The Adventures of a Small Tube of Smalt

Some time ago I sent a tweet to Winsor and Newton telling them how much I missed the colour Smalt. It was a colour Winsor and Newton had produced as a special edition anniversary colour. I used it so much in my book The Ice bear, loved its soft tones, missed it. They sent me a message to say they had one final tube in the warehouse and if I sent them my address they would post it to me.

It was so good to have this is my colour box again.

Today I painted dark beneath the savage wings of the Queen of the skies. I had to cut open the tube, wash out the last of the blue in order to do so. I thought I would celebrate the end of the life of this courageous tube of fine milled blue with a short film of some of the many images I made incorporating it into the pieces.

The works include an image for a book for Amnesty International, Suffolk Wildlife Trust Christmas Card, paintings for the fun of playing, to pay for all the bears in the wild wide world, for The Guardian online…..I will miss the smalt. The one I bought recently by another manufacturer is gritty and doesn’t flow in the same way, doesn’t build in layers as I am used to.

The peregrine painting is a wish and a prayer. There is also another wish beneath her wings. But wishes come in threes which leaves a spare wish for you. What would you wish for?

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