BOWERBIRD: Ideas | words | pictures

Summer101: final Bowerbird sales

2010-10-20T13:54:00.000-05:00

Not only is the show nearing it's end, but so is my time on island. I went to take down my artwork and found a lovely surprise, TWO of my paintings have sold in the last few days. There I was thinking the euphoria of selling my work was behind me when it snuck up on me again.

Enduring love on Seven Mile

My two wooden framed 'doodles' will find their new home in a Michiganian's Summer House, I'm told they thought my work was perfect for it and reasonably priced too. Score!

People Watching on Seven Mile Beach

Although I'm sad not to be able to keep them myself, I'm pleased that a little piece of Bowerbird will reach another home and nest. Sorry Mum, looks like that's two less paintings for your walls.

Sketchbook: concertina Plantana

2010-10-06T16:16:00.004-05:00

As the days slowly evaporate I'm trying to make sure I have some record of my surroundings. A grey drizzly afternoon left me sat under the an awning in the garden sketching my home.

Plantana - we're are mostly obscured by the palm tree in this view, but I focussed on our block, we're the second floor and have the most divine view of Seven Mile Beach every day. I added Plantana's logo as I'm rather fond of it.

Hidden lounger - waiting for the rain to pass, I spied this reclusive lounger almost totally hidden by foliage.

I'm really partial to the chunky and simple furniture at Plantana, so lovely to draw, lots of clean lines too.

Commission: painting work in progress

2010-09-30T19:55:00.002-05:00

Work in progress triptych painting for PT

Seffer Studios

2010-09-26T14:35:00.001-05:00

So I've been thinking about what souvenir artwork I'd like to buy before I leave this little island, I know I've created my own art and keepsakes but I've fallen for the charms of several local artists, including Mike and Renate Seffer. They've featured in a few of The Ritz-Carlton gallery shows and they're super talented.

Mike's high sheen resin-ed art is beautiful and unlike anything I've seen, while Renate's colour use blows me away. I'd love to own originals of both but I think a giclee print may have to suffice for now, but one day. One day. I took a trip out to Seffer Studios in West Bay and had a closer look at their art.

Neatly stacked Seffer work, the sheen of Mike's resin artwork can be seen in the left pieces.

Four of Renate's colourful canvases - excuse the feet

A looser group of figures in this framed watery piece

I love the colour and the organisation of this unit full of art

This is one of Renate's photos taken of her artwork in Full of Beans cafe for a show called Summer Daze, I'm particularly taken with the one on the right "96 degrees in the shade".

Sketchbook: concertina flowers

2010-09-21T15:16:00.001-05:00

Two more pages from the concertina sketchbook, these pictures have come out a little yellow, the Plantana planter is still a little wet in the pic too so the colours haven't fully shown. Both are acrylic and ink. The 'Table Flowers' image was inspired by Roland Richardson, an island painter from St. Martins whose amazing love of colour inspired me to get the paint out.

Sketchbook: concertina Plantana

2010-09-20T18:12:00.002-05:00

More pages are starting to fill up in the concertina sketchbook, here are a few of my watercolour efforts around our condo, Plantana. I'm enjoying the 'wonkiness' of the furniture in these watercolour sketches.

Introducing: Loco

2010-09-20T17:29:00.000-05:00

Say hello to Loco, he's exceptionally friendly and he's our Caymanian equivalent of Wilson, if you've seen Castaway you know what I mean.

While I was filling up my concertina sketchbook, I spotted this fellow and decided to enhance his features and adopt him, this way PT has some company after I leave the island. Well, say hello then.

Sketchbook: concertina beaches

2010-09-18T13:53:00.000-05:00

Look at my amazing new sketchbook! It's a concertina design which looks like a regular sketchbook from the outside but stretches out accordion-style. I can't believe I haven't used it until now, I brought it out with me and test drove it last night at Barker's Beach while PT windsurfed.

Barker's Beach 1: towards Rum Point - pen and watercolour

Barker's blues 1 & 2 - watercolour, sand and pen

PT is lost / Barker's towards West Bay - watercolour and pen

In the above image, as you can tell from the title, PT got lost, the wind zoomed him up and away towards West Bay, he eventually abandoned his windsurf on the beach and we had to retrieve it with the jeep about half a mile further up the beach!

My sketches below, show PT battling the wind and the choppy waves until he disappeared from view, note the sketches which became a mere triangle, line and a dot (top of image), this was all I could make out of PT and his windsurf on the far horizon.

A day in the life: Bowerbird

2010-09-16T16:49:00.002-05:00

A day in the life: Bowerbird by TheBowerBird featuring a red brooch
A floral Yumi dress, glasses, high bun and hair flowers. Bopping along to Amy Winehouse, sipping on smoothies and doodling, writing and flipping through Vogue. Not a bad first day of redundancy!

Full disclosure: I've just become hooked on Polyvore, a super east site that allows you to make moodboards in a snap. Here's a summery of my day, what I've worn, done and listened to. Also, the redundancy part, it's soooo quiet on island at the moment that I'm not working in The Gallery, just for now. Hopefully.

Rainy season is making me think of an English Autumn

2010-09-16T13:54:00.000-05:00

Hello from my tiny island, although not as tiny as the sister islands I visited last weekend. We had a whirlwind tour of Little Cayman (airport) and Cayman Brac. It is truly incredible how those people live there, I for one already miss the shops of London town. Yes, call me materialistic, but I don't need to buy, just need to be around the new beautiful things. Sorry about that. This is Grand Cayman's East End, the rustic and idyllic end of our island. Pretty huh?

