Galanthus and other Gallivantings

Earlier in February we visited The John Rylands Library in Manchester to see The Tregaskis Collection- a unique collection of beautiful bindings. The collection forms two parts - the first comprises of 73 copies of the Kelmscott Press’s Tale of King Florus and the Fair Jehane (1893). The books were bound by the most important binders of the day from all around the world and were commissioned by the booksellers James and Mary Lee Tregaskis. We were shown around the library by John Hodgson who is the keeper of manuscripts and archives at the library. We were allowed to pick up the books and inspect the contents and to take photographs.

With so many exquisite bindings to choose from, it is hard to know where to start. I was immediately drawn to the embroidered bindings. Walter Crane designed one of the bindings, which was embroidered by his wife. 

We marveled at the tiny stitches in this silk embroidery on the Japanese binding.

The second part of the collection was a centenary celebration of bookbindings commissioned by The Designer Bookbinders. This time over eighty copies of The Folio Society edition of Andrew Marvell’s The Garden and Other Poems illustrated by Harry Brockway was the chosen book. I particularly loved the tiny wood engravings and marveled at the artistry of both the illustrator and the binders.

Some of our party are fellows of The Designer Bookbinders and had bound some of the books on display. The photograph shows Paul Delrue holding the copy he bound; he had incorporated small strips of marbled paper in the binding in order to allow the book to open flat, see above. Paul has a website here- 

It was also very poignant to see the work of David Sellars on show. David had been a member of our group and had recently died. He left an amazing legacy of work and so his spirit will live on in his bindings. You can see more of his work here-

We also had the opportunity to see The Anthony Dowd Collection of modern British bookbinding’s. A book of patterned papers fascinated me, especially the decorative papers by Ravilious.

Later in the month I had a special little helper join my “studio” (a.k.a. dining room)

Our grandson was on half term and came for a visit. We enjoyed showing him nearby Little Moreton Hall, I think he enjoyed running around the garden best of all.

We also celebrated the first birthday of our granddaughter, how time flies.

I managed to do a little work in the midst of all this gallivanting, some Christmas themed commissions for greeting cards and also I made a start on some new prints.

The tiny wood engraving has yet to be printed. I am frustrated by my lack of engraving skills and can never manage to achieve what is in my head.

 The green vinyl is an alternative to lino, it cuts nicely; this is my first attempt which was inspired by one of the illustrations I did for “Can it be True?” I am still waiting for the opportunity to print it.

  Later in the month a very dear friend came to visit and we went to Rode Hall to see the Snowdrop Walk. This private house was once host to Walter Crane who often stayed as a guest. Whilst there he painted the family pets and the lake. Rode Hall is close to the potteries and I believe Walter Crane was introduced to important ceramic manufacturers resulting in his designs being used in their decoration. Apart from the wonderful gardens Rode Hall has an important collection of art, books and ceramics.

Before we returned home we bought some snowdrops to plant and some kitchen garden produce - six new laid eggs in such pretty colours it was a shame to eat them. The sky blue one was a treat!

My heart is like a singing bird.

Illustration taken from "White is the Moon"

“My heart is like a singing bird” from the poem “A Birthday” by Christina Rossetti best describes how I feel right now as we prepare for Easter. This year we hope to also celebrate my husband’s birthday together with four generations of our family.

You may have noticed the addition of a link to “White is the Moon” in my sidebar. This children’s picture book was one I first worked on when our boys were little, now we have a grandson old enough to read it, albeit with his own hilarious adaptation. “Once there was a fish and the fish was called Seymour” and “Pink is the pie” has replaced “Pink is the crab” after he saw it had a close resemblance to a cheese and onion pie! I am waiting for samples to arrive, of the book that is, not the pie. When I have them I will do a giveaway.




We have also been enjoying unbelievably sunny March days; warm enough to sit in the garden in tee shirts and jeans. Ted the dog has been treated to extra long country walks, making the most of the weather before it changes back to cold and grey.
The woodland near home is carpeted with wood anemones and shining stars of celandine, birdsong fills the air, in particular the very lovely music of the song thrush, blackbird and yellow hammer.
Grandson George can be seen proudly wearing his Easter Bonnet, made with help from his clever mum.

