will go ahead and I'll be sending out book prizes when the winners are announced. Thanks to everyone who was a true H+P fan! Ponies rule forever!

The Foundling Hospital

Yesterday I visited the Foundling Museum in London. I had wanted to go there for several reasons, but mainly because I had heard about the foundling tokens. Not wanting to give too much away, but the 'Secret Locket' in my children's book is a foundling token. Our heroine is found, as a baby, in a basket on the steps of the Big House and taken in. She has nothing in her basket except for a golden egg, and a golden locket. The egg hatches into a musical golden bird who remains her constant friend and companion, but no one can explain the significance of her locket... until much, much later!

So many childrens' stories begin with the orphaned or abandoned child. It's a terrific device for taking all kinds of liberties with the adventure, and the opportunity to cut out all kinds of parent-imposed health-and-safety concerns!

The Foundling Museum tells the story of the Foundling Hospital, London's first home for abandoned children and of three major figures in British history: its campaigning founder the philanthropist Thomas Coram (who was from Lyme Regis), the artist William Hogarth and the composer George Frideric Handel. The museum is now in a building adjacent to the original site of the Hospital, which was demolished in 1928.

Sometimes, when a mother gave her baby over to the care of the Hospital, she left a token by which her child might be identified should she ever return to claim them. There were also plea letters, and the Hospital would take a swatch of the baby's clothing or blanket, again for identification purposes. Each child would be re-christened so they lost all contact with their previous identity. The Hospital kept the tokens in its archive. They were never given to the unclaimed children in case it compromised the identity of the mother.

The little objects are heart-breakingly sad. Some obviously made with such care, and no small expense, that one wonders how the mother could not afford to keep her child. Illegitimacy was such a stigma at that time that poverty was not the only reason a woman might not keep her own baby. Some are just curios, of no monetary value, but unique in their form so as to be perfectly suited to their purpose. Half a coin, a strange seed, a tiny fish made of bone, a thimble. Each one hides a story.

Competition Time!

If you'd like to win a signed copy of my new book Princess Dolly and the Secret Locket you can enter the drawing competition in Horse + Pony magazine this month. The July issue has full details (see pictures) but the competition is open to children, and all you have to do is send in a drawing of your favourite pony. There are some examples shown here.


Send your drawing and contact details to: H+P Princess Dolly, 33 Broad Street, Stamford, Lincs PE9 1RB by 5th July 2010. Happy pony drawing!
I illustrate the pony short story each month so here's one of mine...

Joanna Newsom & Roy Harper RFH 11.5.2010

Last night I went to see Joanna Newsom at the Royal Festival Hall. It was a last minute thing as it was sold out, but they suddenly released some tickets (in the choir behind the stage) and I was quick enough to get two. Not the comfiest of seats, our budgies would have had trouble perching on those benches for a couple of hours, but it was worth it.



The lights were all aiming back towards us (for the benefit of the auditorium), so my view was mostly backlit, and very bright. The visual acrobatics of looking into this and then, blinded, down to a little piece of paper were a bit demanding, and I couldn't really see what I was doing. I abandoned the fine pen for a thick black brush pen, and it just about made enough of a mark in the dark to get some idea of what was going down! The action of drawing while watching/listening is very rewarding as it commits music to memory in a very anchored way, the two activities performed together demand proper concentration and coordination. One's mind is prevented from wandering about.

There was a drummer, a guitar/banjo/recorder player who did the arrangements on the new record, a trombonist and two violin players (I should have written down their names). JN played the piano and the harp. She started with '81, alone on stage, just her with the harp. Lovely, and my favourite song on the new LP, then they went on with Easy, Good Intentions and Have One On Me. A couple of older pieces made it in, Bridges & Balloons, and the Book of Right On. I particularly enjoyed hearing Monkey & Bear live for the first time. I liked the way her hands were reflected in the shiny black polish of the piano as she played, like a duet in a mirror.



Roy Harper, one of my favourite, proper songwriters played first and he was brilliant. An amazing guitar player. Just great to hear him sing Another Day after all these years. We had to stop ourselves calling out for Hell's Angels though and giving ourselves away as proper old gits. I was struck suddenly by the similarity between J Newsom's album cover for Have One On Me to that old hippy classic Flat, Baroque and Berserk. She likes Roy Harper, but then he is a poet too. The thing behind him in the drawing which looks like a giant oven glove is the harp in its cover!





As we left the Festival Hall, and people turned on their phones, the news slowly crept through the crowd that David Cameron had become Prime Minister while we weren't looking. There was palpable disappointment. To quote Roy Harper...

How does it feel to be completely unreal?
How does it feel to be a voter?
How does it feel to be a voluntary heel?