This week it's been very rainy, I feel for the tourists when it's like that, there's little else to do when it rains, this is very much an outdoor kind of place. All this precipitation has me thinking about England and the Autumnal weather I will return to in October/November and I must admit I'm pretty excited about it. Don't tell the boy!

I spotted a competition over at Zuneta, a great online beauty website who keep me informed of seasonal make up changes, not that I ever do anything different, but I still like to know, you know? Anyway, the competition is to say how you'd spend £200 at Laura Ashley or Zuneta, so I got greedy and told them I'd spend £200 at each store, by creating the perfect Autumnal night in. I got a little carried away and created the mood-board above.

The perfect Autumnal night in, involves low lighting, a Malin & Goetz mojito candle, a rich Sjal face mask while painting my toes in Essie's 'little brown dress' and relaxing back on my Elsham Chunky Knit throw and cushions (they're called Vittorio and Henry) while re-reading one of my favourite books, The Time Traveler's Wife and nibbling on chocolate, watching the candle light flicker off those fabulous mirrors. Isn't that bird so Bowerbird?! There's still a few days to enter if you're up for it head over to Zuneta.

As I finish typing this, the sun is coming out and I can see the rainwater mistily evaporating, it's kind of beautiful in a OMG it's humid kind of way. I leave you with my favourite picture from our adventurous day in Cayman Brac last Saturday. I'm atop a rock looking out over The Bluff, a 140 foot sheer drop down to the ocean. It was a beautiful if fleeting moment and one I should remember when I next face a cold Autumnal day in London.

Summer101: gallery reshuffle and some NEW work-ish

2010-09-01T15:59:00.000-05:00

It's been a little while since I last posted, and I have plenty of excuses but I don't think you want to hear them, instead I'm posting new pics (apologies for the graininess, I'm using my old ancient camera just to make sure I post SOMETHING today, better pics to follow).

We've had a pretty slow month for art sales in The Gallery, so I decided to try something new and frame some of my pen and ink illustrations to test the water with. These are cheaper than the paintings and have a crisp white matte and wooden frame, what do you think?

"Enduring Love on Seven Mile" "Reading at Smith's Cove" and "People Watching on Seven Mile Beach", all dip pen and ink on watercolour paper - hang top to bottom next to the existing paintings.

Summer101: second Bowerbird sale

2010-07-23T09:08:00.000-05:00

Great news! Yesterday I sold my second painting to a lovely family who I'd hoped would buy it after they showed interest earlier in the week. The son and father of the family tried paddleboarding for the first time while staying at the Ritz-Carlton this week and wanted a memento of their holiday!

I was happy to oblige with this sale, and love that I could share the story behind the painting with them. It really is an honour meeting the people who will own your work, you get a glimpse into their lives and why they want your artwork in it - which so rarely happens in galleries.

Summer101: what's in a name?

2010-07-04T17:10:00.000-05:00

Sometimes the name of a painting can be enough to sway a purchase, so I'm throwing this out to you, what should this painting be called? It's more traditional that my other pieces, but also more impressionist.

It's 12" x 9" mixed media on canvas, based on an image taken at dusk/twilight on Seven Mile Beach.

It's also better viewed from a distance. :-)

Any name with a hint of Cayman, Seven Mile or local spots also is favourable as a holiday memento, but I'm open to all suggestions. Answers in the Comments please.

Summer101: windsurfing

2010-07-04T16:51:00.002-05:00

The trouble for PT is that I give with one hand and take with the other. For example, the painting of him learning his use his new windsurf I made for him, suddenly had to disappear from our walls and be 'loaned' to The Ritz-Carlton gallery. Above is "Windsurfing - try, try, try again".

I did however promise to create him a better, more PT-like version as an apology, which is his for keeps. For now. Image below is "Perseverance", can you spot the difference?

Swimming with turtles

2010-07-03T22:14:00.002-05:00

Today PT and I swam with turtles, specifically green sea turtles, and it was amazing. We had our snorkel gear and we swam above, alongside and after them, if was like featuring in Finding Nemo. They are so graceful, streamlined and fast.

Since we've officially entered rainy season/hurricane season, the weekends are now having to be filled with rainy day activities. We decided to visit Boatswain's Beach in West Bay, locally known as the turtle farm.

The attraction is focused towards turtle conservation, but it's a sad truth that they also grown some of the turtles to sell for their meat, which hit the headlines earlier this year when the price of turtle meat soared. Irrespective of how it tastes (and I have no idea how it tastes) these creatures are beautiful and undeniably cute in baby form.

You're able to hold the baby turtles, by simply picking them up from their holding tanks (they're grouped by age and size), it's wonderful to view and touch these creatures, but it's even better seeing them in the water and swimming in their world.

Boatswain's Beach also has nature trails (which we couldn't complete due to the storm that came), a predator tank full of sharks, lagoons and a Caribbean aviary, where we saw parrots and wading birds. The bright red ibises are so beautiful as are the cheeky Cayman parrots which camouflage perfectly in their trees with tiny pink flowers.

Summer101: first Bowerbird sale

2010-07-03T21:49:00.000-05:00

I arrived at the Ritz at midday and by 12:05 a gentleman arrived at my Gallery Information desk requesting a haggle on the price of a painting, "Ah well, that all depends on the artist and their generosity" I smiled back, "it's this one" he points. "Ahhh", I said, well "I'm up for a bit of haggling".

