Tuesday 22nd April 5.00pm This is Drumacoo Abbey, about a mile from my house. To get there you walk along a country road, past the glowering ruins of Tyrone House, the road twisting and turning like a river, with grassy fields on either side, each a cascade of dandelions and daisies. The colours are bright,…
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Monday 20th April 8.00am I’m up earlier than everyone in my house. I am an early bird. My husband Marcel reckons when I say this I am paying myself a big compliment. But I love early morning these days (not that 8.00am is early). Birds are in full throat and I have the house to…
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Sunday 19th April 5.00pm I do a live talk with Urban Sketchers on Instagram Live. Rob Sketcherman is a charming and loquacious host. We talk about what it’s like trying to keep inspired to sketch when you’re stuck at home…I tell Rob about finding the beauty in the everyday. I tell him that it’s been…
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Saturday 18th April 5.00pm The apple trees outside are heavy with blossom. I know how fleeting it is, so I head out with Reuben the terrier to sketch. We have about 15 apple trees and their main accomplishment is twofold: 1. to feed the huge rooks that are a nuisance around here, and 2. to…
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Friday 17th April 4.00pm (BST) midnight (HKT), 8.00am (PDT) It’s late afternoon for me, midnight in Hong Kong and eight in the morning in Seattle. I am to do a sound check with Rob Sketcherman (Hong Kong), Rita Sabler (Seattle) and others to make sure all is good for our Urban Sketchers Live talk tomorrow.…
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Thursday 16th April 8.00am I am always downstairs first in the morning. It’s just me and a quiet house, and my own privately indulgent “good morning” to the fluffy terrier Reuben. He is a nomad and sleeps anywhere, and is usually upside down on the sofa in the morning with four paws in the air.…
DetailsWednesday 15th April 9.30am A scene from two angles: I am asked to send a photo of myself to the Urban Sketchers organisation to illustrate a live talk I will be doing on Sunday. Rita Sabler is the Education Director, and she wants something that is representative of where I am often to be found…
DetailsTuesday 14th April 1.00pm I walk around the block: door to door, it’s a couple of miles and definitely more than two kilometres from my home, but not as the crow flies, which is how I justify it. The walk is heaven from start to finish. The first bit is open fields full of skittish,…
DetailsEaster Monday, 13th April 11.00am I feel obliged to paint the amaryllis blossom that has made its dramatic reappearance. That’s not the same as feeling compelled to paint it, and I have told myself for years to know and respect the difference. You feel obliged to paint the Eiffel Tower, but you feel compelled to…
DetailsEaster Sunday, 12th April 9.00am Hot cross buns out of the oven. It’s the recipe I found on Twitter and I made them last night. Heat 300ml milk, stir in 75g caster sugar, and when the milk and sugar are hand-hot add 7g dried yeast and stir to dissolve. Mix 500g strong white flour with…
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