It’s been odd having an exhibition which nobody can come to. There’s been a very positive response to the posts I’ve put up on here, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, but – well, it’s just not the same.
However, today I was able to show the world the secret extra ingredient for the show – a little art book with 34 drawings of the old crab apple tree in next door’s garden.
Collected over 2 years, these little pastel portrait sketches show the tree at all times of year – bleak midwinter, first blossoms in spring, the height of summer heat, and the plushness of autumn.
Each day, as the sun swings round, the whole tree seems to dance and move as the light catches different areas of its beautiful branches. My awareness of the tree’s strengths and beauty grew over time, and I think it’s not wrong to say I love it.
The book is a compilation of these sketches – which were never intended for publication, by the way. I found a local printer who was able to combine them in one simple book, 8″ square, easy to post. 
Within this first day, orders have come in and I have just been to the postbox to send them off to their new owners. So, finally, I feel I am connecting with the public…
This is not ‘great art’. It is a simple record of one tiny place in Kent; not only how the tree looked, but how I was feeling, and how my hand created what my eye and soul was seeing.
The book costs £12 inc p&p in the UK.
ISBN 9 781898 983019
Published by Winterwood Books and printed in Kent by Singlewell Printers of Gravesend.