And 30seconds later I had a sale, my first sale in the gallery was also MY first sale. What a buzz! I had the privilege of meeting the couple who fell in love with the painting, something that few artists get to do, and give them a little more information about it.

Interestingly, after the 'sold plaque' went up, in exchange for the painting, a string of people proclaimed their sadness at the painting being sold, which was added bonus. I've now got the weekend to create a few more images, which hopefully will go to new homes soon. Watch this space.

Summer101: updated artwork and more doodles

2010-06-26T16:54:00.002-05:00

"Ochre Urchin" has been updated and now has a bright blue background, which I think works better.
10" x 10" mixed media on canvas.

Here's a new addition, "Enduring Love" is based on a sketch I did early on in my days in Grand Cayman, a lovely old couple holding hands in the sea. 11" x 14" mixed media on canvas.

I recreated the paddle-board sketch on this 14" x 11" canvas, since PT has taken a shine to the original one I made. I'm hoping the Ritz-Carlton guests will also take a shine to this piece, which goes into the gallery this week.

Sketchbook: Barker's Beach

2010-06-20T15:24:00.002-05:00

After a weekend on the deserted beaches of Barker's National Park, deserted bar the pony treks of course, here's a sketch of PT (thankfully) returning to the shore after zipping away on a very choppy sea and gusty breeze.

We're both sandblasted, salt-licked and in need of some shade now.

The horseman appeared from under the sea-grape trees in the far left, so they were a swift addition to the image.

Summer101: work in progress

2010-06-17T12:58:00.000-05:00

Here are three of the pieces I'm working on for the upcoming show at the Ritz. You'll recognise 'Nurse Leila's Garden' the other two are 'Ochre Urchin' and 'Paddle Boarding 101' they are on 10" x 10" canvases and are looking for good homes if you happen to be passing the show.

P.S excuse the feet.

Coming soon: Bowerbird in the Ritz-Carlton gallery

2010-06-13T18:08:00.005-05:00

Here's the latest draft of the flyer I've made for the show, and look, my image 'Nurse Leila's Garden' is the main poster image, I'm classed as one of the "New Artists" and I'm very excited about it. Watch this space for featured artwork.

P.S. That's a font I designed last year for a certain international razor company, the font is called "Smooth legs" and I thought it worked well for the flyer, what do you think, Summery?

Spring break - I'm back!

2010-06-13T18:02:00.000-05:00

So much to say, so little time, I left the island to attain a work permit, and now I'm back and raring to go. Trying to make the most of the time I have on the island. Above is a painting (Chicken!Chicken!), named after a local restaurant and is a leaving present for my good friend Tammy, who returned to England this week.

Say hello to London for me Tammy. I'll be back to posting here and documenting our time on island. More soon.

2010: The unnamed writer by Elise Valmorbida

2010-04-18T15:26:00.003-05:00

Here is a mind

caught in the elision

between personal, political.

Here is a nib

charged with invisible ink

that under iron heat

turns blood-brown.

Here is a silence.

(Death happens in brackets)

but still you can hear

the bell of the voice,

chiming, tolling,

the scratching of the pen.

Elise Valmorbida is a favourite author of mine, responsible for the endearingly beautiful The Book of Happy Endings, however this time Elise's subject matter is a tribute to the unnamed writer. Those writers in the world who are not permitted to write freely and without fear of persecution. As a blogger, I am grateful that I live in a country which actively promotes freedom of speech - and written word.

Valmorbida was tasked with writing the final of 50 written tributes to persecuted writers, to correspond with the 26:50 events on the South Bank this week. In my humble opinion this piece is as powerful as it is tender. 26 and PEN are both organisations close to my heart and I've enjoyed their daily posts.

I hope their words resonate with you too.

Make your own sunshine

2010-04-11T14:39:00.000-05:00

Having left the land of perpetual sunshine and perfect sea scenes for a month in the UK, you may think I am missing the Caribbean idyll, and I am don't get me wrong, but being away from paradise makes you quite reflective.

On my English holiday I was chomping at the bit to shop, shop, shop! Grand Cayman had stifled my shopping desire with sky high prices and poor choice but me, oh my; the Spring/Summer collection on the streets of London are just beautiful and special mention must go to Banana Republic. The grown up big sister of Gap, Banana Republic sits in the mid-range, well tailored end of the high street.

My first encounter with the brand, was a heavenly one, with a plentiful staff force of fashion conscious, polite, engaging and frankly charming style advisors. A far cry from a surly, too-cool-for-school, Saturday girl work ethic demonstrated by some of the high street. The Covent Garden branch has only been open a week, but if the Spring English sunshine doesn't last beyond the weekend, how about visiting Banana Republic and as their campaign suggests make your own sunshine or at least let their staff do so. I'm still smiling over the whole experience, that and the gorgeous clothes I bought - I just need the Grand Cayman backdrop to show them off!

Sketchbook: waiting rooms

2010-03-31T13:53:00.000-05:00

I have spent seemingly endless hours in waiting rooms while I've been on this island; long, tedious hours in dull, tedious rooms. I decided to start keeping some notes and sketches, goodness knows I had the time to make them. I tried to see the charm and simplicity in a mass produced chair in a nondescript room. Here are two such examples.

