The Unwinding is a collection of images and stories worked over years. Many of these I have as high resolution files, the paintings themselves having long ago been sold. Some I have no files for, and so will rework.
Returning from my travels, having won the Greenaway medal for The Lost Words I found myself to be in great need of unwinding. London was so full, with the ceremony, interviews, meetings with Hamish Hamilton about new books, with my agent. Home in my studio I find I have so much work to do. And so to settle my soul I decided to rework The Winter Queen and her Fox Lover.
There are about 4 versions of this story. I've reworked two paintings, the next thing I need to do is to gather together the versions of the story and re-write, hone, sharpen. The inspiration for The Winter Queen comes from deep in winter-time, when my neighbour's pond froze and a fox wrote tracks across the cold, hard surface of the water, telling a tale. The next day I found frost beaded feathers of a lapwing, all that remained of a meal for a fox.
I will take my notebook for a walk in the summer's heat, or maybe, later, to the beach to swim, and think and catch the words anew. In the meantime, thank you for supporting the book. It's interesting to work in this way, so close to the readers from the start of a book. ( I hesitate to call it a 'project'. I tend to think of books more as living things, wild creatures, that come alive in the minds of readers.)
As all the prints have already been pledged for, and as many people over time have asked me if the Winter Queen was available as a print I have decided to make 10 available towards funding the book.
