Away from home.

I travelled, leaving behind a small flock of swallows souls waiting to be stitched.

I stayed for a while in a small house where I drew, and wrote and thought and watched the birds.

The small house was a harbour to rest, but then back out onto the road, and to Compton Verney, where the walls are now decorated with a flock and a charm.

Below, though, are the limited edition prints from The Lost Words, produced by Aquarelle, and now for sale through Compton Verney.

Then on to Kenilworth books where Tamsin had one of the three known perfectly ironic copies of The Lost Words.

( and meanwhile Robert was holding the fort doing a wonderful radio interview for Canadian radio with Sabine Jessen) 

Love this photo of Tamsin, who never ceases to astonish me with her wisdom. She had helped to put books into a school, building a library, for children who have no books at home, changing lives. This is the power of a great indie bookshop, that they care enough to help a school find funding for a library ( Siobhan Dowd Trust and Foyles Foundation) and then help them choose the books.

Back then to Dulverton via a visit to my Child in Plymouth and via otters.

View this post on Instagram

Beauty Lutra lutra

A post shared by Jackie Morris (@jackiemorrisartist) on Oct 23, 2018 at 7:03am PDT

At Number Seven Dulverton the shop looked beautiful. Working with Davina and Jan and Chris is like working with family. They create enchantment and the evening with Kerry Andrew and Nicola Davies was just that. Blissful, wild magic.

The Lost Words Supper with Number Seven Dulverton and Loyton Lodge from Christopher Jelley on Vimeo.

In the shop next day I painted hares and otters, played with Bideford Black, a pigment found locally and 300 million years old! So black, deep black, dark as the darkest moonless night and darker still.

Home, after Dulverton. Davina still has a few signed copies of the special edition Lost Words, with goldfinch print enclosed. And more can be found at Solva Woollen Mill where they have signed copies of all my books in print, and Bookish in Crickhowell, where Emma successfully fundraised to buy 163 copies for schools in Powys.

There’s now a wonderful map of Britain that lights up where The Lost Words has been funded into schools.

Home now. There are Christmas cards for sale, for The Suffolk Wildlife Trust, with goldfinches.

There is an audio book of The Lost Words. It’s beautiful. The sonic illustrations are by Chris Watson. You can only find it on Audible at the moment, but physical copies will be available after Christmas. It is balm for the soul, beautifully spoken.

Less than a minute of beauty.@RobGMacfarlane ‘s words spoken by @BZephaniah and illustrated by me.
Thank @PenguinUKBooks
It’s from the audio download of The Lost Words, illustrated by Christ Watson’s glorious wild sounds. A treat for the ears and the soul. pic.twitter.com/cE6JiNqxyM

— Jackie Morris (@JackieMorrisArt) November 3, 2018

Time, now, to sit by the fire and read.

The post Away from home. appeared first on Jackie Morris Artist.