Sketchbook: Smith's Cove

2010-03-31T11:56:00.001-05:00

After a lovely chilled out birthday day, Jem and I spent the afternoon at Smith's cove, sketching the jumpers. Smith's Cove is a public beach and is most often used as the backdrop for beach weddings and snorkelers, since it has a reef just metres from the beach.

Cressi fins to the rescue

2010-03-19T15:11:00.002-05:00

Last week I was heartbroken to discover that one of my fins had broken, a clean crack across my left fin, rendered it completely useless. I felt like Nemo, with his lucky-fin! What was most upsetting is that my fins and snorkel mask were a leaving present from Digit and I had no receipt.

Long story short, I emailed a wonderful man named Rob at Cressi-sub who assured me that this had happened before with their fins and that I could simply exchange them for a new pair from one of their suppliers on the island!

This was quite a leap of faith, I had received them in another country, had no proof of purchase and yet Cressi have such belief in their product that I was able to exchange them, despite the crack issue falling outside of the warranty cover.

The only downside is that Diver's World (thank you to your diligent staff) were unable to provide identical yellow fins, so I opted for the girly pink instead. Which is no drama. Right, I'm off to test these bad boys.

For all future guests at chez PT & MCB, we recommend grabbing a pair of these before you fly out, you won't regret it. We'll show you the reefs on our doorstep and the beautiful sea-life.

My sincere thanks to Rob for his superb customer service.

Nurse Leila's House

2010-03-12T17:08:00.001-05:00

Welcome to Nurse Leila's House, a picturesque lilac and turquoise building which has captured my heart, as soon as I saw it with its picket fence and vivid almond tree I wanted to paint it. Although far from my favourite painting, here's my first offering, I'm sure there will be more.

Nurse Leila's House is owned by The National Trust, and currently being cared for by Cayman Traditional Arts (CTA), and I've been helping out CTA a few days a week. So this delightful place could be my prospective new office!

Cayman Bakery doubles its order

2010-03-12T16:40:00.001-05:00

The Bowerbird Cayman Bakery continues to go from strength to strength. I'm playing about with the recipe more, and the rolls seem to be getting bigger for it. These wholemeal rolls are now a staple in the PT/MCB household so we've doubled our batch size.

Today's my day off, so it's a full day of catching up with all the fun things.

Painting: Miss Charlene

2010-03-12T10:38:00.003-05:00

Here's a painting of a lady I met at CTA (Cayman Traditional Arts), she is a thatch and weave demonstrator, here she is, in Nurse Leila's garden, West Bay.

Mixed media on paper

sketchbook: urchin

2010-03-08T18:44:00.001-05:00

Inspired by my near spiking from a black sea urchin this morning, I collected up some sea urchin shells for sketching this afternoon. They're incredibly delicate under all those spikes, see photos on Flickr.

Observations on a small island #3

2010-03-07T17:27:00.002-05:00

Here are some patterned coralloid stones I've been photographing. The brain-patterned heart is my favourite so far, we discovered these last weekend on our Rum Point wanderings. We also found this sheet of dried out coral on the beach, I imagine it was far more beautiful underwater, but it's intricacy is still very fetching.

Soundbite: missing appendages

2010-03-06T13:39:00.002-05:00

I think I was as surprised as the person to whom this question was posed. While queuing in the Department of Licensing, this chap had filled his form out incorrectly, I presume. It's not the sort of question you hear everyday delivered with such boredom too.

Sketchbook: Immigration

2010-03-06T11:10:00.002-05:00

In an effort to pass the time and document my waiting time, yes it does say 2:28min here's my banal doodle.

Soundbite: the way it has

2010-03-03T22:25:00.002-05:00

I may have lost 4 hours of my life waiting in Immigration in the last two days, but I have garnered some interesting advice.

Sketchbook: beach people 2

2010-03-01T21:56:00.002-05:00

More people watching on Seven Mile Beach.

Soundbite: darndest accent

2010-03-01T20:10:00.001-05:00

While talking to American guests at the Ritz-Carlton, gosh darned it.

Introducing Pajero

2010-03-01T19:46:00.001-05:00

Here's our new toy, the nippy and cute Pajero, here more specifically is PT trying to leave me behind on a deserted beach, the scamp. Look at his cheeky face!

We took the jeep to stretch its legs on a trip to Rum Point, it's the furthest destination on the island and took us about an hour to get to, and it was a beautiful Caribbean idyll, see them on Flickr.

A little history about our new toy, he was imported from Japan and we're the first islanders to drive him, I say him we think he's a him. We had to go and get the license plates and (PT) put them on, it's all very DIY on the island, and we're learning on the hoof, but I'm certainly relieved to have a car for food shopping, no more lugging shopping bags.

PT's been my chauffeur for the past few days, but I had to drive him to the airport today, and I was a little thrown by the automatic controls, it feels unnatural, more like driving a go-kart. I'm sure I'll get more confident driving on the island, the max speed is 40mph and no-one's in hurry so it's actually quite enjoyable driving here.

Soundbite: Hey Shirley

2010-02-26T15:36:00.001-05:00

Overheard, the bus driver on the phone to Shirley. Obviously.

Sketchbook: conch revisited

2010-02-26T15:08:00.000-05:00

You'll notice that I took my previous sketch, conch, from Cayman Ladies' Art Society (CLAS, we have an acronym, now we need a logo) and decided to experiment with some painting.

Apologies for the same composition, but this exercise was more about playing with different media. I really need to learn when to stop, as I'll naturally keep plying on the layers, but I enjoyed it all the same.

