My Little Painting Challenge entry

There's a competition going on right now through the BBC called 'The Little Painting Challenge'. One does not have to actually paint something as the challenge states that drawings are accepted as well, but the idea is that anyone can submit a work of art with one of the post cards they have available in most libraries or in copies of RadioTimes.

I've made my entry! Inspired by a small child I saw at Borough Market a few weeks back. It was a fun little weekend project and I'm quite happy with my feisty little fairie.

How to be fully human

Nelson Mandela died on December 5^th, 2013.

He was aged 95.

He lived a long life full of great accomplishments.

He was no different from you or me. Nelson Mandela didn’t fight for black rights. He didn’t fight for South Africa. He didn’t fight against Apartheid.

Nelson Mandela fought to create a world in which we can all appreciate our shared experience.

The world is not a sadder place for him not being physically present in it. It’s a better place for him having lived so well, taught so widely, and loved so genuinely, even those who many would call ‘enemy’.

Nelson Mandela is a lesson in forgiveness – he is a human being, just as you are. Just as I am. He is an example to us all.

Nelson Mandela
July 1918 - December 2013
Illustration from Wise at any Age

The Component parts of Delirium

Illustrious Illustration!

I've been really focused on 'Wise at Any Age' lately. Mostly because I solved a design problem I was having regarding the layout. Now that that's all taken care of I'm moving through chapter by chapter, sorting things out rapidly and getting it closer and closer to being ready for publication.

Most recently I finished a bunch more illustrations for it. Because this is a handbook for cultivating wisdom I want it to appeal to all sorts of learning styles. As a visual person I appreciate how well an image can communicate an idea or concept. As a designer it's fun to play with words and images to get something across effectively and aesthetically.

One of the chapters of 'Wise at Any Age' looks at universal wisdom - wisdom based on a deep knowledge of what really is. While there are thousands of examples of wonderful teachers who have embraced and taught with universal wisdom, I selected just a few to illustrate the point:

'Be the change you want to see in the world'
- Gandhi

'Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all'
- Helen Keller

'Know the rules well so you can break them effectively'
- His Holiness the Dalai Lama

'Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies'
- Nelson Mandela

Wise At Any Age - An Update

I know I've gone a bit quiet about my book.

I set myself the goal of having it published by the end of March. At the time I had months laid ahead of me and even with the chaos of the Christmas holidays I felt my plan was solid enough that it would definitely be ready by the 31st at the very latest.

You may ask why I decided to take on this incredibly huge task of writing, illustrating, laying out and printing a book myself. You may wonder what possessed me to set a deadline for something I'd never done before and then publicise it right away. You may even question my reasoning for choosing to create and market a book on my own.

Let me tell you a few things about me:

1. I learn by doing. I figured this out at a pretty early age. If you let me touch something, play with it, get my hands dirty, try and fail and try again until I succeed - it will stick.

If you show me something and make me take notes on it I will end up with a bunch of paper with dreadful writing on it and absolutely no retention of what I was 'taught'.

So I decided I wanted to learn how to design a book. It's a useful skill to have, especially when you're a writer with five unpublished manuscripts. May as well learn how to do it myself.

2. Deadlines help me commit. I set a deadline and stick to it. Even if it's just my own personal deadline and even if I could change it and nothing terrible would happen, I have this mental switch that gets flicked when I set a deadline. I will work my butt off to get something completed. It helps me organise my time and ensures I accomplish something.

An illustration for Wise At Any Age

3. Waiting for life to happen is a great way to waste your life. Time keeps on ticking along whether you're using it wisely or not. I once spent two years not using my time very wisely at all. I neglected my creative needs and ignored my desire to travel. I became stagnant and it turned me into a miserable person that not many people enjoyed being around. In fact, I didn't even enjoy my own company, which is never good.

I'm now in the business of making things happen. I'm sending off manuscripts to agents and I'm still editing my work and jotting down ideas for new novels to write as they come to me. But nothing is stopping me from getting a book published on my own and given that I already do all my own marketing for my design work, I might as well do my own marketing for my book.

So that's why I took on this incredible task and I promise, I am still working to my end of March deadline. However, I also want to make sure that the book is the best it possibly can be when I make it available to the world. This is where another thing comes in handy:

4. Let it go. 

I'm not always good at letting things go. My stubbornness is what gets things done or defines my character as reliable and steadfast. But then again, being stubborn can mean being a bit unreasonable. I might not have my book ready by my March 31st deadline. I appreciate that and I can live with it.

Illustration for Chapter 2: 'Curiosity'

It's more important that 'Wise At Any Age' is the best it can be when I make it available. I want the illustrations to be right, the content to really matter and the value of it to be unquestionable. It's not something that I've just slapped together. It's been three years in the making just to get it written. A few weeks or even months longer to get the layout right - well, that's okay. Because when it is ready it will be a Great Book and one which you will be proud to have on your shelf.