Binky McKee Illustration
  • The Weekly
  • Cats and Kitties
  • Oaks and Objects
  • Folktales and Fairytales
  • About

The Weekly

26 July

7/26/2020

 
Picture
I have been so grateful for good weather recently - for getting washing done and out on the line! I have been doing daily washes of B’s work clothes and weekly washes of dust sheets (there are about 8 massive sheets plus old bedsheets) and towels while he has been redecorating the old house, in readiness to hand over to its new owners. The regular loads of towels and bedding also must not be neglected, and I also capitalise on good drying weather to launder all the dog’s bedding. Yes, she has a bed in every room and the task of stinky-fighting is never ending. On top of that, house guests who impatiently waited for lockdown restrictions to be lifted have come tumbling in through the door in a whirlwind of joyful reunion - more bedlinen, cooking, barbecues resulting in a delightfully busy time.

So, I haven’t yet managed to start back at work yet quite as full time as I had imagined. I have started gathering things together, but that’s as far as it has gone. The photo above is a detail of my shopping list on the fridge door the other day, showing creativity must out one way or another! Doodles everywhere.

Thanks for visiting, see you next week!

19 JULY: Where have I been?

7/19/2020

 
Picture
We have just had the busiest 3 weeks. As soon as lockdown restrictions were eased here in Scotland it was all hands on deck as we focused our full attention on our old house which has been on the market for nearly two years. We do have buyers, an enthusiastic young couple who are a perfect fit for the property and itching to move in, and it was actually all systems go on the sale back in February. Of course everything then suddenly came to a halt, and we couldn’t even get out to the house to do routine maintenance and cleaning etc until 3 weeks ago.

It’s an old house and had been sitting empty all through the winter followed by lockdown, but in all that time it had fared better than expected. Nonetheless, the usual list of tasks and jobs had stacked up along with the cobwebs, and naturally we wanted to make sure the house was as spick and span as possible before the buyers made their first visit since before lockdown. It was lovely to be back there, cleaning and repainting, warming the place through and generally bringing it back to life. It was a very rewarding time, but any thoughts I may have entertained about getting any artwork done during that time quickly vanished. Also, we had disconnected the phone and internet when we moved out, so no blogs or Instagram happened at all! To cap it all, once we finished work on the house we both came down with a nasty norovirus type tummy bug last week.

However, everything is done and we are much better now. The world is beginning to open up a little into the ‘new normal’ and things are moving on - so I am hoping that this coming week I will be able to start getting back into my work. I always try to make both my blogs as different as possible to reflect the differing areas of my work, but naturally, as Binky McKee and Heather Eliza Walker are actually both me, this week’s entry will have to do for both! Although I did post a winter picture here and a summer one on Heather Eliza's blog, so they are a bit different.

​Thanks for visiting, see you next week!

    Picture
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Welcome to my illustration blog, where I share what I have been up to during the week.
    I illustrate under the pen-name of Binky McKee, McKee being my mother's maiden name. Binky was the name of every single cat my great-grandmother kept - about 40 of them during her 94 years of life.
    Currently I am working on illustrating a children's book, pattern making, and of course I can't resist a good Instagram challenge such as Folktale Week or Inktober.

    I hope you enjoy your visit!
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Picture
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    I keep lots of scrapbooks and sketchbooks where I develop ideas and design little creatures. Here's a peek inside one ...
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Picture
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Picture
    As you may know, I am also known as Heather Eliza Walker.
    Click the image if you would like to find out more and visit my other website.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    ​Instagrams
    HeatherElizaWalker
    Binky_McKee

    ​Redbubble Shop
    BinkyMcKee​
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Picture

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Picture

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    All
    Book Illustration
    Business
    Cats
    Characters
    Christmas
    Crows
    Dogs
    Drawing
    Floral
    Folktale Week
    Goals
    Hallowe'en
    House & Home
    Inktober
    Inspiration & Advice
    Just Life
    Lettering
    Lockdown
    Merchandise
    Moon
    Painting
    Pareidolia
    Patternmaking
    Play
    Stars
    Still Life
    Technique
    Trees
    Watercolour

    RSS Feed

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Picture
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    This time, take a peek into my ceramic design sketchbook. I actually made some of the mugs, but I kind of prefer the drawings! The plate designs are painted on paper plates, a most liberating process.
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Picture
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    These watercolours are from my pattern sketchbook. I used coloured wax crayons to resist the washes of watercolour, also home-made rubber stamps dipped in bleach then printed on crêpe paper - the bleach takes out the paper dyes.
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Picture
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    A sketchbook I used for mark-making with unusual objects - corks, seed-heads, feathers, home-made rubber stamps, my fingers and lots of flicky things ...
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • The Weekly
  • Cats and Kitties
  • Oaks and Objects
  • Folktales and Fairytales
  • About