The lovely little embroidered bird is from Chloe Redfern, a mixed media artist who has an Etsy shop called Slightly Triangle. Her decorations are absolutely delightful.



I have been painting daffodils for my portfolio, maybe to end up on a paper napkin or greeting card one day? Sometimes it is nice just to work for the sheer pleasure of painting from life.


I hope your Easter days are filled with sunshine and birdsong too.

Christmas Blessings.

This year I am trying very hard to be positive and to focus on my many blessings but this Christmas will be a challenging time for us as we remember our loved ones who have passed. This time two years ago my brother was critically ill over Christmas and later died in the New Year. Last December it was my father who was reaching the end of his life, we lost him in January. I know from reading your blogs that I am not alone, you too have your problems and losses to deal with. I try each year to reinvent Christmas, make a new tradition, try some new kind of food, and decorate the house slightly differently. Life moves forward, change is inevitable, we have much to be thankful for and this year our home is gearing itself up to welcoming family and friends from near and far. We will raise a glass to the memory of those we have lost and give thanks for the new lives that have brought us great joy.


I would like to thank everyone who has visited my blog throughout the year; all of your comments are greatly appreciated. I wish you all a peaceful and joyous Christmas.

Penelope's Labour in Venice.

This post is very late, we returned from a very wonderful trip to Venice last week but I have been hobbling about on a very sore foot since our return. Nothing broken but I am feeling very sorry for myself after walking into a piece of furniture on the last day of the holiday. If it had been the first day it would have ruined things entirely so I suppose I should be thankful for that.



What can I tell you about Venice that you don’t already know? We avoided the crowds and queues in St Mark’s Square, instead we explored the quieter parts, the secret alleyways, churches, gardens and squares.

click to enlarge.

Every turn a photo opportunity, so many tiny shops, bookbinders and stationers selling exquisite marbled papers and mask shops galore, Venetian glass glimpsed through palace windows and everywhere light and sunshine and water. We crossed The Grand Canal in a traghetto, a poor man’s gondola ride, for half a euro you can take this “ferry” across Venice’s equivalent of the M1. How we avoided the very many vessels traveling up and down is a mystery, I can only assume that we had right of way, it was a bit scary but fun too.



We saw amazing art in the churches, palaces and libraries. Venice was host to the Biennale but by far the most impressive art we saw was here, the day we crossed over to the Island of San Giorgio Maggiore. Penelope’s Labour is the name of a tapestry exhibition featuring works old and new. Each exhibit was delightful in its own way, I expected to be impressed with the antique tapestries but was completely bowled over by the contemporary pieces.


Craigie Horsfield - At 99 Posse concert. Via Gianturco, Naples. September 2008
2010, 375 x 855 cm, wool and cotton
Woven by Flanders Tapestries

The work by Craigie Horsfield was worthy of Carravagio, a scene from a pop concert has been woven into a stunning piece of contemporary art. If you look at the faces in the crowd you will see a Christ like figure, surrounded by faces who could have been disciples, some faces showing adoration, others menace. Some of the tapestries were displayed on the floor and provided you removed your shoes you could walk over them. I was puzzled at first, the works by Carlos Garaicoa appeared at first sight to be actual mosaics until closer inspection revealed the true nature of these extraordinary tapestries, with words and shadows woven into the structure. Do have a look at the links if you have time.

We returned home in time to celebrate the second birthday of our gorgeous grandson George.

Time to say Goodbye.

Over the last few months our lives have been dominated by boxes, all around us people are on the move. One son moved house, the other moved office and my mum is moving from the former family home into a smaller retirement property within walking distance of our house. Amidst the chaos it has been difficult to keep up with work, blogs, housework and all the other myriad of things that demand my attention.

There have been some tough decisions to make, what to keep, what to give and what to recycle and everywhere memories. Memories, which stop you in your tracks and cause you to ponder on your own mortality. We come into this world with nothing and we go out with nothing but we don’t half accumulate some stuff along the way!

So yesterday I said a tearful goodbye to the garden my father tended for the last fifty-five years, the primroses, the quince, and the flowering aubrietia all looked lovely in the spring sunshine. I now carry his spirit, along with my late brother and sister, here in my heart. Home is, after all, where the heart is.

