Flat Heraldic Beasts

Military Band Old Curtain Fabric

I used to love these fabrics when I was little. It was as if you had a adventure picture book at your window and my favorite childhood curtains had knights and ladies.

If you stand still for long enough a bird will nest on your hat. 

Flowers clearly make a lot of noise when they explode

And here is what it feels like when all the cool instruments are taken and you get left with the cymbals!

Unicorn and Friends

Heraldic and other toys.

Not so Scary Painting!

At long last! I seem to have produced endless dark and scary paintings that I really wouldn't ever buy and hang in my own home!!! and at last I have painted one that is just a little bit odd and not scary. It is not quite finished and I still could ruin it but I am overjoyed to have made a bit of a brake through.

Joey the Clown and the Crow Puppet

I have perfected the woolly comb-over.

A Possible Toby

Developing some Punch and Judy actors which are heading in strange directions. So here for Good Friday is a Richard Dawkinsy Toby the Dog!

Mr Punch Doodle

I am getting ready to start a new series of embroideries.

Still too cold to cut wood!!!!

I don't want to risk losing fingers so I am still not able to cut wood and make automata. I'm waiting and waiting for the spring weather to arrive but staying inside I may be in danger of losing my marbles!!

A dead mouse and

a girl with Catsos in her hair. 

Continuing the photos at odd angles here is the muse for my painting. This painting was hung very high in a gallery in the Corcoran in DC.

Painting! I've been putting this off for a long while!

It is still far too cold to cut wood in the garage so I have decided to try and relearn to paint. The start of a long road but one that I hope can only improve my automata. I've started with a couple of quick little paintings on wood. First was Napoleon the Chimp and then a far too nervously painted Duke of Wellington. Anyway I have made a start at last.

The Blackbird

Here is the finished blackbird which ended up as a marionette and not a rod puppet as in my mock up. An almost successful prototype.

Animation Puppets

I've been playing with animation software and have started to make some characters as test puppets to see how they look when animated. I have an idea for a film so I am going to try and teach myself the skills to make it.

I made these characters by painting onto very thin plywood so even if I never get a film made this could be a way to put paintings together. Maybe I will have to learn marquetry too.

Being a British Artist in the USA

I am featured in this months Global Living Magazine.

 Claire Bolden McGill, a multi talented lady that has been writing a blog about her observations and experiences as a British woman moving to America came to interview me just before Christmas. If you want to read the article please follow this link and go to Claire's blog. ukdesperatehousewifeusa.com
I have only uploaded a picture of the article below.

In the article I got the chance to explain how my own move to the States has shaped my work and what an immense privilege it has been to have the chance to live for some time in another culture.

Happy New Year Puppet

It is very cold in my workshop so I have been keeping warm indoors whilst mocking up puppets. I can't wait to make him in wood though!