Instead, I got warts

Hello lovelies! With all the excitement of the books arriving I had to temporarily stop sewing on the artwork that will be on display at the book launch for my upcoming book Wounds: New Openings Into Old Stories but the next piece is finally finished.

Well done for those people who guess The Frog Prince. This tale is the story of a difficult marriage (sadly, based on a true story) and is a complex combination of fairy tale references.  There are nineteen references to fairy tales and one a reference to the poem The Highwayman. When you read the book see if you can spot them all!

I chose to illustrate the Frog Prince here as he is the centre of the tale. He is the one who she hopes will turn into a Prince...but as you will see he did not. She says, "Instead I got warts."

There are only 2 illustrations to finish now before the book launch. I hope you can join me on Saturday November the 9th from 12 to 2.30 so you can see the art in person.

How to buy my book

Hello lovelies! I am here with the greatest news ever--my long awaited book Wounds: New Openings Into Old Stories is officially published. Hoorah and lashings of ginger beer! *does a Snoopy dance*

Thank you so much for such a positive response about the book. Many of you have asked where you can get a copy. Here is a short list of all the ways you can get one. 

1. If you sponsored the book through the Kickstarter campaign then a copy (or copies) will be posted to you ASAP. If you are one of the Kickstarter sponsors, make sure you have replied to the email that asks for your address. We cannot post it to you if we do not know where you live! 

2. If you live close to me in Wales you can buy it in the lovely independent bookshop where I work Goldstone Books. They will be on sale in the shop starting Thursday the 17th of October. Please also come to the Book Launch which will be November the 9th from 12 to 2:30 at the bookshop where you can eat vegan nibbles, chat with me about fairy tales, view the artwork and buy the book and get it signed. 

3. If you do not live near me then go to your local independent bookshop and ask if they deal with Print On Demand. If it is like our computers at work, it may *appear* out of stock (because it is print on demand--duh!) but if they know the codes for POD (print on demand) it should be doable. It might also say Lightning Source which is a clue that it is Print on Demand. 

4. If you do not have a local independent bookshop then you can buy the book through Amazon.  You can buy it from Amazon UK, US and AUS. The UK one says "may take 1-2 months to arrive" which we think is rubbish. Print on demand only takes about a week...but just be warned it is there and wait as patiently as you can.  Links below:

AMAZON UK

AMAZON US

AMAZON AUS

4. It is also available from Barnes and Noble US, Blackwell's UK and other online booksellers. 

5. If you cannot get to Carmarthen and buy a copy from Goldstone Books and prefer not to deal with big corporations or want a signed copy then look no further than my online shop!
WILD MOUNTAIN THYME PUBLICATIONS

Thank you so much for coming along in this journey with me. Enjoy the book! 

Pond slime

Hello lovelies! Here is the next clue for the illustration that will be displayed at the book launch of my new book Wounds: New Openings Into Old Stories. 

The fairy  tale should be obvious if you zoom in on the background fabric and look at the lily pads. This story is not exclusively about what the picture will be but it is certainly a large part of the story.

I have already made a start today.  It involves lots of layering and dealing with slippery fabric. I am employing iron on interfacing to help with some of the layers.  But I've had to stop as I need embroidery floss and can't go until Tuesday.  But after this there are only two more! 

Now who's the fairest of them all?

Hello lovelies! The next illustration for my  upcoming book Wounds: New Openings Into Old Stories which will be on display at my book launch is finished. 

This is a Snow White story as you may have guessed from the clue. The poem it represents is entitled Life's Rich Pageant.  I have always been curious as to why the stepmother was so jealous of her stepdaughter's beauty in Snow White, but as a woman who is nearly 50 years old I am beginning to understand. 

Men are allowed to age but women are not. We see this in Hollywood. An older man is a "silver fox" but a middle aged woman is too old to play the love interest of the leading man once she gets to a certain age. Case in point-- the actress Maggie Gyllenhaal was told that at age 37 she was too old to play the love interest of a 55 year old man in a film!

This poem deals with the fact that many women are told all of their lives that their only value is their looks. That at age 33 a husband might be considering trading his wife in for a younger model because her looks are fading.  In the poem the woman tries to punish her blond and sun kissed stepdaughter by giving her a makeover and forcing her into bulimia and beauty pageants.

In the traditional fairy tale her stepmother tries to kill her through lacing her corset too tight with coloured ribbons,  a poisoned comb and the poisoned apple. Here she gives her a makeover to look like the description of Snow White of the story -- as black as ebony, as red as blood and as white as snow. Black hair dye is more likely to give you bladder cancer and red lipstick contains lead. These are her poisons.

This ends up backfiring for both of them. 

Just a few more and then the illustrations will be done. I should be announcing the book launch date as soon as they are all done so stay tuned!

