I am so excited to have been asked to produce five large paintings for an exhibition on Kings Parade in June 2018. One is complete and this is the one I have almost completed.

We had a brilliant Open Studio in November. I shared space with potter Diana Kazemi at 5 Church Street, Chesterton. This was the third time I had joined her in late November. I love the way her house is made so welcoming with mulled wine and masses of fairy lights. We set up the day before making it really magical.

Many thanks to all of our visitors for coming along to see our latest work and to chat.

I am already looking forward to next year.

The Autumn exhibition takes place during half term at the Leys School.

Come along and see a whole variety of both framed and unframed artworks.

This year I have 5 pictures exhibited

A bright collage of eleven sheep shown here

a monoprint of Ely

and three oils on canvas.

Walking along Kings Parade recently I was delighted to see the Busker in the Bin.

Over the years Charles has been delighting and surprising visitors when singing suddenly starts in a litter bin. As the people turn to look at where the noise emanates you can see them smile and reach out for their cameras. He must be known far and wide.

The busker appears in my painting Tree of Cambridge with his Jack Russell on top though sadly the dog no longer accompanies his master.

I love going with a friend sketching in my beautiful city. Once a month I join other Cambridge Urban Sketchers and we go and sketch a place somewhere in the city.

On Saturday about 45 sketchers met at the very popular tourist centre of Kings Parade. We could draw whatever took our fancy. While most people drew the buildings I spotted a cycle parked on the railings in front of St Marys Church in front of an ad for the Cambridge Art Book in which I have two images.

After drawing this I turned my stool round and drew a very busy Tonis Ices van. As I completed my drawing a busker set up beside me so what else was I to do but draw him. He was very good.

I have several new paintings this year, many with gold or copper leaf that shimmer as you move and enrich my very detailed paintings of trees and folklore

I shall also be showing some of my new paintings based on my research into Medieval Illuminations at the Parker library at Corpus Christi College in Cambridge. I have been so impressed with the artists from this time and how beautifully they illustrated the text in Bestiaries and the Books of Hours.

I am so excited to have been invited to take part in the Cambridge Art Book. 51 Cambridge artists have their work in this beautiful book and I am delighted to say 2 of my images will be there, the Tree of Cambridge and Sundown. I will have copies to sell during Cambridge Open Studios or please contact me.

I shall be sharing a stall with Maureen Charles for the Haddenham Festival. This annual event is a real treat in June. There will be lots of artists and makers selling and demonstrating their wares in the lovely Sculpture Garden Meadow, bands playing both days, a kids zone with stories and messy play, Morris dancing, delicious Indian food, afternoon teas....

.... and the organisers have booked some sunny weather.

It is almost 9 months since I became a reader at the wonderful Parker Library which houses an exquisite collection of Medieval Manuscripts. I have drawn images from the Corpus Apocalypse, The Trinity Apocalypse and my favourite, the Peterborough Bestiary which is full of the most well observed animals both real and imaginary.

So far I have made two oil paintings on canvas based on images taken from the ideas of artists living in 1304 and updated them to a contemporary illustrative style.

This one is called Bird Bath.

My studio is not big enough or ever tidy enough to use it to teach my students, so I use my kitchen table. All my students love this area as it is full of interesting things to draw and the kettle is close by.

The table here is set up for my students to tackle self portraits. There is a tiny easel for the mirror and a larger one for the canvases. I cant say teaching here is like a normal job, it is more like drawing and painting with friends.

You can find out more about my classes by following the link. I put the work my students do onto the Facebook site for their moment of fame.

Cambridge never fails to provide me with inspiration and the Museums are a real treat. I love the quiet, well I also love the exuberance of the groups of school children who appear, and how 3 hours can go by completely immersed in looking and drawing.

Here are two observational drawings made at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology on Downing Street. A pencil drawing of a musician toy figure from Mexican and an ink drawing of two Eskimo dolls.