More pics of the individuals paintings on Flickr.

Sketchbook: conch

2010-02-21T18:14:00.002-05:00

Having met on Saturday morning for the inaugural Cayman Ladies' Art Society meeting I present the fruit of my first week's labours. It's a modern and bright change of pace for me, but I'm enjoying the hot pink on turquoise. (The second image is as art directed by PT, the traditionalist, who frankly hates the bright version.) What do you think?

Cayman Ladies' Art Society is an excuse to meet, eat, drink, gossip and draw, we currently comprise of three art and cake enthusiasts, an Australian, a South African and a Brit. I hosted the event this week, so with a cloudy seven mile beach as our backdrop we diligently set about sketching, rendering and painting (and eating and drinking).

We have our first Society outing this week, which pleasantly coincides with my first piece of curating. I'm assistant curator to 'Beloved Isle Cayman', the latest art exhibition at the Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman. Who knows, maybe the Cayman Ladies' Art Society will feature in the next exhibition?!

Here's the flyer for this Wednesday's event, which I also designed, I'm looking forward to meeting the artists and seeing their vivid island inspired work in person.

Sketchbook: catboats

2010-02-16T21:42:00.001-05:00

In a bid to conduct more island research and help with my potential new job, I've been learning about catboats and particularly those painted in Caymanian blue.

Sketchbook: beach people

2010-02-15T22:13:00.000-05:00

Quick doodles of passers by on Seven Mile Beach.

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T21:28:00.004-05:00

Super quick post here to say Happy Valentine's Day although you're all tucked up asleep in the UK now. Here's a heart-stone I found on the beach to adorn the dinner table, which lost me 10 points when the boy excitedly said "ooh heart shaped biscuits, what do you mean it's a stone? I got excited for a biscuit." But the meal was delicious, possibly the best we've had on the island. 10/10.

I made spaghetti and meatballs, all from scratch (except pasta), following the Hand To Mouth blog recipe, which is a food blog that you would be wise to follow. Much love. xxx

Sketchbook: beached

2010-02-13T19:20:00.001-05:00

Greetings from the island.

It's an overcast and choppy sea scene today, we had some early morning 'sun' bathing, during which I had to admire these holiday makers for their resilience, remarkably they weren't English but were bathing under grey clouds all the same.

We sampled a long and delicious lunch at an all-you-can-eat Brazilian BBQ for a birthday celebration, before moving onto cocktails at The Royal Palms. Not a bad way to spend your Saturday.

Sketchbook: all at sea

2010-02-11T20:06:00.001-05:00

While sketching by the pool, I looked up and saw this pirate ship sail by. How surreal, when did that become a normal occurrence?! It certainly made me do a double take and scribble it down into my composition.

Now walk the plank and jump in to the pool me hearties. Arrrrrrrr.

Money, money, money

2010-02-11T17:13:00.001-05:00

In my bid to educate you in the ways of the island, as cold and boring as it may sound today's lesson is money. The Cayman Islands have two things in abundance, banks and churches. I thought I'd show you the colour of money, it's kinda pretty right?

There are also $100, $50 and $5 notes, but I'm fresh out of those today. Everywhere on the island accepts both Cayman Dollars (KYD or CI as they're commonly abbreviated) and US Dollars, but you get a better rate if you use Cayman Dollars.

$25 - Golden - a map of The Cayman Islands on the back
$10 - Red/Purple - Cayman beach on the back
$1 - Blue - Angel fish on the back, which we've seen while snorkelling incidentally, they're really beautiful.

We save these Blue notes for the bus, which is $2 each way and they're not best pleased to break large notes. Although I do enjoy hearing the Caribbean tones of "Hey driverrrr, ya got change for a fif-tyyyyy" and the driver muttering under his breath.

Be as right as rain

2010-02-10T17:14:00.001-05:00

The heavens just opened on Grand Cayman, I think she needed it, there was an oppressive air hanging today. Although we've been here over a month, we're still a long way from settled, there are still many, many obstacles to overcome but we're persevering, I wish some of this would get wrapped up so that we can get on with enjoying the island.

That isn't meant to sound heavy, but we're quickly learning the quirks of (trying) to get things done here, slowly, slowly, we're getting there. We're close to getting the jeep, which I'll certainly appreciate, the four miles walking in Cayman Sunshine to the airport only to find that it was a fruitless journey was somewhat irksome.

Still, after the rain, things are brighter now, maybe we just needed a good soak. I'll try to sound like less of a drip on my next post.

Sketchbook: Sunset at Plantana

2010-02-09T18:41:00.001-05:00

I tried to capture the hazy colouring of sunset, as quickly as possible. I sketched this scene from the balcony as the sunset, scanned in the image and added the colouring on my computer while watching the lights and colours switch and swoop in front of me. It's a quick effort and by the end I was sat in near blackness but I enjoy working to a time restraint (not to mention the light restraint).

Sketchbook: Island flora

2010-02-09T17:39:00.001-05:00

On my frequent wanders around 7MB (Seven Mile Beach), I keep noticing these architectural plants. They're between 4 and 8 feet tall and essentially look like great asparagus spears with bendy branches coming from them. I'm presuming these are in different states of flower, or they could be different varieties altogether.

Either way I think they make great shapes and I wanted to share my sketches of them. Any horticulturalists recognise them?