Post cards from St Ives.

We went in search of sunshine and blue skies and found them here in St Ives which really does have the bluest of blue skies and sea. I met my blog friend Lesley Ninnes here in the lovely Art Space Gallery and saw many examples of how this wonderful light has inspired so many artists over the years.

A trip to the St Ives Tate is a must if only to sit on the rooftop terrace to admire the views. The whole of the town is awash with galleries and museums and there is always something interesting to see, my favourite places being St Ives Ceramics, the Barbara Hepworth museum and garden and the tiny Fish Pye (spelt with an i on the sign outside?) studio which sells beautiful hand made pottery by Laura McCrossen Of course I had to take home another piece to add to my collection.

I have visited St Ives several times before but this was my first time as a grandma so had the added pleasure of time spent with our growing family. We feasted on Cornish pasties and clotted cream teas; scones, jam and cream so thick that you can spread it with a knife. I had under estimated the steepness of the hills choosing instead to remember the fabulous views afforded by the strenuous climb to the top although I was rather glad not to have been the one pushing the pram uphill!

keep right on till the end of the road....

Working on this children’s book project (The Bird with the Rainbow Tail) has been a little bit like climbing a steep hill, I started off nice and lickety split but the nearer I get to the end the harder I have to climb and the slower the progress. Do you ever feel like that? I have to be very strict with myself as it is so easy to give into diversions.


This is page twelve out of fourteen, which started life as a black and white pen and ink drawing. The colour and pattern details have been added digitally with the aid of my newest toy, the Wacom tablet. I have been having fun using some of my fabric patterns where appropriate.



James has been working hard on the music, which is nearly complete. Tony has finished the narration in English and the story has also been translated into German and recorded in Germany and although I don’t speak a word of German I can make out some of the words. I say "English" but in actual fact the text has been changed to have an American spelling as our publisher requested. We now have gray instead of grey and color instead of colour. A case of you say "tomado" and I say "tomato" but let's not call the whole thing off.



It has been a joy to work together on this project and I can’t wait to see and hear the finished thing on an iPod or even better an iPad if only I possessed such a thing! (hint hint)

An artist's garden

click for a close up.

I would very much like to pretend that the beautiful, well kept garden above belongs to me but I am sure you know better, having already confessed to a multitude of gardening tasks to attend to. It actually belongs to the artist and gardener Judith Glover.

Judith opens her garden for charity and this year raised an amazing £1,100 as part of the NGS Open Garden scheme. Her garden is the source of inspiration for the many delicate, detailed watercolours she produces, many of which are reproduced onto greeting cards and stationery. You can see more of her work and read about her inspirational garden on her website.

And now, if you will allow me to indulge in a bit of maternal pride… our son James has written the music for her latest e-card called “Toy Box” and I have to say that it is my all time favourite. The music and images are a perfect match, please have a listen and see if you agree by following this link. I have watched it umpteen times and it makes me smile on each occasion. He has written music for some of her other cards on the site including Little Angel and Little Snowman but I think I like this one the most.

In and out of the garden.

It has been a busy time here, family visits from afar being the main focus of our bank holiday weekend, so not much time for work or updates. We have had some sunny days and a little rain and everything in the garden is growing at an alarming pace, weeds included. Some plants seem happy to be left to their own devices and are therefore more than welcome, one such resident is what I call “London Pride”, a small, rather old-fashioned little plant with rosettes of glossy leaves which has established itself around the base of an old chimney pot in my tiny front garden. The lovely thing about it, apart from its very pretty little flowers, is the fact that it is very hardy and makes good ground cover. The clusters can be easily separated and planted in new areas or given way to gardening friends. (I think that is how I came by mine!)

Now, if you will forgive me I will get back to tidying away the toys, I am so glad I hung onto this box of treasures, which have provided many happy and constructive hours of fun for my children and now are being enjoyed by the next generation. "Billy and his Barrels" are still more or less intact but are missing the smallest barrel containing Billy, the culprit is pictured below.

The Joys of Spring!

