As an artist, I would rather draw a face with character than a mask of perfection. (The fact that I’m not very good at drawing faces is beside the point – this is a philosophical ramble but don’t worry, I’ll keep it brief!)
There was a piece on the radio recently about a new dating agency for beautiful people only. In fact there are several – one of them has a long list of banned features, including non-symmetrical faces or bodies, big noses, and wearing out of date fashions. So you can be a cold hearted inarticulate bitch with an ego the size of Milton Keynes as long as you have white even teeth and no centre parting. Hmmm. Perhaps the word beauty needs redefining. A shift of emphasis away from the outer to inner beauty would not go amiss. Years ago I was told a story of a wise man who asked his student what qualities she would like to see more of in the world. “Respect, courtesy, humanity, warmth, generosity of spirit, that kind of thing”, she said. “Well then”, came the reply. “Put them there!”
Enough rambling, back to wrestling with chapter three – all about coastlines, harbours and rockpools. I wonder if sea squirts think all other sea squirts are beautiful…… I’m sure they do.
I’m finally getting my teeth into the next RYA book; it always takes a while to find the way in to a new subject, but once I get my brain engaged it tends to take over. The studio is filling up with piles of books and notes and I’m starting to think about chapter headings in the shower. But it’s hard to go for total immersion in a subject at this time of year when there are Christmas exhibitions to get ready for and I should be making stuff. Half finished projects sit reproachfully in heaps on my studio table.
So what’s the new book about? It’s about the oceans, ecology, sailing cleanly, wildlife, geography, beachcombing, not polluting rivers and seas…. presented in a way that will grab children’s attention. Fascinating but challenging. It’s taking me a while to get the structure of it sorted out in a logical way, with the encouraging and tactful support of Susie Tomson, my editor and the inspiration behind the Green Blue. Just don’t ask me what the title is – several suggestions are floating round between all concerned so when the dust has settled I’ll let you know. I’m on version four of the cover design so far and think I’m getting close!
Meanwhile, did you know that the second largest fish in the world is the basking shark – and it can be seen in UK waters? Or that over a million birds die every year from entanglement or ingestion of rubbish? Food for thought.
Oh, and the plankton? They provide 50% of the world’s oxygen, that’s all……. something to consider next time you swallow a mouthful of seawater!
- Welsh trading schooner
Maritime history has been flavour of the week, while I’m working on some pages of a workbook for the Welsh Joint Education Council. Smacks, schooners and coracles are the theme of the pages, so I’ve been digging for stories to bring the subjects to life. Shipwrecks, of course, and the daily life of a ship’s apprentice – who could well have been as young as ten years old. All good fun – just a word of advice. When researching coastal fishing boats, never forget to put the word ‘fishing’ in front of ’smack’ when you google it!
I also gave a talk to the Narberth Museum Friends - just an informal fundraising evening, but great fun. I did a potted history of marine art, concentrating on the pierhead paintings of the 19th century, painted with the eye of a sailor which put the focus on technical accuracy rather than artistic flair. I finished off splashing paint around doing a demo of how a pierhead painter of today might tackle a boat portrait, leaving them all trying to get their mouths round the phrase ‘Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter’ without getting their tongues twisted. Just don’t try it after a few drinks….
Meanwhile, back at the drawing board it’s time to design some more cards – cartoon ones were particularly popular at the boat show, so after plenty of cups of tea and pencil chewing I’ve come up with a few scribbles – like this one:
call of the wild
If you can’t read the caption it says ‘We’ll have to move, I can’t get a signal’.
I’ve tried posting another one but the computer doesn’t want to play… will try again another time. The next batch of cards will be ready in a month or so – keep an eye on the starfishbooks website (which is still being updated after the boat show so bear with us. Perry has his laptop on his knee and cursing occasionally, so I think that means he’s making progress).
I’ll leave you with one of life’s profound mysteries – why don’t X factor contestants notice that they are singing out of tune?? Or, to misquote Morecambe and Wise – they were singing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order……
Southampton boat show is over – yes, it was exhausting, but that was balanced by the pleasure of seeing so many familiar faces and meeting plenty of new people. Thanks especially to the staff of Kelvin Hughes, stockists of every book about the sea that ever was or is…. great books and great company. I’m just relieved that no-one took a photo of me trying to do a cartwheel over a stack of nautical almanacs on the last day. Well, how was I to know they were so slippery…..