Observations on a small island #2

2010-02-08T21:25:00.007-05:00

Introducing Sir Turtle, the man of the island, he adorns nearly everything here, so I thought I'd introduce him to you. I've been doing some research and it seems this was designed by Suzy Soto (the above is my sketch of her design) in 1963 and sold to the Department of Tourism in 1970 for the princely sum of $1 but despite this, the above design is only the 'unofficial' national logo.

If you arrive in George Town on a cruise liner you'll meet Sir Turtle at the Port Authority, by plane and he graces Cayman Airways (with the addition of a flying scarf), at every turn there is he is in all his pirate-y splendour.

It's a pretty interesting and complex design for a national logo, unofficial or otherwise, an ear-ringed pirate turtle with a wooden leg, imagine a design team convincing a tourist board of that today!

The Cayman Islands were originally named Las Tortugas by Christopher Columbus after the numerous sea turtles, and Tortuga is the name of the island rum (and the tourists' favourite Tortuga Rum Cake).

So there you have it, a little island knowledge.

Cayman Bakery

2010-02-08T13:17:00.000-05:00

As the adage goes, necessity is the mother of invention, which is why I've been nudged into baking my first ever bread loaf, and it wasn't half bad!

On this island you can either buy small sweet American style loaves, (why would you put sugar in bread? Bread is a savoury!) or stupidly expensive fresh bread, we're talking $6 for a small tin loaf, so keeping up the British desire for sandwiches I decided to give bread baking a go. Despite loving cake baking, I've avoided bread until now, but I'm pleased with the outcome.

Thanks to Ferg and Lorenza for bread advice, I made a really sticky mess of the kitchen but after several hours of rising and proving, here's the finished article. I followed this recipe with butter instead of oil, and I added a dish of water in the oven to make it a more humid baker's oven environment, a great tip from the hand-to-mouth blogger himself.

Plucky characters

2010-02-07T22:51:00.002-05:00

I've met a few characters so far on this island, but so far I'm falling for the charms of the chickens. They seem to be a tourist favourite around George Town too. They strut all over this island, on the main roads, on the dirt tracks, even in the port town.

Against the bleached gritty paths their bright plumes really pop in the sunlight. I've never had pet chickens, but in the future I could be tempted, if these plucky characters are anything to go by.

Sea Shells

2010-02-01T21:28:00.002-05:00

I've been painting some shells that I collected while snorkelling. The paintings are for our apartment, the decor when we moved in was pretty special to say the least. The colourful, beachy and tourist focused designs have their place but we had to take down the crazy metal coloured fish and I'm in charge of their replacements. So here's the first batch of shell studies.

Test shots

2010-01-29T19:42:00.001-05:00

I've been playing with my new camera, and I feel like an absolute amateur, the lighting issues are really throwing me, but I'm in a great place to learn. See some of the test shots on my Flickr.

Sketchbook: Esc The City

2010-01-25T20:39:00.002-05:00

It's National Heroes Day on the island today, so with every shop closed I had no choice but to sunbathe, sketch and cook - not a bad way to start the week. It's a good feeling to be dedicating time to drawing again, I intend to get back into my painting this week too. Here's a sketch from earlier today, entitled Esc The City, because I got in touch with Rob and Dom from Esc The City today, since I've inadvertently become part of their cause.

They encourage people to pursue a change in direction, make the leap to be more than a city worker statistic, they're really kind of special and I'm a huge fan of their philosophy. Also their Monday morning emails are very inspiring, so why not sign up for more information? Their website is a few days away from their big launch event so it's not fully operational, but do drop in.

Same sea, different view

2010-01-24T20:11:00.000-05:00

First sketch from the beach behind our condo, I'm sure at some point reality will hit but it's not right now!

Weekend of firsts

2010-01-24T17:03:00.001-05:00

As the post title suggests, we've experienced a whole host of firsts this weekend. On Friday morning we moved into our first Cayman Island home, a little beach side condo on a complex called Plantana, which as the name suggests is a green and lush place, with palms, pines and lizards galore. We are so relieved to be out of our temporary accommodation and able to start putting down roots. It's also our first home together full stop.

On Friday night we celebrated our new home by going out to meet friends of friends at a ocean-side bar in George Town and then on to dinner by the harbour, it was all very beautiful and for the first time we'd visibly relaxed to appreciate what was around us.

On Saturday we set about opening our first Caymanian bank account, but the branch was closed due the long weekend (it's National Heroes Day on Monday) so that first will have to wait until Tuesday.

I also made my first ever iced lattes, which were surprisingly easy and I also prepared and ate my first ever papaya, which was grown on the island (apparently) and was a delicious hybrid of melon and peach.

This morning we tripped down to the beach front, all of 15 seconds from our door and enjoyed a choppy ocean due to the mild Nor'wester blowing in. The winds have churned up the sea, but it has also brought new sea-life into our new backdrop. Today I spotted my first ever stingray, I was about 20 metres out and it was relatively shallow, say 3m, but oh my goodness Stingrays are enormous, I stayed about 3seconds before heading back to shore. I'm sure they're perfectly tame, but anything the size of a coffee table should be respected, especially as its bobbing towards you.

So there you have it, a weekend of firsts.

Room with a view

2010-01-20T21:34:00.002-05:00

Today we moved out of room 313 and I'd love to tell you into our sparkly new condo, but instead we moved into room 323.

Now 323 may seem deceptively close to 313, but oh no, the number-giver-outers decided to place 323 down two flights of stairs (no lifts) 300m behind the grill restaurant/breakfast room up two flights of stairs (lifts ditto) and there, sweating and panting there they placed 323, our room, hopefully for just a short duration.

