Out with the old, in with the new!

This is the last picture of my old studio...we had to take the door off its hinges to get our plan chest out!

And this is the first picture of my new studio... I've emptied a few more boxes since this was taken and am starting to settle in gradually....

Goodbye studio!

I can't quite believe it but this is my 100th post! It's a slightly sad one.....I am in the process of packing up my studio. The building we are based in is going to be knocked down and replaced with a travelodge. We've been really lucky with this building - when we moved in 2 years ago it looked like it would only last 6 months. Last year we got to move into a perfect room with lots more light and space than the room/cupboard we started in! As you can see I haven't managed to take everything down from the wall yet....... and in my usual style I've wasted time that should have been spent packing adding yet more decoration! Me and my studio buddies (see the post below) are due to move into a different building in a couple of weeks if everything goes to plan. Fingers crossed!

Latest news.....I've just said goodbye to my trusty calculator which I've had since the 1980s. It saw me through 'A' level Maths, my (brief ) spell of accountancy and beyond! Well over twenty years. Sadly, it's not working properly anymore but I wanted a picture for posterity!

Show and Tell: The Picturebook Makers

The artwork for Bertie form Not Me! is currently on display at the Ruskin Gallery in Cambridge as part of an exhibition celebrating the first ten years of the MA in Children's Book Illustration at Cambridge School of Art. Some of the work is by past students like myself, some is by tutors and visiting lecturers from the course and some is by established picturebook artists such as Axel Scheffler, Alexis Deacon and Oliver Jeffers.

The private view was last night- I took some phone pics of some willing models pretending to be interested! They are illustrators Lisa Wilkens and Marion Lindsay (my studio buddies) and Jim Butler who teaches on the BA Illustration course at Cambridge School of Art.

Waterstones Event

I will be doing an event at Waterstones in Cambridge from 11.30am to 1pm on Saturday 7th May along with the lovely Ellie Sandall (Birdsong). There will be readings and activities so for more details and to reserve a space please go to the Waterstones website here.

A young reader

These adorable pictures were given to me today by Bobby who works as a librarian and storyteller in Cambridge. She tells me that this young fellow (her grandson) is a big fan of Not Me! Thank you so much for the pictures - he is so cute and also has superb taste in picture books!

Wordfest Creations

A big thank you to everyone involved in organising and participating in my session at the Arbury Community Centre. It was part of Wordfest, a weekend of events in Cambridge. A special thank you goes to the children who brought their work up at the end and let me photograph it. I was really impressed with how inventive everyone was - they created brilliant characters and thought of great story ideas too!

Cambridge Wordfest preparations.....

I am busy preparing a lucky dip for my Cambridge Wordfest event this Friday. There are three envelopes: one contains how your character is feeling; two contains what your character is wearing; three contains what your character looks like. I hope it works......I will update you after the event!