Here’s one of my drawings that did not make the ‘cut’ for my exhibition that opens tomorrow at the Gardens Gallery. It will be there but not in a frame on the wall as it is one a few that’s not finished. I’ll be taking it along to see if I can rescue it. There’s much renovation needed to the work.

It’s one of the drawings in the ‘Pont’ series about the British Character. His original was entitled ” A liking for wooden beams” and looked nothing like this one, it was better for a start! That aside it is quite close to my heart this week having just moved house, fortunately not to somewhere quite as run down as this, though in our search for somewhere new to live we’ve seen stuff that is mind bogglingly run-down. The estate agents still seem able to find adjectives that make them sound acceptable. ” In need of some updating” should read “In need of a large bulldozer” in some cases.

I’ll be working on this drawing to see if I can renovate during my stay at the gallery. Why not pop in sometime? I’ll be there till the 22nd, so a week to get it right, or start again.

Why the bear?

Someone was rather taken by my drawing of the loft here in the poster, and never mentioned the bear. How did it get there and is it real? Well, bears do not thrive in loft spaces so it’s not recommended. This is a wooden bear and probably arrived there in my subconscious when I did the rough idea for this. My Uncle Edward and Auntie Anne had a bear like this, beautifully crafted in a dark wood, must have weighed a ton, as we say. It lived at the foot of their stairs in Warrington where my dear Uncle was a proper doctor. Some of my cousins from those days emigrated to Canada, and I believe the bear is out there somewhere now, with them. Canada: best place for a bear to feel at home, much better than a loft or my subconscious.