So we lugged 2 giant overweight suitcases, 2 small but deceptively heavy cabin sized suitcases, 2 rucksacks, 2 computers, 2 17" flatscreen monitors, 1 suit bag, 2 handbags, 1 snorkel and flipper bag, 2 beach towels, one printer and four bags of food from 313 to 323.

Did I mention it was midday and 80 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade? Anyway, mustn't dwell on the number system, because last night we looked around a potential home where 3, 4, 22, 23, 40 and 41 all live on the same block, which is different. Maybe it's a Caymanian thing to keep them entertained at the tourists' expense?

While we keep our fingers crossed and present gifts to the Caribbean rental gods, I sit here on the bed in 232 drawing the other bed, (the room incidentally has two double beds, always handy for one couple I find, and an upgrade on 313 with just the one bed.) I sit here drawing the familiar decor. A simple and clean room, and hopefully not home for much longer. I think I've become a little obsessed with the pattern on these cushions, cabin fever has officially struck.

Speaking of which, the air conditioning unit you can just see in the picture, under the window has been lovingly named Arnold, for no good reason other than in a small room, I think you eventually go mad. No other appliance names currently exist, although if you'd like to name our tv, the brand is Sceptre, so suggestions are more than welcome. More interesting news to follow soon, hopefully...

Watch out David Attenborough

2010-01-17T19:35:00.006-05:00

Watch out, because there are two new marine biologists on the scene, in the same day that I discovered a giant lobster, Paul discovered a new species entirely! But it turns out we're both a bit rubbish and misidentified our oceanic discoveries.

I had been snorkelling for about 15minutes, the sea gets deep very quickly, I guess that's how so many cruise liners are able to get in, in some parts 5metres out I can't touch the seabed anymore. Anyway I
was swimming near some plants (is that the right term when they're underwater?) and let out an almighty scream into my snorkel. 1m below my fins was a humongous 'lobster' the size of a domestic pet and it was flicking it's long 'antennae' far too close to me for my liking. Like the good trainee marine biologist I am, I called for a second opinion. PT concurred it was humongous, but noted that it appeared to have no equally huge pincers. I rallied back that they must be hiding by its side, or may have fallen off. See, Mr. Attenborough really has nothing to fear.

Later the same day, in a different location, PT discovered a new species with the body of a fish and the face of an octopus. (I momentarily thought that maybe it was a fish eating an octopus but kept this thought to myself, I then enjoyed some moments thinking of it's hybrid name). My fellow marine biologist proudly gave the fish its eponymous name, dubbing it the 'Paul-fish'. Having gone to examine the Paul-fish I was a little creeped out, it really did have the body of a fish and the face of an octopus, and enormous eyes. Also it didn't move, just floated next to its mate next to a buoy. I got out of there incase it inked me or whatever squids do (because really I thought it was a squid type thing, but didn't want to dampen my colleague's feelings of discovery.)

Later still, that same day we spotted some American tourists snorkelling near to the Paul-fish, and one particularly mouthy Yank yelled out that he'd found some cuttlefish. "I think you'll find they're Paul-fish" PT said under his breath.

Sketchbook: punters and enduring love

2010-01-17T17:58:00.006-05:00

I was enjoying the silhouettes of the punters on the sea, although I can't fully see the point of this pastime, (are they building up to surfing, or training for Venice?) Either way they made some great shapes (and falling noises) against the calm evening sky.

We see a lot of couples strolling up and down the beach, I was told that 7 Mile Beach (7MB) is like Florida, full of retired couples and kids. I especially like to see the older couples, still making each laugh and still holding hands in the sea (while watching the falling punters). They barely move, so they're great for drawing too.

Sketchbook: Snorkelling on 7 Mile Beach

2010-01-15T21:39:00.006-05:00

Here's a sketch from the beach today, we've been test-diving my new snorkelling set, the great leaving present I got from Digit. I'm hardy a natural but it's a lot of fun. The beach was pretty quiet this evening, just a few small boats attached to their buoys.

Sketchbook: Sunshine Suites Resort

2010-01-14T18:37:00.006-05:00

Hanging around in a hammock, sketching the view, while PT was out. Still grey today, but getting warmer and a good excuse to draw the local flora.

To calm your fears

2010-01-13T11:03:00.006-05:00

As I'm sure you've seen in the news there has been a devastating earthquake in Haiti. We are lucky enough to be some 600 miles East of Haiti, and despite the fury of the earthquake they felt, we've had no aftershocks and there is no risk to Grand Cayman. All local news is reporting that we are NOT as risk of tsunami. Thank you to all those who've been in touch. It's blustery and a record low temperature for the island but that is all that's affected us.

Seeing such devastation is a reminder of the power of nature and is utterly humbling. Let's hope aid gets to Haiti as soon as possible.

Observations on a small island #1

2010-01-12T20:41:00.009-05:00

You can take the girl out of the ad industry but you can't take the ad industry out of the girl seemingly. I've become a little obsessed with American and Caribbean branding, shopping has never been so much fun!

On my first trip to the supermarket, I felt like I'd entered Springfield. The supermarket, Foster's Food Fair, had the most unbelievable logo I've ever seen. Tescos and Sainsbury's take note, you need a scary-ass clown with a fake black beard imploring your customers to believe that he cares! Awesome.

