Oh Hell!

(A scan of my drawing book, I like that you can see the blue pencil and show through from other pages.)

I am behind on things due to the flooding in this area. It hit Agbrigg pretty hard, we had six foot of water in our cellar and no electricity for a week and we were the lucky ones. Helen and I spent a few days clearing out our stuff after the fire brigade had pumped the cellar out. The water was contaminated with sewage so everything had to go. I always thought I travelled light, but it was very neat stacking that hid the vast amount of stuff down under the house.

I had been doing Drawing workshops during the day in Rotheram on Monday the 25th June and was cut off from West Yorkshire. Someone very kindly took me home with them to the Peak District out of harms way as things were starting to look serious with Ully Resevoir threatening to burst.

I got a text from Helen early Tuesday morning, asking to phone her when it was convenient. She briefly told me that the Coal Yard was flooded and that she had been up all night with the neighbours watching the waters rise. Here are a few photographs she took in the night and the morning after.

To get out of Agbrigg she had to get a boat up Doncatser Road.

The lone swan that lives on the beck at the bottom of the Coal Yard took a swim up to the front door and then around the garden, that is something I would like to have seen, but of course I was still trapped in South Yorkshire. There were still no trains or buses so Helen and her Dad came to rescue me in a car, which took all day to do.

I have documented all this, and more in my sketch book, but it will be awhile before I can colour it up and get it on the website. The local Church at the end of Agbrigg Road, St. Catherines, were brilliant. They gave people hot food and drinks and a place to get away from smelly wet houses for a bit. As I said earlier we are pretty much back to normal, but there are people down the road who are going to be living with this for months to come.

I didn't loose much of personal value, except that is, a bunch of graphic novels, that were lovingly wrapped in plastic, but obviously not wrapped well enough. They are now just so much pulp.




The complete collection of Tintin books hurt the most to lose.

It's Been a BUSY Week....

The start of last week I finished these concept sketches for Thingumajig Theatre for a show they are devising for the Imperial War Museum North. Monday and Wednesday I was working with Faceless, rehearsing drawing live as part of a street theatre show called 'Conference of the Birds'. Thursday, I did a drawing workshop as part of the Kate Greenaway Medal announcement, at Dewsbury Library, with a lovely bunch of children who looked after me as I passed on the little tricks of my trade. The days in between were spent doing paper work, arranging my diary and updating my website. Sometimes, being freelance is great.

I Have Been Away....

Spent most of last week in Devon with Helen and Friends, staying up too late and drinking red wine, have just about recovered, and have just about finished unpacking. Not because I had a lot to unpack but because I lacked the will power.

Here are some photos and there are a few diary pages back at my lovely redesigned website which I have been busy with the past few days.

Most of the time was spent playing on the beaches, something I have not done for decades. I found the wonder of arranging pebbles.

The weather was great, another reason for me not being on a beach.

I built myself a little village to rule over and created tiny occupants to worship my mighty hands.