Pomeranian and Venetian.
Screen gem…
I've done some screen prints of a Samuel Beckett quotation from Worstward Ho. They sure are inky and emerald green. Thanks to the lightning fast squeegee of Chris Ratcliffe and Garudio Studiage.
Pigeon, but fancier…
Without any prompting or encouragement, someone has re-covered the Patrick Süskind Penguin paperback with a much more modern treatment, and sent it to me in the post. Using my photo of a pigeon on top of the Empire State Building has really given that tired old Jan Tschichold grid some pep. Thanks. I can't wait to see what you have in mind for Ionescu's Rhinoceros .
They have lots of pigeons in Paris too I suppose.
The Writer's Block Alphabet 2…
I have revamped an old postcard which was originally done in black ink and offset printed. The new version is in two colours and screen printed on nice paper. I've also done some dotty risographs in a few colours.
The drawings were done at 300pc the original size and printed at different scales too.
I still like the black and white version. It's just different.
The Writer's Block Alphabet in colour and on the big screen.
Upcycling for summer…
My favourite boots gave up the ghost all of a sudden, so I have upcycled them with house paint and will now be able to wear them to weddings or summer parties where everyone wears white clothes. It took a lot of paint, the elastic sides are very absorbent and I have size 10 feet. But I will get another day out of them.
Dublin, the largest city in Europe…
Going to Ireland and having anything to do with the CBI is always a breeze. The Dublin conference had a great atmosphere and I got to meet some fantastic authors, plus see some people I met at the Mountains to Sea Festival a while back. I also got to taste some blue cake in the shape of a book.
Jenny, Aoife and Elaina know how to put on a show and I want to thank them for making it so much fun. INIS magazine looks beautiful as usual.
I can't get the wristband off. Do I need a combination or something?
This just in from New York City…
I went to visit McNally Jackson Books, in Prince Street. Yvonne Brooks made the morning lots of fun and we read Standing In for Lincoln Green and drew some pictures with the kids and their parents. Yvonne's book store has a great trick of rolling the bookshelves aside to allow for some chairs and a place to present a book. Then, magically it all returns back to normal. Yvonne was under the impression that I might have a fancy accent like Hugh Grant or David Niven or someone, but I noted she held her composure when I started speaking.
I also got the chance to visit Book Court bookstore in Brooklyn and Lauren made it a great morning, reading the book and doing some drawing and colouring with the kids. I enjoyed the drawing but really enjoyed listening to the Brooklyn accents. Lauren's restaurant recommendations are top class, too. She should write a book or something.
I also met Susan Van Metre, the brilliant Abrams publisher who came along to one of the readings. Abrams have been a perfect publisher so it was a bonus to meet at last. Thanks Susan!
Before I came back to London, I went to the top of the Empire State Building, and a psychic in Dumbo asked me how long I'd been in the city.
Photo by Sasha Middleton, Ramones Fan Club Member #045668.
This pigeon charged me $5 for 2 prints.
Thank you Hrrxuglrr Muwhirxxkq…
I was sent this drawing of Marshall Armstrong by someone whose handwriting is a bit illegible. Whoever you are, thank you.
Drawing of Marshall Armstrong by Name Unclear.
What does he know anyway…
John Ruskin's quote about colour is a bit heavy. I found it on the back of a printer's letterhead.
Well spotted.
First impressions…
I found this book that I had as a child in a second hand store. When I first had it I was only really attracted to Mollie Quick's illustrations, the story didn't do much for me I remember. In retrospect, I was right. But now I think it was the litho printing of the illustrations that really appealed to me, with colours you can't get in four colour offset printing. Grahame Greene wrote a children's book (with beautiful pictures by Dorothie Craigie, and then Edward Ardizzone) about a little steamroller, but it was published after this one by Patti Saxton.
It's hard to get a lot of emotional sensitivity into a picture of a ten tonne steamroller, but the rosy cheeks and smile is a start, I guess.
I was very pleased to see that something produced at the end of the 1940s had remained in such good nick: uncoated paper, and the jacket isn't even laminated. Then, as I was putting it into the car I tore the jacket straight down the middle.
