Every year I go to Wimbledon when the tennis is on, catching the train from Southbourne station, packed lunch and plenty of water in my bag.  Am I heading for the centre court?  No, my destination is for the 'Wimbledon College of Art', where I will hand in my entry for the Jerwood Drawing Prize.

Here is this year's entry,  'Almost Naked And Surrounded By Life'.

And so far, for 4 years now, I have always had to make this trip twice, as any un-selected work has to be collected the following week.  I did say to the official who received this year's entry from me, "I hope I don't see you next week," to which she quietly smiled.  But most likely I will be seeing her on Saturday, as I arrive again at Wimbledon College of Art to re-wrap my work before catching the tram, train one and and train two back to Southbourne station.  However, fingers crossed!

I did deliver some more artwork though, which I know I do not have to collect in a week's time.

Keeping up the very pleasant task of giving my nieces and oldest nephew an 'Un-Christmas' present,

I dived into my plan chest to unearth a trio of mermaid prints for Olivia.

When I met Olivia's then boyfriend and now fiance Jon, I admired his line-work tattoos, some of which featured mermaids.  Going by the feeling that I love mermaids, Jon loves mermaids and Olivia, and Olivia loves Jon and most probably mermaids too, I chose a set of three mermaid lino cuts. They have a coloured, lino-etched background too, (really fun to do, involving wax and caustic soda.  Not only do you get a great effect, but you can use the residue to clean your drains.  Result!) and line-work mermaids printed over this.

'Mermaid One', an un-Christmas present for Olivia.

'Mermaid Two'  a 'congratulations on graduating' present for Olivia,

and 'Mermaid Three', an engagement present for Olivia and Jon.
To add to their collection of mermaids. (They've got one now, even if they didn't have one before!)

And going from creatures who use their beauty to lure people, to a creature who is depicted sometimes as just hideous, and sometimes as hideously beautiful, Medusa.

At Trinity, in Winchester, for the past 3 weeks, we have been working on creating the head of Medusa, using papier mache.  Instead of using snakes as her hair, I incorporated my 'Fun with Fruit' theme, and created hair inspired by fruit.  In particular, the banana, the satsuma and the lime.

It is always a learning curve to work in a different way, or with a different medium.  Rather like with some of my early paintings, I did no planning as such, but rather let the head evolve as it was made.  Now it is almost complete, I realise that with more planning and studies, I could have improved the shape of the face by having ears, and a defined chin.  Next time, before applying glue and newspaper to the balloon, I will apply some thought, and some ideas to paper.

The day after visiting Wimbledon, we travelled to see Mum, and also brother Mark, Ella and big boy Jem.  We had planned to dine out that night. and after having sampled some of the wares from Maccaloo on our previous visit, we all decided to dine there.  http://www.maccaloo.co.uk/
There is a good up-beat feel throughout the restaurant which is obviously very popular.

Here is little Snowy enjoying a selection of beers, and also a most beautiful jug of water too.  Being a young and sensible sort of dog, Snowy has been brought up to drink responsibly, unlike his owner who came of age in the 70s!

A lovely time was had by all....and it was hard to choose what to eat.  I enjoyed my steak but did like the look of Mum's fish, my second choice. (Four of us chose steaks, and they were all cooked longer than requested, a rare came out as medium rare, and medium rare appeared as medium to well done.) The 'Duo of Creme Brulee' ran out just before we made our pudding choices, but this slight disappointment was more than made up for me and Ella by the 'Malteser semi-freddo'.  It was rather large but Ella and I managed to eat it all.

Let's walk away from gastronomy now, and veer towards literature.
This is the book that was chosen for our book group,

There are the rave reviews on the back of the book, which made it seem all the more enticing.
My advice to you...........
Don't waste your time reading this, unless you also enjoy reading Elle, or the Daily Express.

Instead, take a trip to Midhurst and visit the excellent bookshop there. It is a step into the past, in all the right ways.  http://www.wheelersbookshop.co.uk/  If you are my age and have always loved reading, just take yourselves back to your favourite childhood bookshop.
 By all means choose your own book, but this is one I can heartily recommend.  In fact, I am trying to read it slowly, to prolong the pleasure, whilst wanting to read it quickly as I want to know what happens.  As I love Cold comfort Farm, it was a joy to find that Stella Gibbons had written more, and I look forward now to reading the rest too.

Mr Cooper has had an exciting time, involving books.  We have 2 piles of books in the house, one is the 'keep' pile, and one the 'get rid of' pile.  Mr Cooper, with a rush of enthusiasm, took all the 'get rid of ' pile to the charity shop.  He had forgotten that some we had planned to sell, as two in particular are worth more than my car. Luckily he was able to retrieve  them the following morning.
Here is the title page from one of them, a book I have owned since I was 19.

But having lost the 'book of Beasts', if only for one night, I now want to keep it, as it has been the inspiration for quite a few paintings and needlepoints.
Here is 'How to Steal a Tiger Cub', which has been a needlepoint and a painting.

  Absence does make the heart grow fonder......perhaps I should disappear for a day or so myself.

