Afghans - as in blankets and not dogs. Although as I mention dogs I have a different Tail(sic) to tell. I was approached by an author this week to produce a series of children's illustrated books about the life of a dog (of which Dylan Thomas jumps to mind) and when ever I think about Dylan Thomas I can see his boots lying under his desk, in his cottage in Laugharne, pushed under slightly apart and the toes pointing out and into those boots step my Grandad, Jim Ince a big, bold, rounded man. Red in the face from drinking more than his fair share of Indian Pale Ale and working on too many building sites before the advent of power tools. Which makes me think of how much craft and workmanship we have lost with the use of all power tools. Before the craftsman worked the materials with art and feeling, crafting, sculpting and manipulating the materials just as hand knitters do still - which brings me back to knitted Afghans which I have been painting this week. These are for a book by my again favourite publisher CICO Books.
