Colour pallet

Whenever I've completed a painting, I always find the paint markings I've tested in the corner of the paper sometimes more interesting than the painting itself. A mini abstract of the original. Once I've completed my next book, I intend to put all the little tests pieces together, they tell a story of their own. They are the underlying thoughts behind the finished illustration.

Scary Walking Trees

My husband and I have just moved into a new house in beautiful Bath. It really is lovely. But being in a new home takes some getting used to. At night, as it gets closer to bed time, my imagination begins playing tricks on me. Each creak is something frightening, every shadow is something terrible. Outside, the trees come alive (no part of my brain will let me believe that it's just the wind), walking closer to the house, they're out to get me! 

Of course, in the morning, when there's little birds sitting on the branches singing away, I shake my head. What a silly billy I can be, I love trees, they're beautiful. But as night falls, it all happens again...

Walking Trees, from "The Not-So-Haunted House"