Oh and by the way, I spent a pleasant morning a few days ago now, returning to Wimbledon College of Art, to collect my rejected work.  All went like clockwork, and I was there and back, courtesy of Southern Rail, in just over 4 hours. The fastest time ever, so all was not totally lost.
 Oh well, I shall see how "Almost Naked But surrounded By Life' fares in the National Open Art Competition.  http://www.nationalopenart.org/

Wishing you all a successful week ahead, and if you lose something, may you either find it again, or realise that you don't actually need it anymore.
Have a super-fun weekend too!
Looking forward to catching up with you shortly. And don't forget to follow the advice from little Snowy....enjoy a selection of beers, alongside a lovely jug of water.  "Woof woof!"

Is there a theme to this week's blog?  Possibly cats, but definitely flowers!
Last week, at the end of our South Downs Walk, (yes, I have made a complete recovery, thank you) my little brother Mark came over for the night with Jem, and also a very old friend.

I bought this cat for Mark many years ago, as it reminded me of his exceptional cat, Roger.  Roger had eyes like glass buttons, was extremely naughty, and once he, according to Mum, actually flew.  Now it has emerged from Mark's loft, and has been given to my son John.  He is not having it in his house quite yet, as I am enjoying having it for a holiday first.  It is very cheering having a mad black cat sitting on the kitchen table, grinning away.

There is one thing from the South Downs Walk that I must share with you.  Don't worry, no more photos.  'The Camping Cookbook' is one of my most favourite cookery books (along with many of the others on my shelves) and Annie Bell is definitely one of my favourite food writers.
Flapjack was needed as sustenance on the walk.  Usually, I reach for Delia and her recipe, but I could not find her....

So I reached instead for Annie Bell, and her deliciously chewy flapjack recipe.  What a stroke of luck that was!  I will never reach for Delia again in preference to Annie Bell. I have included the recipe for the flapjacks below, as they are the best flapjacks  I have ever made or tasted....high praise indeed!
  I know Werner agrees with me, as having eaten them each day on the walk, he took the recipe home with him, and is now walking and munching around Suffolk and The Alps.

That will be the only reference to that week of walking.
This week, my regular walk has been much shorter, and also a walk that has been much neglected this year.  As the date for the submission for the Jerwood Drawing Prize draws ever closer, I realised that as well as registering for the event, I needed to actually start and finish the drawing!  So most days have found me walking to my shed, where I have been drawing whilst listening to Radio 4, and it has been so good.  Much better than filling, wallpapering and painting, I felt complete and proper again.

The composition for this year's work is roughly based on a previous work called
 'Naked and Surrounded By Cake'.

  Each year, my entry for the Jerwood is quite autobiographical, and here is my drawing after a couple of sessions.  It is called 'Almost Naked and Surrounded by Life'.
 I think when you are approaching 55,' almost naked' is a lot kinder to the viewers, and I do love any excuse to wear an over-the-top apron!

Lets veer away from my drawing now, to focus on another art work that embraces this week's flower theme.  My son John, after quite a bit of research, went to Salisbury to have a very effective rose tattooed on his forearm.  If, like me, you are loving the result, make your way to 'Timeless Ink' in
Fisherton Street, and ask for 'little Sam'.  http://www.timelessinktattoostudio.com/

Leaving behind drawing with needles and ink, and returning to drawing with pen and ink.
With Mr Cooper away this week for the experience of a lifetime, on The Eiger, with his friend Werner, I was able to crack on, or sketch on, and my drawing took shape pretty quickly.  This was just as well, as it needs to be completed and framed by next Friday, when I take it to London.
Sadly with Mr Cooper away,  I was missing my resident art critic.  A tough job, because if I ask what Mr Cooper thinks of my days work, if the answer is 'brilliant' I then say 'You're not just saying that are you?' If he says 'It's fine' the answer would be 'you don't like it, do you?  Only fine?'  And if there are any suggestions made, will I will act on them, but only after being distraught at being critisised.  He probably timed his trip to coincide with the Jerwood deadline!

As son John was with me for a couple of days,I put my pen and pencil away as our thoughts turned to important matters. ' Let's make some elderflower cordial'.   Each year I think about making some, and each year I leave it too late.  This year we were almost too late, and had to walk for a couple of miles to collect sufficient blooms.

Pausing only to admire the dog roses (note the seamless links to flowers) which took our mind off the nettle stings we gathered whilst trying to gather those just out of reach blooms, we slowly filled our bags with blooms.

And, just like I say each year after Christmas, I am determined to be prepared the following year, for a more pain-free and efficient harvest.  After 24 hours mingling with sugar, water, citric acid and sliced lemons, the elderflowers turn themselves into the most delicious cordial.
 And as it is then strained through muslin, all the bits, including the odd insect, are left behind, leaving only a clear, fragrant liquid.

I am going to try some with Prosecco to celebrate the returning of the roving Mr Cooper.  I will let you know what it tastes like.

The drawing is almost ready to be framed now, apart from those all important touches of colour.  You will have to see the final result next week.  It's always good to have something to look forward to!

And now, back to cats, with flowers in a supporting role.
You may have thought that the pottery Roger was a little unusual, perhaps not to everyone's taste (could be a view shared by Mark, as its been in his loft for many a year)
 Well, I love him, and have even found him a freaky friend.
It just doesn't do to look at their eyes too closely!

 Just drawing to a close now, and looking forward to the return of Mr Cooper, who not only is my art critic, but quite often, my freaky friend I have fun with.  That is when he is not following me round the house with the hoover, telling me that I create mess.
I hope you have some fun on the horizon, with or without your very own freaky friend.  In fact I hope you spend much more time having fun than doing the hoovering!
Will catch up with you all next week.