In my last two posts I have shown illustrations of 'Christeve the Cat'. These images are from a project I worked on from 2000 til 2004, focusing on children, education and our environement.

The project addressed children from ages three to six. Sadly work came to a halt in 2004, however, it had a great deal of validity and there is no question that it was enjoyed by children and adults alike.

Along with becoming popular in Welsh schools where I was living and working at the time, the stories of Christeve the Cat were shown as a monthly column on the WRC Media website for one year. WRC Media is a huge educational publishing corporation based in New York.
For my American readers it is the home of The Weekly Reader - an educational magazine which has gone into American schools for over one hundred years.

I began the project because I felt strongly about education and environmental issues. I feel that the only way we are really going to make core changes in our society is to reach children with positive messages in their formative years.

Putting aside all my fine art work and tutoring for four years, I focused all of my energy on the project with a view to it providing an on going income through royalties. In turn affording me the freedom to create without the pressures of always having to sell!

Although the project didn't pan out, since 2004, life has taken its twists and turns and brought me to a very good place where I am once again able to explore with freedom the creative process.

Christeve the Cat was a real cat. She died aged 20 just two years ago. She came to me on a very stormy Christmas Eve in 1996 when I was living in Wales - hence the name Christeve.

Here is a picture of Christeve with some of her friends that Janet the Artist painted! This photograph was taken in my studio in Wales.

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Here she is again surrounded with ideas I was exploring at the time.

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Today there is much talk about carriculum changes in our primary school education. Given that this is the most important time for learning, the foundation block on which all other ideas and knowledge will be formed, any decisions made will be of the utmost importance.

One thing I do feel strongly about, and that is putting much more of an emphasis on creative thinking and the creative process.

Would love to hear any thoughts on that.

It looks like quite a nice day here in London.

A Bientot