This weekend brought sunshine, family and great joy into my life.
The sun shone, the skies were blue, the birdies sang and flowers opened. What more could a person want? I hope your days are joyous too.


Grandson George played on his "Nestled in Springtime" quilt. The days were bright and clear, perfect pram pushing weather and in the garden the crocus bloomed.

The moon and our little star!

As you might have gathered by now, I have a bit of an obsession with the moon. I think that there is no more magical a sight than a full moon in a clear sky. The first time I ever looked at the moon through an ordinary pair of binoculars I was astounded at how very round it appeared! I love the way the moon appears to change its shape, sometimes a crescent, sometimes a half circle then a full circle. It has such a mystery and a majestic quality about it, the fact that a day on the moon lasts about two weeks, the fact that it has a dark side which we will never see, the way it influences the tides and possibly behavior, all add to its poetry and mystique.

I have been enjoying all the wonderful television and radio programs dedicated to the moon and in particular the moon landings. I am sure those of you who grew up in the sixties will have vivid memories of watching the moon landings on television. When I was little I used to visit a very old lady in her late nineties, she was appalled at the idea that men would land on the moon. She said that the moon was put there by God to light the way for lovers and it was folly to send space ships and rockets there. In the days before street lights a clear moonlight night afforded extra opportunities for “walking out” as she called it. She had memories of soldiers who were sent oversees to fight and who found solace in the fact that the moon that they could see was the same moon that their sweethearts could see at home.

When our children were little they loved to look at the moon, I think that was also one of the first words they said. “I see the moon, the moon sees me” was a favourite rhyme in our house and was the inspiration behind “White is the moon”. When our eldest son first learnt to talk he would say things like “look moon, see my kickerballer boots” I am not sure what the moon replied!

When I first started this blog I decided not to make it too personal and so I try to resist the temptation of posting family photo’s, however I am sure you will understand that some events are just too exciting not to mention. We joined the ranks of proud parents this week as we went to our youngest son’s graduation ceremony. Here is our “Sweet Baby James” all grown up and looking very smart in his new suit.

Half Term Over

The half term holiday is now over and I am now catching up on all those domestic chores that inevitably follow. Our children left school many years ago but my husband teaches so school holidays are still a part of our lives. We took advantage of a new train service, which now stops close by our house, in order to visit our eldest son in London. As you can see we found a little time to visit the National Portrait Gallery and managed to do a little shopping whilst in the city.

The hedgehog has returned to our garden, Ted alerted us to its presence by yapping and barking, fortunately the hedgehog managed to defend itself in its customary manner. We also have bats, which appear as the sun goes down but so far I have not managed to capture any on film.



And last but not least my niece gave birth to a beautiful baby girl!

I managed to find a little time to make a start on a new book project, which has been on the back burner for more years than I care to remember. I decided to try something new and made the decision to illustrate each page with a pen drawing, this will make reproduction easier when it comes to printing the book, which I plan to do myself. I also have plans to bind the project by hand, but at this rate I shall be in my nineties before I get it finished.

Christmas in "The Air"

Christmas Decorations at The Ritz.




Patrick at "The Art of Christmas exhibition"

Yesterday I exchanged my dog walking trousers and wellies for more suitable attire as I made my way down to London on board a lovely new train which tilted and whizzed it's way into Euston station from Crewe in an incredible hour and a half!

I had a lovely time mooching around some of my favourite shops in Covent Garden and of course Liberty's and enjoyed the opportunity to meet up with my brother. The main reason for the trip however was to visit The "Art of Christmas" Exhibition by Books Illustrated Ltd. which opened at the Air Gallery in Dover Street. I took along my son Patrick who happened to be working in London, so it was good to have some company. We took the tube to Green Park and as we walked past "The Ritz Hotel" I could not resist taking a photograph of a stunning window decoration.

It was a real treat to meet up with some of my favourite artists, Particia Papps and her husband Andrew Skilleter and of course the amazing Peter Malone, who's illustrations for the newly published "Nutcracker" adorned the walls of the gallery. Peter told me that he did not take up illustration until he was forty years old. You can read more about how this came about and what influences his work, here.Peter Malone

I also managed to persuade our usually camera shy son Patrick to pose for a photograph, perhaps the champagne helped!