Tag Archives: Sketches

Naples Feb 2019

I’ve just come back from a 2/3 day sketching trip to Naples. My mum’s friend visited Naples and described it as ‘a shit hole’. I can see her point. Naples is busy, polluted, dirty and smelly. Yet – there’s something incredible about it. It feels very foreign for a European city. It’s not particularly touristy.Continue reading “Naples Feb 2019”

People from the Window

As usual, it’s hard to find the time to draw. With kids, single-parenthood and a teaching job… but today I treated myself to a coffee in a large-windowed cafe with a view onto a popular street. People were walking up and down this little street, affording me a few seconds to try and capture them.Continue reading “People from the Window”

Christmas Cacti

I did these for a small pop-up art fair in my home town. I got into the flow of it and PLAYED. Initially I had been drawing cool retro mugs (something else I like) but that just wasn’t going well. Clearly not organic enough. So I looked through some old sketchbooks and found these. TheyContinue reading “Christmas Cacti”

11 December 2017

It’s been a difficult day to know where to focus my energy. The weather was awful, the house was a mess… it was hard to focus. Much of what I was doing did not go well. I had previously been looking through some old sketchbooks, and an image from one of them inspired this littleContinue reading “11 December 2017”

The Fading Light of Summer

I’m blogging about these because I have been enjoying doing sketchbook-diary pages as a way back into working on my stories and picture books; after having recently moved house and my aunty dying in early June. It’s been a hectic summer and my children and I have been left a little with the feeling thatContinue reading “The Fading Light of Summer”

Honduras in 1997

In 1997 when I was just 26 and living in Bristol, I travelled to Honduras to stay with a friend who I’d shared a house with. We’re still friends now. I have rediscovered this sketchbook because I’ve just moved house and found all my sketchbooks in the loft. And when I say all my sketchbooks,Continue reading “Honduras in 1997”

The Decline of White Plastic Chairs

During my MA Conceived of a project I called the ‘White Plastic Chair Project‘. It was about drawing in the kind of places and spaces that you might find white plastic chairs. Interestingly they are rather more difficult to find these days. Most seem to have been replaced by aluminium chairs: much stronger, less mucky-lookingContinue reading “The Decline of White Plastic Chairs”

#Colour_Collective

So here she is – my favourite Left Hand Large Lady… updated for #colour_collective – a Twitter event (is that the expression?) – You post work at 19.30 each Friday, made using a colour that is specified on the previous Saturday. I had so much fun, I’ll probably do it again… so watch out for moreContinue reading “#Colour_Collective”

Gentleman on Train

I drew this on the crowded Braintree train, on my way home with my eldest son, on January 21. We’d spent the day mudlarking under the millennium bridge and lying on the floor under blankets at the Tate Modern. It was a good day.