The Chester Zoo

In January 2005, Christeve was now living with Mike and Marilyn Smith on Mill Street.

I was trying my best to construct new routines within this very different framework, and basically to stay sane. At the same time, I was still determined not to declare bankruptcy, and so was dealing with all of that.

In February of 2005, Heather and Andrew returned from a visit to Chester.
Heather had seen an advertisement in the local paper where the Chester Zoo was looking for an 'artist in residence.' As Heather said, it had my name on it!

In fact, I had already begun to think that maybe I would have to move from Crickhowell and broaden my horizons.

I immediately sent off for an application and details. It sounded perfect. The post was for one year. Along with accommodation, there would be a stipend, plus whoever was selected would be involved with educational programmes in the zoo. At the end of the residency, there would be an exhibition of work produced during the year by the selected artist.

For the next two weeks, I did nothing else but work on the application. When completed I was pleased with the way it looked.

Having worked with The Philadelphia Zoo and been recognised as a wildlife painter for many years, I felt qualified for the post. Added to that was my work on the Christeve project, which was all about animals, environment and education. I felt that my application had substance.

Here is a poster I produced for the Philadelphia Zoo in 1989. It was called 'Little Cats Helping Big Cats' The domestic cat represented the International Cat Association, and the Tiger was from the Philadelphia Zoo. It raised a lot of money towards building a new area for the tigers at the zoo.

detail

Chester Zoo had informed applicants of when they would announce the short list. Those selected would then be interviewed. Given that I was 59 at that time, I was hoping that my application would be strong enough for me to get on the short list. An interview would show that I was still ambulatory and energetic!

It was a bank holiday weekend in April. Heather and Andrew were away, and the letter arrived from the Zoo on the Saturday morning. I didn?t make the short list.

At any other time, this would have been disappointing, but given what I was going through, it really was devastating. I remember thinking, I could do something totally mad, or paint my way through this, and thank goodness I chose the latter.
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Yesterday afternoon, I went to see 'Slum Dog Millionaire' It was wonderful, and I cannot recommend it enough.

So much in one film....so many aspects of human kind ? it touched me to the core, and is probably a movie I will want to see again.

Today, all things being equal, my furniture arrives. I am really looking forward to this.

A Bientot