So here we are again back in the 70s with panic at the pumps, and everyone blaming everyone for the mess we find ourselves in. This pump used to be in Uley, a small village just outside Stroud in Gloucestershire, lovely spot for a quiet drive. This photo taken some years ago, so not sure if this filling station has been re-developed. How driving has changed from those days when one pootled to and fro and lorry drivers had a mate. Yes, a lorry driver’s mate was a job description. I always wanted to be a lorry driver and fulfilled … Continue reading Pump action

My good friend Andy Harden wrote a charming tale last year for a children’s book. He had the great good sense to ask me if I could do some drawings for it and lockdown was a perfect opportunity to get involved. The book is out now and all the proceeds from the sale will go to Kingsway Primary School in Gloucester where Andy works as a teaching assistant. It’s been a joy to work on, and unusually I did the drawings for this project in colour. You can see them all on my website and you can also buy the … Continue reading Buy a mouse, support a school.

I’ve collaborated with Andy Harden to produce a children’s book. It’s now available for sale on my regular website Andy and I have funded the print for the book and all the proceeds will go to Kingsway Primary School where Andy works as a teaching assistant. I hope you’ll support this great cause. It was certainly a fun project to work on. Continue reading Henry Mouse. A Christmas Tale.

Yes, you read that right: I am a turtle. This is my latest attempt to try and learn Dutch on one of these on line language apps. Why learn Dutch, well it’s as near as I can get to my daughter in law’s language which is Flemish. When I am fluent they will be able to tell that I am not from their parts and probably hail from Amsterdam instead of Brussels.This is my second try at this but I am making better progress this time as I am getting into the right frame of mind of the lunatic who … Continue reading “Ik ben en schildpad”

Continue reading Shed on a September Evening…

It’s that time of year, harvest time on the allotment. I’m no expert gardener and usually forget what sort of spuds I put in months back. But I do remember that this version is called Kestrel. It was recommended to me by one of my fellow plotters last year. I dug up this beast just today. That is 2lbs and almost 11 ounces. What’s my secret? I don’t have one. I just got lucky. I am not one of those gardeners that grows leeks as big as trees and cabbages as big as basketballs. This chap had several only slightly … Continue reading Spud I like.

People who might have ideas will understand this. When I worked at the print company if you sat back and sucked your pencil thinking, it was seen as non productive time.They were manufacturing so perhaps it was, but time spent sucking the pencil in the creative world may well be considered working quite hard. I’ve been sucking the pencil for a while about what to do with a load of landscape drawings. After a recent foray into colour for a children’s book where I applied colour to the drawings with pastel, a medium I used to use just a little … Continue reading The time you spend looking into the middle distance.

I’m a natural for mending cars ( not ) but then these days, no one opening the bonnet of a car will recognise anything. This is a drawing from some years ago when I celebrated the work of 1930s cartoonist Pont who celebrated the way the British behaved. Please note the arriving cup of tea from a support worker. Unusually there are no oily kids around here, they’ve probably run off with an oily part that is vital. Continue reading Natural Engineering Expertise

I took this picture in 2003, so this shop has been gone for a long time. It was on Southgate Street in Gloucester ( there was a recent move to rename the street Gareth Southgate Street after our England football manager ) Sadly although they claim that it was what the street wanted, this did not seem to be the case, possibly because not many people in Gloucester were familiar with what they actually sold. Also taken some time ago this image of a youngish lad who was skateboarding through Cheltenham way back in 2007 so he’s probably in his … Continue reading Red shop, cool skater.

Just outside Painswick in Gloucestershire, Paradise is a few scattered houses, a former pub, and a simply glorious valley. Just the place to go on sunny summer evening, with my good friend Robin and a bottle of beer each. I’ll let the pictures do the talking. In a moment of weakness I mentioned a way of describing art in an unintelligible way and it’s known as “art bollocks”. Robin has adopted this with enthusiasm and is now adept at the language. He did use the words “dimensional clutter“ in this short video. Hopefully this was the beer talking. Continue reading Late walkers in Paradise and dimensional clutter.

You know what it is. The deep bit of dashboard in front of the steering wheel awash with old bills, probably unpaid, empty fag packets ( that’s cigarette packs to anyone outside the UK ) , old takeaway wrapping and detritus. In some cases the vehicle is relatively new and the purchase date can be probably ascertained by digging deep and finding the invoice for it deep in the dashboard. Poor chap never has the time to clean it out as he’s off to the next job, not yours, to try and make headway on it before he finishes at … Continue reading Builder’s Dashboard.