On a less frivolous note, one of the high points of the show was visiting Geoff Holt on board his catamaran Impossible Dream. Geoff is setting off to sail across the Atlantic in a few weeks time, no small feat for a quadriplegic! The boat is amazing, wheelchair tracks to all areas and a wide, accessible control panel in the bridge deck. Have a look at geoffholt.com for the full story. Geoff is taking a non-sailing carer with him, so Susana’s job is to care for Geoff, while he cares for the boat. Good luck to them both. Geoff seems to make a habit of doing the impossible – it certainly proves that what you achieve in life has very little to do with where you’re starting from.
Geoff on board Impossible Dream
Congratulations to Mike Perham on becoming the youngest circumnavigator, in spite of the endless technical problems that are the lot of 21st century solo sailors. While in Cape Town he met up with a 75 year old Japanese man who is the oldest known round the world solo sailor – in fact he’s on his eighth circumnavigation. As someone who needs strong seasickness pills, extra socks and the promise of a gentle following wind simply to sail across the Bristol Channel, I have the greatest respect for long distance sailors of all kinds.
I’m currently enjoying Dee Caffari’s account of her voyage round the world the ‘wrong way’. In one paragraph she says ‘the wind speed climbed beyond 60 until I had 76 knots across the deck’. Further on, in the next paragraph, she says ‘the mainsail had to come down’. That’s impressive. I’d have had the mainsail down and been cowering in the cabin with a stiff gin in anything over 20 knots. In fact, I’d have never left the quayside in the first place, being of the opinion that if you light a candle and it stays alight, there’s not enough wind to sail; if you light a candle and it goes out, there’s too much. Perhaps I should give up sailing and take up flower arranging instead……
Walking round Lundy we wondered why the beautifully crafted stone lighthouse had been replaced by two modern ones low down at each end of the island. Then we found out why. At 567 feet above sea level it was the highest in Britain, but so often obscured by fog and low cloud that it was useless to shipping. Nine years after being built it was abandoned. Oops. Obviously not the model for the phrase used to describe weak tea as ‘lighthouse tea’ – blinking close to water!
old lighthouse, Lundy
Last week drawing board, keyboard and ironing board were all abandoned in favour of bouncing around the Bristol Channel in a small boat. Very pleasant it was too as the weather was settled enough to let us get to Lundy, on a sparkling clear day with not quite enough wind for perfection but we were grateful to the Azores High for letting us get out of the river. We saw not one other boat on the 40 mile passage, but were accompanied by more dolphins than we’ve ever known, group after group leaping round our bows.
Bristol Channel dolphins
Lundy is well worth a visit – sheer cliffs, wildlife and a history of smugglers, wrecks and pirates, but now in the safer hands of the National Trust. The lively pub has a discreet notice asking that no mobile phones, laptops or any electronic device be used on the premises – a good place to go for peace and quiet, in spite of the boatful of tourists landing each day.
Torhilda at Lundy
Whilst I complain about the complexity of life and how many directions it pulls, I do have the kind of brain that thrives on working on several projects at once. Some might say I have the attention span of a three year old, but this is a useful asset when working in watercolour as it means that you can lay a wash, put it to one side to dry, pull out another one and slap some colour on that, start something new, wander off to check emails whilst that’s drying, go and make a cup of tea, try to avoid having a biscuit, fail, have two biscuits, wander back into the studio, think of another idea for a painting, splash some more paint on the first painting……. and I am still trying (but mainly failing) to put some time aside each day for the sea stories book which involves regular excursions into the internet - butterfly brain heaven. One day I’ll achieve something, if I live long enough!
Work in progress - Restoration Project
The Circumnavigators
How about this for a table mat design? I haven’t found anywhere that prints round mats yet, but I’m looking. It shows the history of round the world sailors starting with Slocum…. told you I had a strange brain.
Night sail - one of the new small prints. Simple but effective!
A slap on the wrist for taking so long to post an update. One excuse is that I’ve been sidetracked by the blog’s more frivolous cousin, facebook; sketches that should have been put on here have been diverted to brighten up my facebook page. It’s been a busy few weeks at the drawing board – the design for next year’s planner is ready and at the printers (yes, I know it’s only July, but we have to think ahead), the long thin paintings that featured a few posts back are now available as unframed prints (I’ve been reminded to mention where to buy the print – it’s at www.starfishbooks.co.uk) and I’m onto the second of two new teatowel designs to be ready for the Southampton Boat Show. There have also been some enjoyable outdoor sketching sessions recently, including a final session with my art group here in Llawhaden, sketching the castle in the last of the hot days before the weather reverted to type.
The sailing story book is not forgotten – I’ve been sneaking a bit of time each week to work on a few of the stories and their illustrations, so more on that later. I just have to keep reminding myself it’s not necessarily the people with most time on their hands who get books written!
