It’s not over really — still things buzzing around my head and odds and ends of loose strings to tie up before I can say that the Venice Writing Retreat 2015 — also referred to as the Venice Editing Masterclass (I like the ring of that) — can truly be considered packed up and put…
All set up and almost ready to go for the watercolour workshop I am organising this coming May. Delighted to have the incredibly talented Cecil Rice along as our guest tutor. He will be joined by Sarah Sherwood who will be taking the group on a half-day sketching and snapshot walkabout in Venice, giving everyone…
A very late starter, but at long last, after several years of just thinking about it, I have signed up for the Nanowrimo marathon. I only began three days ago in the midst of a whirlwind created by my daughter as she moved out of the family home, taking her beloved dog with her. The…
There is no substitute for being in a boat for these events. I’m sorry — but that’s just the way it is. Maybe you have seen or heard about the Palio in Siena — the famous horse race run in a square in the town centre every year. There is a tremendous build up of…
I thought I would be able to concentrate sitting outside the bar, but that would perhaps have pushed my new found ‘writing freedom’ beyond the realms of reality. Kids running all over the place, slaloming between the tables with bubble blowing guns was a bit much . Whilst it was just the squeals and giggles…
![Fog [haiku]](https://www.janyshyde.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/foggy-morn.jpg)
Foggy mornshrouds sound in veil of silenceclothed in grey
Wait there my boy, we must depart,but I’ll soon be home, you’ll see.Away he trooped with all the menwithout glancing back at me. They soon retreated from my view,a bright patch in the distance.How war affects the strongest manhad still not touched my conscience. I was too young to even knowthat they’d live in fields…
High on the hill, time creeps by almost unnoticed, but for the cadence of the seasons. For the main part the idyllic isolation is undisturbed if not by the occasional strident call of a lamenting fox or the violent passage of an electric storm. But last month changed all that.The tall figure of an elderly…
Isn’t it strange how you can write all your life — and in my case that covers quite a few good years — and then suddenly, when you decide you want to make it all official and ‘come out’ — make it known publicly that you consider yourself a writer, you find that words fail…
I may have mentioned elsewhere that one of the things I do in life is translate press releases and catalogues for galleries, artists and curators of contemporary art. There is no question of doubt that the work is fascinating, but for those of you who have not had much to do with contemporary art (or…
Been out and about sourcing materials for our very own personal ‘Boho’ look for our handmade and combined creations. Here is just a taster of the kind of thing we are looking for – gorgeous vintage look amulets and pendants which we will be combining with ribbons and textiles to create wearable and unique pieces…
I had intended to do these the other day, but a few other things cropped up that needed my attention more urgently, so it was only this morning that I finally got working on my lino prints. They actually take quite some time individually as the mixed media all dry at different speeds (inks, acrylic…
Well this is only half the story… the bottom half in fact! One of my recent shopping adventures produced this fun fabric in very dark grey with fun stylized houses printed all over it. I knew I wanted to use it for something a little unusual, but just needed to think about it for a…
Thought I would take a break from the glue gun and the sewing machine, and put to rights a few images I had waiting for some digital darkrooming. I think it was last year (or maybe earlier) that I built up quite a collection of my photographs of flowers which got used for various things,…
Every now and again I make an assault on my collection of books in an effort to organize them a bit better. Don’t usually have much success as books are one of my great weaknesses and Amazon frequently drops a few more onto the doormat – vicious circle really. But this one caught my attention…
No products in the basket.