So once inside Krusty the clown's supermarket, what should one buy to drink? Step up local marketeers,
you're brewing a beer on Grand Cayman, in a Cayman brewery, Cay-brew? Caybrew! It has three stars on the design, but I'd say it barely scrapes these. Although in an effort to support the local community we'll persevere a little longer.

So it's hot, you're parched, you grab a Caybrew (which by the way at a glance has a C which looks quite a lot like a G), how do you cool down? Well you switch on your 'Big Ass Fan' of course. Yes, believe it, I was mesmerised by the enormous fan in the breakfast dining room/Caribbean shack. Trying to decipher the logo at its centre as it span around, is that a great piece of branding or what?!

But in terms of brands I've discovered in my first week, brands that do exactly what they say on the tin, Caybrew and Big Ass Fans are up there, but my personal favourite has to be Cost U Less. It's a warehouse store, think Argos Superstore combined with a cash and carry and Toys R Us. It has everything you could possibly want, electrical appliances, multipacks of Heinz ketchup, Lea and Perrins Worcestershire Sauce, garden chairs, kids' bikes and cheap meat. Oh yes, there's something so wrong but so right about buying meat from a warehouse, perhaps that's just the Northerner in me? Who cares, Cost U Less may be my new favourite shopping experience. More observations on a small island coming soon.

Nesting

2010-01-11T16:11:00.012-05:00

So you may have noticed the poll in the right hand column, it's there for a week, I'll be updating them so that you can be involved in our decisions, some will be be banal, important or just plain nonsense. But this week, we're talking property. Property in the Caribbean. Wowsers.

Thankfully I was recommended the services of a real estate agent so I've been spending time with my realtor, who for the sake of privacy (on this tiny island everyone will know who I'm referring to if I use real names) let's call her Pam. And let me tell you, realtor Pam is a diamond. She's the perfect mix of reassuringly motherly, sassy and wise-cracking. I realise I'd gotten used to the wily ways of London estate agents, but clearly as the Malibu adverts concur they're seriously easygoing over here. I tried to explain about the fierceness and fear-inducing ways of her London counterparts and she looked bemused; 'the thing is honey, I have to live on this little island too and if I sell you a bad-fit then I'd know, I'd see you all the time and just feel rotten'.

A caring estate agent?!

At one point I wandered into a walk in wardrobe squealing that I've lived in bedrooms the size of it, Pam smiles and drawls 'honey you're like Carrie in Sex And The City'. I love Pam. I think she thinks I'm a trophy wife and near slammed on the brakes when I told her I was a copywriter back in London town, I think I went up ten notches in her estimations. We got on remarkably well and I was glad I'd made such a concerted effort to plan what to wear to meet my her. You may scoff, but girls, I know you understand. Incidentally, see image above. Also that is a genuine image of a 'back-yard' I viewed. Eeeeek!

So while I continue to nosey around houses that should feature in MTV Cribs, my top three properties so far are in the locations in the poll. Beach, Quayside or in Town, what do you say Internets?

Hello New World

2010-01-11T14:45:00.004-05:00

Things have certainly changed since I started my first blog 18 months ago. I'm now living in the Caribbean, seriously, I never saw that one coming. But don't hate me, share in our adventures and discovery as we fumble our way through island life, overcoming obstacles and learning a new way of living. So here are our first tentative steps, following Christopher Columbus and discovering the New World island of Grand Cayman.

BOWERBIRD: Ideas | words | pictures

Summer101: final Bowerbird sales

Sketchbook: concertina Plantana

Commission: painting work in progress

Seffer Studios

Sketchbook: concertina flowers

Sketchbook: concertina Plantana

Introducing: Loco

Sketchbook: concertina beaches

A day in the life: Bowerbird

Rainy season is making me think of an English Autumn

Summer101: gallery reshuffle and some **NEW** work-ish

Summer101: second Bowerbird sale

Summer101: what's in a name?

Summer101: windsurfing

Swimming with turtles

Summer101: first Bowerbird sale

Summer101: updated artwork and more doodles

Sketchbook: Barker's Beach

Summer101: work in progress

Coming soon: Bowerbird in the Ritz-Carlton gallery

Spring break - I'm back!

2010: The unnamed writer by Elise Valmorbida

Make your own sunshine

Sketchbook: waiting rooms

Sketchbook: Smith's Cove

Cressi fins to the rescue

Nurse Leila's House

Cayman Bakery doubles its order

Painting: Miss Charlene

sketchbook: urchin

Observations on a small island #3

Soundbite: missing appendages

Sketchbook: Immigration

Soundbite: the way it has

Sketchbook: beach people 2

Soundbite: darndest accent

Introducing Pajero

Soundbite: Hey Shirley

Sketchbook: conch revisited

Sketchbook: conch

Sketchbook: catboats

Sketchbook: beach people

Happy Valentine's Day

Sketchbook: beached

Sketchbook: all at sea

Money, money, money

Be as right as rain

Sketchbook: Sunset at Plantana

Sketchbook: Island flora

Observations on a small island #2

Cayman Bakery

Plucky characters

Sea Shells

Test shots

Sketchbook: Esc The City

Same sea, different view

Weekend of firsts

Room with a view

Watch out David Attenborough

Sketchbook: punters and enduring love

Sketchbook: Snorkelling on 7 Mile Beach

Sketchbook: Sunshine Suites Resort

To calm your fears

Observations on a small island #1

Nesting

Hello New World

Summer101: gallery reshuffle and some NEW work-ish