Many years ago I picked up this invitation to a show of carved wooden Bird Sculptures by Guy Taplin from a Salisbury gallery, Courcoux & Courcoux. It has been pinned up in my studio next to where I paint my jugbirds ever since. The simple shape and bold colours have been an inspiration. I've always been impressed by the fact that public and private galleries…
One of the things I really wanted to do during my brief holiday in England was to get to the Tower of London to see this year's installation of poppies there. They will commemorate one hundred years since the beginning of the First World War, with the last poppy being placed with over 888,000 others on November 11th 2014, Armistice Day. Each poppy represents a fallen…
On my recent flight to England my hand luggage was ten jugbirds. I had checked the size and weight allowed - 22lbs, and bought a cardboard box just under that size. Each was wrapped in newsprint and then small bubble-wrap. I made a handle out of duct tape with rope inside so it was easy to carry, and astonishingly the box weighed 14lbs! It fitted…
I have just returned from a lovely nine-day holiday in England. Of course I used the delivery of jugbirds to Primavera Gallery as the excuse for another trip across the pond, but I also wanted to spend time with some of my extended family over there. Luckily for me my brother Bill and his wife Lottie live in St. Neots, a short bus ride from…
During conversations with Joan and Reg Beck I asked about their careers and travels. It turns out that long before they became teachers in Williams Lake they had taken a long journey around much of the world. At one point Joan (who had already taken some pottery classes with Vancouver's Ross Huyghe, no less) and a friend found themselves in Mashiko, Japan and asked where…