I watched a baseball game between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. I was impressed by the speed of the pitches. Unbelievably fast. No wonder there are few hits by the bat. I was also impressed by the volume of the music and the frequency of the sideshow entertainment. One memorable event was a footrace between Winston Churchill, The Loch Ness Monster, Freddie Mercury and Henry VIII. Freddie lost by the skin of his teeth.
Hatchards Piccadilly has a nice window with Penguin English Library’s Mrs Dalloway juxtaposed (next to) a fine photo of the author. Virginia Woolf has some nice author pics. As I looked into the window a fire engine screamed past with sirens wailing, a modern reality like the planes on the book cover that caught Mrs Dalloway’s attention. Heavy, right?
Art direction: Coralie Bickford-Smith
The antithesis of Athens (last week).
Wet, with the chance of District Line closure.
Thank you to everyone at the British Council in Athens and London and the Public Bookstore on Syntagma Square for making the events a success last week. Curses to metro strikes, but three cheers to everyone who still made it to the talk in the afternoon. The students from the St Catherine’s British School were tremendous listeners and drawers too, and made the workshop a breeze.
The Public National Book Awards were very glamorous and entertaining. Antony Horowitz’s Greek is very good (though I’m no expert) and he had the crowd behind him from the first ‘kalispera’. He is a great representative for the UK as guest country for this year’s awards. I really like his new range of book covers too.
The British Council’s Drawing Words exhibition looked terrific in the foyer of the Megaron (Athens Concert Hall) and is also in Public bookstore.
Big thank yous to Rachel, Anastasia, Maria, Katerina (British Council) and Viky (Public.gr).
In marble halls (the Megaron, Athens).
Standing room only.
Big thanks all these people too.
I will be speaking about my books at the British Council’s Drawing Words Exhibition when it’s in Athens, Greece. The exhibition is touring around all over the place. The exhibition features a selection of British illustrators, curated by Children’s Laureate Lauren Child. I’ll be speaking with school children and art students and they’ll be asking me questions, and no doubt I’ll have questions for them too. It’s on show at the Athens Concert Hall so if you’re in the area, drop by and see it.
When it came to clearing out the studio last week, I couldn’t part with all my dummies. But I did throw out (recycle) about one hundred of them. They’re invaluable, but heavy. I draw in them and draw out of them – tear out pages and draw on them. The blank pages make me think of the space between the printed letters and ink. They are also good for mime artists.
The US Edition of Waiting for Chicken Smith is out today May 14th, published by Candlewick Press. This one has french fries in it.
Same but different.
The Australian mint recently spelled ‘responsibility’ irresponsibly on their new $50 bill. There was quite a negative response to this. They should embrace their error and own their proofreading mistake. Look out for correctly spelled bills by counterfitters.
Take note of the fine print.
Location: Hammersmith. A delicate balance of unrecyclable jumbo paper cups and king size filter tip on a real slow burn. I suspect two coffee (or tea) drinkers and at least one light smoker. Maybe a first time smoker who has a bad memory or was distracted by something. Both drinkers makeup free. Most likely has had some art school training or works in a shop where they are responsible for window displays or folding things. Maybe someone who has worked as a Japanese zen rock gardener.
Caution: contents may be hot.