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A Paper Sushi Lunch

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I'd heard of the lacquered sushi food boxes ("bento" box ???) so when I saw this paper model I was instantly intrigued by it. A love of models, miniatures, bright colours and orderly shapes (but not yet of Sushi food!) made it a "must-make-one" for me. I printed it out on to 200gm/m2 card, and took it with me while on holiday. These paper models are fascinating and fairly quick builds, and just the thing for an interesting relaxation and diversion. I've also got someone in mind who might like it. MORE...

Australian Story - a painting by my mother

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This is a painting my mother, Georgina, did some years back, as a gift for my uncle in England. She kept a photograph (the old chemical variety, not digital) which I later scanned and printed for her. This is a low resolution version. If I ever find the scan, I'll update with one of higher resolution. The family dubbed it "Australian Story" since it is a scene from early settler life. MORE...

Happy Christmas Cat

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Knowing her love of all things feline, friends gave my wife a Maneki Neko, a Japanese "lucky cat", with a motorised beckoning arm. Here it is dressed up for Christmas with a hat and Noel sign. "Noel" comes from the Latin natalis, celebrating the birth of Jesus the Messiah. Thank God we can trust in Him and not have to depend on "luck". MORE...

Hidden Art

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I read a book called "Hidden Art" by Edith Schaeffer, and it altered my approach to art and beauty. I have always had a love for both, but the pragmatic engineer side of me would often opt for "rough enough is good enough". This book showed me that everyday objects and needs can and should be treated as art and beauty. A meal can be prepared with the eye in mind as well as the stomach! A bookcase can be beautiful, even is less than 100% efficient, like my "boatcase" I built a few years back. MORE...

Lightning Lettering

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Lightning Lettering (also called Ladder Lettering) is a really easy but seemingly magical way of drawing or painting words. All ages from little kids to grandpas and grandmas love watching words appear as if from nowhere. I have been using this method in my kids' Bible stories for many years now. I usually put in a background colour, and then draw the bordering "Ladder". You don't need to be too fussy about alignment - it doesn't matter if a bit of colour is outside the border. Tip: count the letters and SPACES if any in your word or phrase, and then divide the ladder up. For example, if it is 8, divide the ladder into 2 halves, then the halves into quarters, then the quarters into eighths. If 9, divide into 3, then each third into three. Tip: you can make "M"s and "W"s a bit wider, and any "I"s a bit narrower. MORE...

Love, Loss & Longing

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"One Voice" album - Sung by Aled Jones This is a magical album, with honey-voiced tenor Aled Jones singing duets with recordings from his earlier career as a boy soprano. The album went straight to the top of the UK classical chart when released in 2016, and well deserved it. These are classic folk songs from the British Isles, Welsh, Irish, Scottish and English, about love, loss and longing, beautiful and bitter-sweet, "achingly beautiful" as another reviewer put it. MORE...

More Prayers from the Ark

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This is a wonderful book of poems by French writer Carmen Bernos de Gasztold, written during the grim years of the Second World War. Noah and a representative group of animals offer their own style of prayer, some funny, some sad, some full of hope, all brief and fresh. MORE...

Our Coat of Arms

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Here is our family coat-of-arms:- "Feline Dormant on a Field of Gold" MORE...

Raphael's School of Athens

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Raphael's "School of Athens" is one of my favourite paintings. In it the artist depicts the many philosophers and their thoughts. In the middle are Plato and his student Aristotle, each pointing in a different direction. Plato, who was more concerned about the realm of the spirit and the "universals", points up to heaven. Aristotle was more concerned with the specifics, the realm of the body and nature, and points down to the Earth. MORE...

Sketchboard Sermons, by Jim Duffecy

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When I was a young man I had the privilege of watching a great story-teller at work. Jim Duffecy sketched and spoke at the same time, and wove both mediums together into an unforgettable whole. His passion was the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and his story-telling always aimed at that. I think I learned more from him than any other, and when I wanted to do some basic training for would-be Bible story-tellers in 2004, the publishers of Jim's little book "Sketchboard Sermons" kindly gave me permission to copy it for any who wanted it. Thank you, https://oacusa.org/ MORE...

Sketching - Summary

CLICK HERE for the full article Sketching: Sketching and telling stories (and especially the stories from the Bible) is a marvellous way to communicate with kids. I've been doing it for 40-odd years. Here are my brief notes, in the hope that they will encourage others to have a go. You don't have to be a Rembrandt or a Leonardo Da Vinci. If you tend to think in analogies and images, and can doodle, you can probably sketch easily. MORE...