Mirror mirror on the wall

Hello lovelies! Here is the next clue for my companion artwork to accompany my upcoming book Wounds : New Openings Into Old Stories.  

This one is my take on a traditional fairy tale.  It has to do with aging and beauty and jealousy. Can you guess what it is?

 I am actually about half way done with this one as I forgot to post the clue. Oops! I have procrastinated on this one as it was such a tricky one to create an image that reflected the poem. I think when I finally decided what to do I just got stuck in and forgot the clue!

This one I hope will be finished on Sunday and then there are only three more plus the cover to make. Then I need to back them all and finish them around tbd edges with bias tape. Phew!

The curse has come upon me

Hello lovelies! The next companion  illustration for my upcoming book Wounds: New Openings Into Old Stories.  

I said in my clue post that it was a mythical creature associated with the moon and blood.  Well done if you said werewolf.

In many ways puberty for girls is like becoming a werewolf.  Not just because you sprout hair everywhere and are affected by the moon, but because starting your period is often referred to as getting "the curse."

I did some research about period art and there is some fascinating artwork out there where women use their own menstrual blood to paint. I wanted to figure out a way to replicate this in fabric. I did think briefly about  splattering paint. I wanted to try to create something menstrual as well as something like a horror film. I found this great open weave burgundy fabric which gave a bubbly splatter effect as well as being more the colour of menstrual blood as opposed to murder blood.


The title of the story is The Curse Has Come Upon Me Cried.  It is a play on a line from a famous poem. Can you name the poem?

The next illustration is a bit fiddly so may take until the weekend.

Blood moon

Hello lovelies! Here's the next clue for the next companion illustration  to accompany my upcoming book Wounds: New Openings Into Old Stories.  

This is a story about a a mythical creature associated with the moon and blood. I was particularly influenced by the amazing horror film Ginger Snaps if that helps.

This should be an easy one!

What were you wearing the night of the alleged assault?

Hello lovelies! I have just completed my next companion artwork for my upcoming book Wounds: New Openings Into Old Stories. 

Many of you guessed it would be a Red Riding Hood tale because of the red velvet fabric. This illustration is for my short story  The Trial of Emily Scarlett. This three part short story is a trial transcript and features her testimony, his testimony  and the verdict. It is based on the Brock Turner trial where "a young man with a promising future" got a very light sentence for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman. His own father said in his pleas for leniency that his son  should not be punished so severely for "20 minutes of action." It is also based on my own high school experience where athletes were allowed to sexually harass girls and suffered no repercussions because "boys will be boys" and to take our complaints seriously would mean we might lose the championship.

I wanted the illustration to be very simple. I found this gorgeous Christmas fabric in Swansea. I loved the forest green backdrop and the gold trees. It was a perfect way to suggest a forest. I wanted to give the feeling of how small and powerless she felt as the wolf loomed over her. I purposely did not give her any features on her face for this reason. Victim blaming takes away your voice. 

The lettering may be hard to read. Some of that is intentional.  I wanted a gold fabric to coordinate with the gold trees. It doesn't photograph particularly well as it is shiny, but it also has the effect of distorting the words. What a victim of sexual assault was wearing is a blurred lines issue and I wanted the text to reflect this distorted way of thinking. No matter what a person is wearing they do not want to be sexually assaulted.  

The next illustration is a quick one so should be done by Tuesday I hope. Stay tuned for a clue. 

To grandmother's house we go...

Hello lovelies! The next clue for the accompanying illustration for my upcoming book Wounds: New Openings Into Old Stories is here.

This clue should be very obvious because of the red velvet fabric and the forest-y background fabric. 

This is an interesting story that appears in three parts and deals with victim blaming. 

It is a fairly easy one to make so I hope to have it done by Sunday. 

She was defiled. She was unclean.

Hello lovelies! It has taken me ages to complete this companion illustration for my upcoming  book Wounds: New Openings Into Old Stories but it is finally ready. I am so pleased with it.

I gave you a hint that it was a mythical creature that was associated with virgins. Well done for those who guessed vampire.

This comes from the story The Call of the Owl which deals with the importance placed on virginity, especially in religious and rural communities and the consequences of breaking with culteral traditions . I was influenced by the play The Crucible about the Salem witch trials as well as descriptions of honour killings that I read about in the news.

This story takes place in winter and so I wanted a snowy scene. I ended up using iridescent sequins for snowflakes which i later felt quite bad about due to the fact that they are made of plastic, but i consoled myself with the fact that I will never buy them again.  I used the same shiny red fabric for blood as I did for my illustration about the glass slippers.

I have 7 more to go and then every story in the book will have artwork to go with it. I do hope you can come to the book launch and see it in person.