The Mary Poppins Effect
3
Category Archives: Life
First days back in an office
Day 2: Being back in the office after nearly four years of working from home is more draining than I’d expected. I’m wading my way through reams of induction paperwork on policies and practices, strategies and work plans and am still reeling from the newly acquired business support co-ordinator who is ever so efficiently managing my calendar. I’m not used to having my life arranged for me – it’s novel if a little daunting – and I’m not quite sure I’m ready to give up my independence. I also appear to have stepped onto the acronym mothership and am bewildered by the ever growing list: ELMA, BA, TOM, BIS, ERDMS, SDS, ASC, CHAT, CMD, PMT, LOL, BTW, WTF?!
Assimilation into a clique (should one exist, no doubt it does) will probably take time but the office gossip has kept me entertained if a little distracted. I had forgotten quite how noisy 50 people coming and going can be – there is so much eavesdropping to be done.
If you like it, share it!
What ever happened to that idea?!
I was reviewing some of my older blog posts and came across an enthusiastic entry where I’d waffled on about ‘potentially’ illustrating a children’s book that my friend was ‘potentially’ going to write. Oh how naive I was to think it might ever make it past the ‘what an excellent idea, let’s do it’ discussion. The furthest we got was this drawing – the premise was a child who watched too much television.
If you like it, share it!
A poet I am not!
My mum recently unearthed a couple of my old poems. I assume from the handwriting I was still at primary school when these two little gems were penned. Luckily I had other talents… but it’s great to see I was conscientious about the environment from an early age. Thanks for the chuckle mum.
If you like it, share it!
The Long Goodbye
Image
If you like it, share it!
Artist’s block and little rewards
It’s hard work keeping a blog. Sometimes I wonder what it’s all for. Is it for me or is it for them (the inhabitants of the blogosphere)? If it’s for me, then do I really need a blog? I could carry on doodling in my sketchbooks and half-heartedly patting myself on the back if the drawing is passable.
I suffer from chronic self-deprecation which is probably why I never made it on the creative front – I was never confident enough in my own ability and knowing how many extremely talented people there are out there, I found it difficult to find my own little patch. But on further reflection, I enjoy drawing and there’s a little part of me that hopes my cartoons bring a teeny tiny smile to someone’s day. Talent shared (average or not) is happiness gained…I think. Ooh did I just give myself a compliment?
It wasn’t until this week that I was given a little ego boost when I discovered that people do actually enjoy my work. When someone other than your family and friends says “I like your cartoons”, it makes it all worth it! And so I must extend my gratitude to the blogger, Michelle who writes for her own blog, the Green Study. She kindly nominated me for a Beautiful Blog Award – Thank you! I must now bestow this kindness on someone else, but it will take time, I need to do my research…
Following the slight head inflation, I immediately sat down to draw only to find I had no inspiration. It happens to all of us no doubt. So what better way to tackle the situation than to draw it.
If you like it, share it!
Fork in the road
If you like it, share it!
Feel good
I just spent the last half hour looking through some old artwork and discovered a piece of animation I did at university (the second time round). I love animation and wish I was better at it but unfortunately, the process is too painstakingly slow for my taste and I have little patience in that department. I like art that is instantaneous and so even though I have dabbled in oil painting, watercolour, textiles, lino-print, screenprinting etc. they never grabbed my attention for long enough. As much as I’d like to see my characters animated, I’m afraid I’m likely to stick with the cartoons.
So for laughs, I thought I’d share this dire attempt at an animation – I really am a tad embarrassed but hey, I’ll get over it. Trust me, it isn’t a master piece and in places it is unfinished, so I have used stills/sketches to show how the story progresses. Essentially it was a short advert to promote Feel Good Drinks. The character, Brian, hates life and grumbles at everything including the sun, until one day he stumbles across a bottle of feel good and his life is turned around!
If you like it, share it!
Leftovers & Plastic Boxes
If you like it, share it!
Movember
Everyone is talking about Movember. It is the one and only time of year I wish I had facial hair – imagine the things you could do with it! In case you don’t know what Movember is: During November each year, thousands of men men across the UK and around the world grow moustaches with the aim to raise vital funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and testicular cancer.
In the image below, I was testing my new brush pen…
Big Hair Metamorphosis 