A New Beginning...

It's been a long, long time since I have posted in The Tanglewood while life has continued to whirl by. There has been so much to do and think about that I have often felt overwhelmed by it all and when that happens the only thing I can do is, retreat.

Now that spring has blossomed and summer wended it's way back in to our hearts, I too find myself stretching and raising my face to the sun. So this is a catch up of all my weavings and waiverings over the last year...

In July I attended a week at Cambridge School of Art doing the Children's Book Illustration Summer School. One of the best weeks of my life, without a doubt. I was completely inspired and managed to create a little book...

The summer school made me think seriously again about what I wanted from life...I realised that I needed to attend Life Class...

The end of autumn and build up to Christmas meant the Mayor's Appeal Art Exhibition...

One of my great yearnings has been to study again and after the summer school I decided it was time to go for it. So after filling out the forms and applying, the most important thing was to put together my Portfolio, organise my sketchbooks and even updated my summer school book...

My impending exhibition at the Saffron Walden Exchange Gallery helped my portfolio a great deal as I created new pictures and continued to develop my book idea... Together with the talented Susanne Vowinckel we put on a lively show of very different work that somehow hung together really well...

My interview with Martin Sailsbury was one of the most nerve wracking things I've ever been through. Time was short, I'd brought too much stuff really but managed to show the most important things. Received a bit of criticism but took that on the chin (he was right of course) and then went into bit of a meltdown for two weeks waiting for the result...

This years' Open Studios was very different from my previous ones. I decided to exhibit in Saffron Walden over just one weekend for a change, in the Almshouse Chapel. A beautiful light and airy space, I was able to invite two friends to share it with me ~ Amanda Sheldrake and Susanne Vowinckel...

...to my amazement I got in! So I am starting in September on the MA in Children's Book Illustration at Cambridge School of Art, more excited than I can express. I will try and document my progress as I go.