The studio was in such a mess I couldn’t use it.

Here it is, tidied and once more in operation.

Here are some eco prints on papers, fabrics, rust-printed organza, tea-dyed embroidery silk, carved Indian woodblock, barnacle-encrusted mussel shells.  Aren’t these barnacle-bejewelled shells gorgeous? Fossilised eco-systems.

Paints Pigments and Sari Silks in Jars

I found, to add to my growing collection, this woodblock, in an antique shop in Hay-on-Wye last Saturday, when I ran away to the Black Mountains.

It’s made from Shaheen wood (don’t know what that is and can’t find any references to it) and the carving is of ferns and some flowers. Haven’t used it yet.

I’m working on putting my 2015 Arthouse Co-op sketchbook together, to meet the deadline for its US tour.

And I’m finishing the editing on my illustrated trine of short stories Leaves which I will now publish as a PDF rather than as an ebook.

The making of these stories is a story in itself now.

They originated as a combo of flash fiction tales for a competition I entered last November that turned out to be a scam.  (I wrote about that here and how I got my entry fee back through PayPal).

I then decided to develop and polish them into longer stories and illustrate them and publish them, as an ebook. I used Blurb’s BookWright software but when published and despite using one of their own fonts, all my italics had been wiped out, some of which were a character’s inner dialogues and vital. After over a week trying to sort this out with customer services – exchanging emails, sending before and after screenshots – the usual – I was dumped and my fee refunded silently and without apology. It’s the second ebook they’ve refunded me for. Clearly, their ‘ware has glitches.

So look out for Leaves soon, the poor, abused thing. And if anybody can recommend some ebook software, I’d appreciate that.

What’s on your work table today?