All the Bears in the Wild Wide World Tour 2014# Week two, part 1:Swans

From Tiverton we drove to Slimbridge, where the van came to rest in a beautiful farm b&b. We had to wait a while and Mr Stenham found what we thought was a quiet country pub, The Old Badger. 6pm, Friday evening and we opened the door to find the world and his mother had come out for a drink. Amazing pub, warm, light, lively with all ages and tapas. Gorgeous food. We sat in a corner and I read the second of the Liveships books by Robin Hobb, which was after all work as I am still chasing the cover. I had stuffed badger envy.

Next morning we went to Slimbridge where I signed a few books and sat for a while looking and drawing swans. There is a special peace to be found in studying the shape of such a beautiful creature. Especially after such a busy week.

All too soon it was time to move on. Now, I don’t know whether you have ever spent a long time on the road, but a certain madness creeps into the soul. So, whatever it was possessed me to enquire of Mr Stenham what it was about myself that irritated him just as we set off on a 4 hour drive I can’t say. By the time we reached our destination I was relieved to step out of the van.

And what a wonderful place we had arrived at. Out harbour for two nights was the amazing Quaker house at Briggflats. We were to stay in the warden’s flat, in the meeting house. We were the guests of Phil and Tess and their family. I don’t think I have ever spent time in such a quiet, peaceful beautiful place. In between time sitting quiet in the meeting place Toby showed me stunning photos he had taken on his trip across Africa, I learned about Journey of a Lifetime Trust, Mr Stenham ‘helped’ Hugo with his homework, we went for a glorious riverside walk with Phil, Tess told me a Quaker story about a while feather and we learned about the Jubilee Sailing Trust.

Tess also told us about an amazing silver swan automaton, made in 1873 and in a nearby museum. We looked at film of this creature online, but time was too short and we were heading North to meet bears who were just about to sleep. So frustrating to be so close and yet not have time to see this wonder.

Onwards via lunch at Audrey’s where we were fed beautiful bread and soup and it was great to see Tom and all of Audrey’s beautiful art on the walls including a wonderful painting by Jeannie Tomanek

Back on the road again, to Scotland and All the Bears were excited now. Here we would be meeting bears and I had 4 days of hard work ahead. The bears need a blog post all of their own, brown bear, sun bear, panda and polar bear, and that will happen soon I promise. Still trying to think and gather up impressions and hold all in my mind. Enough for now to say that I had the great privilege to meet Carmen and Susie, two brown bears at Five Sisters and feed them St Davids honey with honeycomb from a spoon. They were sleepy. Almost about to hibernate. If you find the cage offensive then know this. These bears had lived the first long years of their lives as circus bears. They now have a woodland where they could roam, to look for food and also hide, and this cage, with space, far more than they had known before. But best of all they had food, enough to build up the bulk they needed to hibernate. And they had the peace to do this. Imagine living in a cage so small, with scarce enough food and having to perform and never being able to hibernate. Awake when you should be sleeping. Never knowing the feel of running water through your paws. They were in this part of the cage because this is where they were denning up. They had chosen this bit. Peggy had already curled in a bears nest in the woods. And the look in the bears’ eyes as they ate the golden honeycombe was enough to break any heart. The bear people. Amazing. More later. They photo doesn’t do justice to the closeness and safety and peace in a bear’s eye. The next day they were both sleeping and their lives have haunted my dreams since that day.

After Scotland, Durham, with an escaped lemur from Five Sisters, and painting in the beautiful cathedral shop. Not many books to sign as they had sold so many, which was wonderful but I felt a connection with the medieval manuscript painters as I sat among the vaulted arches painting a hare. Beautiful cathedral, wonderful shop.

In the evening I talked for a short while as part of a panel for the YLG, and later went to the YLG supper where the winners of the Carnegie and Greenaway were presented with their awards.

The next day we were driving across to the Hedgehog bookshop in Penrith to work with the wonderful Liz, and our route took us straight to the silver swan where I spent an hour just looking at this stunningly beautiful piece of silver. She swims on a sea of glass rods and silver fish swim before her. She wakes now for the shortest of times at 2 pm every day, so we did not see her move as I was due to be in the bookshop. But I think she has swum her way into my book. Just beautiful. You can find out more about her here and watch film of her moving.

At the Hedgehog Bookshop I painted and people came and went and had books signed. Cecelia came, with a present for Little P. A new hat! He was so pleased and she said had it not been for the power of All the Bears in the Wild Wide World she would have been to shy to stop and to talk. And it was lovely to meet her. I love Liz, she’s fierce and takes no nonsense and makes good scones so Mr Stenham was very happy.

Liz had the ‘Cupboard of Jigsaws’ ready for Christmas, but has told me she has had to order again as people just keep buying them.

Then all went strange as my mum called to say my dad was in hospital and we headed south to be there and a few days of worry and being with my folks, then dad out of hospital and fragile but hopefully all well then home. A strange end to what had been an amazing two weeks. We did jigsaws with my parents and All the bears in the Wild Wide World were pleased to meet them.

So, more about bears in part 2. Coming soon.

For now I have painting to do, a van to sell, pages to make on the blog for new books. And here is why I was drawing Swans.

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