Bumping into Serge Bloch

I was on my way back from the swimming pool (26 laps today, yay me!) when I noticed a gallery on rue Dante. Galerie des Arts Graphiques, specializing in illustration, graphic design and bande dessinée, just put a new show up. Serge Bloch, one of my heroes!

"C'était Fatal"

"Un Bon Gars"

If I had 600 euros burning a hole in my pocket, I'd certainly be tempted by this one!

As for the gallery, they've got an interesting fall season lined up including Loustal and Jean Jullien. So I shall certainly be returning — stay tuned!

PS. I was told by the woman running the gallery that La Poste (the French mail service) would be putting out a set of postage stamps designed by Serge Bloch within the next few months. You heard it here first!

On the rue des Écoles

And speaking of Michel de Montaigne...

This statue of him is near where I live, and the inscription below it reads:

"Paris a mon coeur des mon enfance.    

Je ne suis français que par cette grande cité —  

grande surtout et incomparable en varieté,  

la gloire de France et l'un des plus nobles ornaments du monde."*

This quote has always resonated with me — like Paris was saying a welcome to newcomers like myself! I have been living here for 18 years (already!) and it still makes me smile every time, to bump into this man, these words...

*(in English)

P.S. Montaigne, the first blogger

The cure for melancholy

"If you are idle, be not solitary;

if you are solitary, be not idle."

Samuel Johnson said that, suggesting that it was a cure for melancholy.

He was such a prolific writer of letters and essays and bons mots that some think of him as the very first blogger ever! But of course, this distinction could just as easily go to other writers — to the likes of Michel de Montaigne, Samuel Pepys, writers of Japanese "Pillow Books", and (my personal favourite) E.B. White... especially his letters.

How about you? Do you have a favourite proto-blogger?

Casting Call, Part 2

Boo! For some time now —a year, maybe more —I have had an infestation of crocodiles in my sketchbook. Here are a few to be going on with:



My crocodiles are friendly —sometimes homesick, sometimes mischievous, sometimes awkward and shy — and come in all colours and sizes. But so far, never mean...



I am so used to my version of crocodiles that I am quite shocked when I watch nature documentaries and see real crocs in action. They employ the element of surprise to perfection, leaping out of still waters and clamping onto their unsuspecting dinner with a sudden splash and thrash. Poor old wildebeest cannot slake its thirst without taking its life in its own hands hooves!



But still —I love their cheeky smiles...

Pets... in unexpected places

I got a lovely surprise in my boîte aux lettres from Hazel.

This "Pet in the Post" is a cheerful little spider... she even came with her own web!

The other pets seem to be taking to her just fine...

...and she seems to be right at home in Paris. Thanks, Hazel!

For those of you who don't know, Hazel is a painter and a teacher from Scotland, and the blogueuse responsible for the wonderful and inspiring blog, The Art Room Plant.
So much treasure and inspiration — go look...right NOW! Run, don't walk.

You're welcome.

Scenes from rural France

I'm back from my little break. It's good to get away from town —yes, even Paris!— every now and again.

New things to look at!  Fresh air!!

.  

Just what the doctor ordered.

New friends...  

More new friends... drawn "on the hoof", as it were.

Casting Call

Like most illustrators, I keep a sketchbook. At times haphazardly, only on post-its, old envelopes and other scraps of paper. And at other times fervently, into a notebook that never leaves my side. Many of the sketches are only pencil swirls and jottings, intelligible only to me— and take form only later, when they are painted in a final version.

But other sketches seem to have a life of their own, with recurrent elements making regular appearances in the pages, coming back again and again. Almost like they want to audition for a part in one of my numerous (and interminable!) children's book projects.

One of these is Hamlet:

He's a piglet in pajamas who (when not napping) is brash and playful. And pinchable!

I expect there will be more of Hamlet in future posts, as well as the other habitués of my sketchbook pages. But for now — good night, wherever you are!