Back home in Oxfordshire

Hello everyone,I'm back in OXON with Robbie and took a few days to recover, adjust and flip into UK living.Look at this little guy!Theo is so much bigger and so much gentler. Robert has him so incredibly well trained and disciplined. I'm so impressed.This week I jumped into the car and drove to the market on the wrong side of the road on the wrong side of the car and felt very easy about it.Also this week I cleared the cobwebs out of my studio and got reacquainted with my space again.Would you like to see some new art supplies?I bought some watercolours in Slovakia, in an art store in Piestany. I bet that's the best place to sell art supplies to all the happy spa customers.These watercolours are so cool because the little pallets hook on top of each other and form a small tower with a plastic lid. So much fun.And in Prague, I bought a new set of chalk pencils. A full set with loads of exquisite colours. Believe it or not, I've never had a full set of chalk pencils in my arsenal and I use them all the time in my art.I've also brought back a ton of ephemera; old maps, old passports, documents...And this little painting, painted by a street artist in Prague. I fell in love witht he bright, happy colours.I'll find a frame for it and it will join my studio collection.It's a small but special to me collection.In it is this large, vintage oil painting I bought at the car boot sale for just a pound or two. I loved it at first sight.I feel really lucky to have one of Robert's mother's paintings in my studio hanging beside my own art.(R's mother's on left, one of my oils on right)I also have three of Robert's father's paintings here on my wall. They are all wonderful inspiration.For a primary little art session the other day, chose a map of the area where my summer cottage used to be.I looked at it for a while but the only obvious choice was to paint that bird I saw flying below me when I was looking down from Strekov Castle. I did a lot more blowing up of the three photos I managed to take of it and concluded that it wasn;t a gyrfalcon but probably a rough-legged buzzard.And so I decided to go with that and paint him.Especially when I'm dealing with an old and delicate map...this one is beyond fragile with old paper glued onto canvas...I will draw my subject on transparent paper to get it right before I place it on the map. Often these papers are a one-shot deal and there is no erasing possible.As soon as I get anywhere with this painting, I'll show you. :DIn other news!I've had the most wonderful day out with Robert at the Thames at our favourite little pub The Rose Revived.And that is because I met this beautiful girl in real life!Thsi is my friend Julie and she lives in New Zeland and writes the blog Frog Pond Farm.Julie and her husband Andrew were in the Uk visiting his father and made the drive over to us so we could meet each other in person.So we had lunch together and sat under the willows......beside Newbridge; the 13C bridge across our area of the Thames.We chatted for hours and fed left-over french fries and peas to the cygnets,and watched the narrow boats float by.