Oh Whistle, And I'll Come To You, My Lad

Writer and publisher Susan Hill has produced a book in three weeks. It is a ghost story by M. R. James for which I engraved two small illustrations. Read about it (and buy it for Christmas stocking fillers) here.

I engraved both images on a single piece of resurfaces Victorian boxwood:

It was decided to crop the image slightly to exclude the boat which made the scene too tranquil. I am looking forwards to seeing the engraving embossed on the cover of the book.

The story is apparently set in Aldeburgh and, co-incidently, we have just returned from a long weekend there, staying in the caretakers cottage in the grounds of the Red House, home of composer Benjamin Britten and Singer Peter Pears.

We were very lucky with the weather and enjoyed walks along the beach (fishing boats and Maggi Hambling's "Scallop". We also visited Snape with its wonderful expanse of reed beds viewed from the famous concert hall and shope at the Maltings.

I am currently printing a run of bookplates which marks the end of a very busy engraving year.