some old paintings and a summer of Heroes.

part of the reason for having a blog is to spur me to keep producing art to put up here, of course life isn't like that. The Art I'm working on at present I can't show until I get the Okay from clients, or its for publishing. Production also slows down as life speeds up.

There's a time for output and a time for ideas, activity, input.
There has been fire call outs and lots to do as a union rep.
I was first on scene at a Bike crash on the hill pass when off duty.
We have a new rescue cat.
Rich has been away and back twice.
We are busy trying navigate funding bodies for help with HiEX2010.
The charity that owns the land my crafts studio is on has very controversially been taken over by another committee, so I'm up to my eyes in legal documents to try & assure security of tenure for my sub-tenants.
Everyday seems to bring good news-bad news, with no time to digest or assimilate.
I've taken up archeology site hunting & mapping again, hours cross referencing google earth, databases and hunting for piles of rocks. Its all such a big adventure, and a big battle.I met one of my Heroes this weekend Benedict Allen, why do I have heroes? why do they inspire so? in the dark times friends to project hopes and fears upon? my dream of travelling to the Altai Mountains of Siberia has been a touchstone for years, Benedict's books just seem to strike a chord, it always seemed silly to me to dream such lofty plans, to latch onto the unobtainable but now I see the sense in it.

Benedict was exactly the sort of person I'd imagined he'd be - perhaps more so ! how unusual to meet someone so accomplished, without ego, guile or pretence. Perhaps it takes a truly strong person to let go of all those defenses? I need to trust my instincts, follow my dreams without worrying why, without analysing so much. Of course as an artist one is expected to analyse and articulate why we paint what we do, then the public side needs separating from the personal, its hard to get the balance. But the Heroes who inspire us and the demons which drive us do their work regardless of whether we understand them or not.

With inspiration comes frustration, so much I want to do, so many obstacles.
" its like his thoughts are too big for his head ", no outlet.
Next emotional Roller coaster is the Pearl Jam concert in London August, seeing Hero Eddie singing those lyrics which mean so much to me will blow my poor wee mind! There's a Pearl Jam competition to paint images inspired by their lyrics on at the moment, there's a lot of emotion going into these images... watch this space. And yes I am a sad fan girl... so what !

Meanwhile there's no time for this idle pontificating, I have MASSES of work to get through. Currently painting Victorian brickwork.

Thankyou for reading my friends. Normal service will be resumed soon.

Dragons page 1 & 2 here's page 1 & 2 of the children's dragon book, the deadline has just moved forward from 'whenever' to next month.. so I'm trying to make some headway.

Not much to put up on blog the last couple of weeks, I've mostly been in the research and development phase of projects, drawing up character designs and roughs.

I had a nice commission drawing job, which I'll put up here once the recipient's got it.

What else? a painting, lots of photography and outdoor expeditions, call outs & adventures; loads in the pipeline ...watch this space !

Manga/ Comic workshops.

manga/ comics workshops at Gairloch Library with High school pupils. These were across three days and fitted in most of the schools pupils...shoehorned into a small space. These photos are of the last session with 38 pupils from second year today. If I talk and draw at the flip chart too long they get bored, if I let them do their own drawings un-guided too long it turns into anarchy. Its a fine line to tread. What frustrates me with big groups is that I can't spend time nurturing those youngsters with that creative or imaginative spark, and I can't spend time coaxing on those who are low in confidence and have never really thought about comics or cool stuff & how it could apply to them.

Gairloch is quite far north on the west coast & it did seem that less of these pupils had heard of Manga. One lad was determined to draw a fishing boat.. " can I just draw anything ?! " I then insisted he turned this fishing boat into a comic strip - which was a great tale of fishermen, a storm, capsize, helicopter rescue & off to the pub..magic ! Some others drew up on the flip chart a tale of hitler shooting himself in the bunker , when on tuesday there were complaints from adults that pupils aren't intrested in history! Session feedback was all good...phew ! next workshops are Dingwall & Ullapool, next month.

So Tired.One more day of exhibition left... managed to finish the big canvas 80 x 60 cm.
and a wee painting 23cm x 43cm.

and loads of wee sketchy pics with sheep & coos & local scenery. Now must sleep.

Exhibition week.

Its been hard work but good fun this week exhibiting at the Fire Station.

The weathers been scorching, the number of visitors & sales have been good and the feedback is great ! Creating this collection of Firefighting art is a distinct chapter and I'm not sure what comes next, but listening to people & seeing their reaction to the work has got the ideas bubbling away in the back of my head.

Its been lovely to see so many local folks stopping by, and folks who don't usually buy art or do art galleries, that for me is hugely important. I'm getting a lot of people wondering why I paint firefighters and expressing surprise when they hear that I am one. I also really enjoy it when Fire service personnel past & present come & see the work.

nearly finished the big canvas painting, its been hard work with the paint drying out & constant interruptions...but hope to have it finished by tomorrow.

Sheep & coo's are very popular with tourists & local folks, so I've been doing some small ones to warm up at the start of the day.

And another one for Applecross Hills as these sort of things are selling well. Painting green grass is hard work though !