I’ve been making lots of penguins for the hand-made book I am making for London Zoo‘s education department – it’s all about the zoo’s ferret, Toffee, meeting the other zoo animals.

Another one from the Compendium show.

Source: ‘The Girl’s Companion’, Blackie and Son, 1940s

Everyone at some time or another has felt a trifle discontented with their general appearance and wanted to change it.

There is no doubt that wearing a festive costume changes your whole physical appearance and personality. You do not feel yourself to be the same person, and it is so exciting to feel different.

The important thing to bear in mind is your type: before making a choice study yourself carefully in a mirror, both front and back view.

Never, never be embarrassed; because it is always a game of fun and frolic, and above all, ‘let’s pretend’.

Here’s another one of my prints from my show ‘Compendium’. This one’s a game called Bachelor’s Kitchen – instructions on how to play are shown below! I like the idea that the penguins have gone on a stag night and gone a bit silly after too many Dubonnets.

Source: ‘Three Hundred and One Things a Bright Girl Can Do’, Jean Stewart, Sampson Low, Marston & Co, 1904

The girls sit in a row, with the exception of one, who goes in succession to each girl and asks her what she will give to the bachelor’s kitchen. Each answers what she pleases, such as a rolling pin or a warming pan.

When all have replied, the questioner returns to the first girl, and puts all sorts of questions, which must be answered by the article which she before gave to the kitchen, and by no other word. For instance, she asks, “What do you wear on your head?” “Mouse trap”. The object is to make the answerer laugh, and she is asked a number of questions until she either laughs or is given up as a hard subject.

The questioner then passes to the next girl, and so on. Those who laugh must pay a forfeit.

I thought it was time I showed some of the work from my current show at The Old Sweet Shop. This print is called ‘Winking’, and the game that inspired it is from ‘Home Games and Amusements’, a Daily Express Publication from the 1930s. This is how you play:

For this game a number of chairs are placed in a circle, sufficient being provided to supply a seat each for the ladies, and one being left over, which is vacant.

The gentlemen then take up their positions, one behind each chair, including the vacant one. The game consists in this gentleman’s trying to fill his vacant chair, which he does by winking at one of the ladies. The lady thus challenged must do her best to leave her seat and fill the vacant one, while the gentleman standing behind her must do his best to prevent her by holding her down in the chair.

The best policy for the gentleman with the vacant chair is to gaze all round the circle, and then suddenly try to catch the eye of one of the ladies when her partner is not looking.

When the ladies have become tired of scurrying back and forth, it becomes the turn of the gentlemen to fill the chairs.

I would love to hear if anyone has ever tried it! Some people visiting the exhibition have.

I will post more of the games prints soon – there is a set of nine. The exhibition is on until October 31st.

I’ve been wielding my scalpel to cut out chairs for one of the images for my exhibition at The Old Sweet Shop next month. It’s for an illustration of a game called ‘winking’ – a sort of Victorian parlour game.

I’ve been preparing the publicity materials and posters for my show in October at The Old Sweet Shop. It’s called Compendium and is about animals playing games.

Life models Billy and Mabel visited the studios today. 

We fed them strawberries and drew them.

It was like having two little clockwork toys on my desk all day. Thanks for the loan, Cathy!

I’ve finally had a chance to do some drawing following my day as zookeeper for a day at Whipsnade Zoo a month ago. This is the starting point for my show ‘Compendium’, at The Old Sweet Shop in October. Now I need to develop the drawings into ideas about games and playing.

Just finished my demonstration book for the ArtisanCam project on the 28 and 29th – turned out rather romantic!

In a couple of weeks I will be visiting a school in north London for a project with ArtisanCam. A class of year 6 pupils will be getting a visit from a live macaw from London Zoo, then making a book inspired by the experience. Today I’ve really enjoyed making a demonstration model, using a selection of jumbled up words and paper collage.