Something in a book I was reading brought this painting to mind. In The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss, half remembered now, a comment about a wise man knowing the importance of the space between the hare and the fox. It is a simple image but holds a great deal in its small space for anyone who cares to spend time thinking about the nature of love.
Two days of headache and by the second I was up and working very slowly. I prepared prints for posting to The True North Gallery in USA but achieved little else. I did put some new pieces in The House of Golden Dreams Print Room also and hope to add more new works soon, and made a new badge for my cafepress site..
I have been around and around in circles with the cover for East of the Sun and West of the Moon and come all the way back to the beginning.
This evening I worked away, listening to Jim Moray while Robin cooked supper and then more after supper. Evening working for the first time in ages and I am so glad to be back in the peace of my own studio.
And Elmo is glad I am back too. He darts in through the thinnest sliver of an open door to sit somewhere close by and keep an eye on me to make sure that I am working well and properly. Beside me he murmurs a quiet cat song and I try and remember to somehow protect my work when I leave the room, for I know that if I don’t he will jump up and try and paint it properly!
On the run up to the cover art, between the bee and the cat for Kij Johnson’s ‘At the Mouth of the River of Bees’ for Small Beer Press in the US, I also worked on The Cherry Thieves. This was for my facebook page.
Today I hear that my lovely daughter, Hannah, has been offered a place at Kingston to do a foundation year in art. ( You can see her work here). I had to open the letter for her and tell her over the phone what it contained. So much harder when it is for your child. Very proud of her.
I worked on art for a cover for Kij Johnson, and have sent images for approval, then, having worked so hard on things for others I decided I needed to relax and push paint for myself. I have too much to do at the moment to be working on things unrelated to commissions. There are people waiting for paintings, publishers with deadlines, promising secret projects with dragons and gold, a cover to do. But sometimes it is time to step sideways.
This morning Elmo walked with me. Ginger on the green grass.
Later:
Somehow the day got away from me. It began with the end of a book. The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss. Part of me wants to say don’t read it. Not yet. Not until the third in the series is written. Then you will be spared the awful ache of loss that comes with knowing that you have finished reading it and left Kvothe for a long time while Patrick Rothfuss writes part 3. You will be spared the waiting, the wondering, and will be able to read all three books in one go.
I found The Name of the Wind in one of our local bookshops and bought it for Tom because it was very thick and he reads fast. He loved it. Hannah read it and it became her favorite book. I was entangled in the work of Robin Hobb so picked it up much later and found that it was the first book that had really wrapped me up in the way that the Hobb books do.
There is something about the way Rothfuss writes that is powerful. He is by turns cheeky, lyrical, terrifying, clever, outrageous, beautiful, sensual. As a debut novel The Name of the Wind is hard to beat. Kvothe speaks for himself when he says:
“I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during the day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that made minstrels weep.
My name is Kvothe. You may have heard of me.”
The day continued with work, painting, taking stuff to post for the accountant ( which is a little like walking paths that people fear to talk of during the daylight hours ) walking dogs, thinking, drawing out ideas and bears for book covers as I have two to do this week.
I cannot say how good it is to be back home in my own studio space, to be able to walk out the door and not see anyone, talk to anyone. Bliss.
Tonight I will miss The Wise Man’s Fear. But I am fortunate enough to have a house filled with books. So tonight I will travel somewhere else.
Yesterday I listened to Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury on the radio. I read this in my teens. It opened new doors in my brain. From listening yesterday I gleaned a quote about books-” How they stitch the patches of the universe together in one garment.” That is just what books do.
So much to blog about having been away in London for a couple of days, but not enough time. I need to paint, so for now, a morning, and later, an evening photo of my desk. Let’s hope that I make some progress!
Walking. The cloud has come down to kiss the land. For a while I sat and looked and thought and listened. Each sound came into focus as others faded to the background. The sea was distant rolling thunder, every seventh wave sharper, louder. The small bell-voiced birds were the structure all else was built around. I could hear the air move through unseen wings and the sound was white. Crow call, raven call, a flock of starlings. Dog bark, a shout, the sound of an engine and cows. Sheep bleat. And all the while breathing the cloud filled air.
Over the days of rain I wondered how so much weight of water could be held in the air. But this was light, like damp silk.
I had not realised how much working away from home would cost, in energy and in time. It took 3 days to put the show up, and 3 days to take it down. One week later my house is still in a state of chaos and I have only just started drawing again, having cleared a small space in my studio.
Walking with Elmo helped a little.
My desk is almost tidy, but Hannah is right, I do tend just to move piles of things about. The weasels are very happy to be home and so am I, but am still unsettled and shifting.
I had been trying to draw this since last Saturday when I woke up with the image in mind. On the way to the beach, very near home, two foxes stood in the road. At night when I walk with the dogs in the growing moonlight the foxes are singing love songs to each other.
1. School Library Journal, USA. The Cat And The Fiddle: A Treasury Of Nursery Rhymes
MORRIS, Jackie. The Cat And The Fiddle: A Treasury Of Nursery Rhymes. Frances Lincoln. ISBN 9781845079871. PreS-Gr 1.
This slim collection contains 40 beloved nursery rhymes. Many of them, such as “Baa Baa Black Sheep,” “Hey Diddle, Diddle,” and “Hickory, Dickory, Dock,” might be familiar to young children, allowing them to memorize the language and cadence. More obscure verses include “Pudding String,” “Daffy-Down Dilly,” and “Cupboard Cat,” and will give youngsters a new literary experience. Vivid watercolor paintings help put old and new favorites into a stunning context. Children will get lost in the illustrations, which are truly the centerpiece of the book, adding whimsy, imagination, mystery, and occasional humor to the selections. Although there is no discernible order to the book, a table of contents makes searching for rhymes easy. While there is a plethora of nursery-rhyme books on the market, this one has a calm and serious tone, offering an alternative to works such as A Child’s Treasury of Nursery Rhymes (Kingfisher, 1998), which has more rhymes, but less-sophisticated illustrations. A sparkling addition to any poetry collection.—Rita Meade, Brooklyn Public Library, NY
2. Amazon
This book is really nice as a special gift or as a keepsake. The pictures are very vivid and seem to be aimed at older children rather than the typical nursery rhyme book with cartoon-ish type pictures.
