Miss Freud

One of the joys of my last job, which was as a print rep for a local company, was the people I had the pleasure to meet. Almost all of them were pleasant to deal with and at times it was fun. Not all the time, but then even my previous career as a cartoonist for 30 years, was not always a bundle of laughs. I love people watching as might be obvious from some of my drawings. The only attraction of an Airport is the other people on the edge of panic. I came to study many people as … Continue reading Miss Freud

This one’s for charity

My dear old Dad never allowed me to buy or ride a motorbike, for good reason, he’d seen too many people injured by them. Generally,  these were younger men lured by the thrill of speed. I was very tempted and the closest I ever got to one was a Honda 50 scooter in the last year of my college days. One of my good friends also had a scooter and the sight of her backside going over the crossbars at a set of traffic light in Central Manchester is something I can still picture now. We were racing and she’d forgotten that … Continue reading This one’s for charity

What’s happening to the French?

Just been there and before I go on about them let me say that there’s something I like a lot about the French. In fact, there are many things that I like about the French. They tend never to apologize, we are always saying sorry. They tend to think that the response to something going wrong is, of course, your fault. It may well be, but in France, it is always the case. Even when it’s not. Another thing I like about the French is the food and their attitude to it, but here something is going terribly wrong. The … Continue reading What’s happening to the French?

British Railway Station kiosk reader, is this accurate today?Perhaps not.

Another in my series of black and white drawings about the British and reviewing this today, it seems perhaps that it may be a bit dated. Artists sometimes talk about their work in terms of how they have been inspired by others, and what they were trying to do. Well this is supposed to be about those people who’s job is to sell  newspapers and magazines, none of which are normally of great literary merit. I imagined that perhaps there exists somewhere a newspaper seller that spends his or her ‘downtime’ reading the classics whilst surrounded by all the other … Continue reading British Railway Station kiosk reader, is this accurate today?Perhaps not.

Every utensil in the kitchen

Here’s another of my drawings that will be in my exhibition in August at the Gardens Gallery. It’s not all about washing up or cooking but more about a state of mind if I’m going to be a bit pretentious about it. I’m keen on cooking and a little less keen on washing up, but when in the heat of the cooking area I’m prone to use anything that comes to hand in my search for culinary excellence. I’ve assumed that this is a British trait, but I bet that it is common in many places. I’m looking forward to … Continue reading Every utensil in the kitchen

“Anyone wanting to be Prime Minister should be automatically discounted”

The joys of walking are many and various, walking with a chum is recommended, though walking alone can sometimes have it’s moments too. Today I set out early with my chum Robin. We were expecting hot weather so the early start was a must, and it was perfect. A walk in Paradise, as it really is called, just outside Painswick. Cotswold landscape at its very best. There used to be a bus stop there but it seems to have been dispensed with. Take a look here for a previous visit:  Jesus drives a Porsche in Paradise. Walking and talking we … Continue reading “Anyone wanting to be Prime Minister should be automatically discounted”

The carrot barrier, how’s that sweet pea?

There I was explaining to my brother, he who is a little older and wiser than I, that I’d devised this ‘foolproof’ method to keep the dreaded carrot fly off my crop on my plot. I’d built a carrot wall. Not made of carrots but of little planks of wood, so that the carrots cannot get at my crop. A mini raised bed where the carrots can thrive in peace and would, therefore,  crop beautifully and without a blemish. There was a brief silence from him then ” they might get over the wall by flying, they are after all … Continue reading The carrot barrier, how’s that sweet pea?

Those vital first minutes after an accident…

I don’t normally post stuff about charities but this one is an exception. My friend’s son Ollie had a serious accident whilst out in the middle of nowhere on his motorbike. Without the early intervention of the air ambulance service and their paramedics he would not be around today. This service depends entirely on fund raising and Margaret:Ollie’s mum, is making a massive effort to get them funds to carry on this vital work. To this end she is organising a concert at Gloucester Cathedral where she works, so not only do you get the chance to feel good about … Continue reading Those vital first minutes after an accident…

Barbeques and garden machinery, the Germans have it right.

I’m forever being told that I should like barbeques, and I don’t. I certainly don’t much care for ‘having a go’ at doing one myself. This from bitter experience of lighting said fire and then waiting for hours before it got to the right temperature to grill a sausage. Said fire was still glowing at 2.00 in the morning with enough heat to cook a large beast. To say it was a fire risk is only a small understatement. And it’s the sun that brings them out. Any nearly warm sunny day brings out the charcoal and the flames, or … Continue reading Barbeques and garden machinery, the Germans have it right.

How much!!!!!!!!!??????

I’m in the middle of getting together my exhibition stuff for August, and here’s one of the final pieces. If a cartoon can be called a “piece”. There I go again devaluing what I do. In the good old days when I was working for ad agencies and design companies these sorts of drawings were commissioned and the fee was based on the use it was put to. If it was a visual then you’d be lucky to get £60-00 for it, if it was used for editorial in a magazine then it could be less than that. On the … Continue reading How much!!!!!!!!!??????

I’m not going to tell you where this is…

…apart from the fact that it’s not that far away from where we live. I don’t want all of you crowding in there getting in the way of the scenery. It’s like all those holiday magazines with the headlines “Undiscovered Thailand” which is not now going to remain undiscovered for much longer as everyone now knows, thanks to the magazine. Stunning photograph by my friend Sally Ware, as is the following which she also took. She’s taken lots of photos of these wonderful leaves and this is just a sample of one of them. Both photographs copyright Sally Ware Continue reading I’m not going to tell you where this is…