About jane
Much of what I have done in the past, including details of my published books, is to be found on my own website www.janewaller.co.uk
But come to this site, designed and kept up to date by Michael, to find out what I’ve been doing recently, what I’m working on, or what’s coming up.
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WRITING, WRITING, WRITING
I’ve been spending much of my time writing in the last few months, mostly on my memoir ‘Me Jane’ (see details in the column on the left);
NEW !!!
”BELOW THE GREEN POND”
But recently I have been taking a new look at my first published children’s novel. In it, Owen, a young boy, falls into a pond and shrinks to the size of the micro-organisms which live there. As in all my books for children, I try to combine entertainment and instruction, so the various inhabitants of the pond live (and die) as they would in real life, and most of them are known by their scientific names: Daphnia, Dugesia Lugubris, Cristatella, Victorella and Volvox, for example. And Owen’s first underwater friend (Sedilla, the water flea) teaches him - and the readers of the book - a lot about what goes on in the world around us, without most of us being aware of it.
“The Algae are the most important part of our pond,” explained Sedilla.”They cover nearly the whole surface and give us food and oxygen to breathe. And all by using the light from the Sun. The process is called photosynthesis.”
“Whatever does that mean?” asked Owen, feeling even smaller.
“Really, your ignorance astounds me,” said Sedilla. “Have you no knowledge of Greek?”
“No”, said Owen, his eyes widening. These Pond-creatures were putting him to shame. “Please explain”.
“It’s a very simple Greek word. Photo means light, and synthesis means putting-together. That wasn’t too difficult now, was it?”
When it came out (way back in 1982!), The Federation of Children’s Book Groups voted it among the ‘Pick of the Year’, which is to say it formed part of a short ‘selection of recommended books for families, tried and tested by children, and voted the best of the year’.
The judges wrote that
‘Owens’s underwater world is both beautiful and treacherous. Natural history turned into an exciting adventure, much enjoyed by a wide age range’
Click here to read what the critics said about it
(And if you’re interested in re-publishing ‘Below the Green Pond”, contact me via Michael on michaelvr@metronet.co.uk)
”A STITCH IN TIME” part two
This has now been published , I am glad to say. Susan and Gavin have done a marvellous job, and should feel very proud.
Click here to see the cover, and read something about the history of this title.
Scott Willis (a friend of Susan’s daughter Charlie) offered to make a video of one of the photo-shoots, which can now be seen on Vimeo. Click on the link below.
CONTEMPORARY ART FAIR 7-9 October 2011
The Rudolf Steiner people at Kings Langley are to be congratulated on how well they organised their very first art exhibition. It was very well attended, and I sold one of my ballet drawings.
All the works exhibited celebrate the female form, ranging from dance and nude drawings to various ways of depicting women in ceramics, from incised outlines on a bowl to a naked figure reclining on the edge of a dish.
BUCKS OPEN STUDIOS 18 June to 3 July 2011
“The exhibition looked good again this year, and we had a large number of very positive comments from visiting members of the public . Sadly, this wasn’t reflected in sales, and I made less money this time round.
Partly this is due to the fact that a number of friends and neighbours bought something last year, on what was their first visit to the venue. But I can hardly expect them to do so on a yearly basis. Still, when I visit them, it’s always cheering to see one of my drawings, pots or figures prominently displayed.
Another factor is that a high proportion of visitors live in houses which are absolutely crammed full of things already and would have to throw things out in order to find room for anything more. Still, that won’t make me stop working.”
DRAWINGS & CERAMICS
And click here to see some of the drawings I’ve been doing of Dancers in Movement.
CERAMICS
Above, there is a photograph from a series of ceramic cornucopias I have produced on the theme of the harm we are inflicting on our planet. This green form represents reptiles and amphibians, while others deal with the land, forests, the air, the sea and so on. Look out for a blog or album entry giving more details and photos of the project.
WRITING
My two most recent published works are both knitting books. The first is:
Knitting Fashions of the 1940s: styles, patterns and history, published by The Crowood Press (2006, reprinted 2009) ISBN 1-86126-862-9.
and the second is an updated republication, co-written with Susan Crawford, of the classic
A Stitch in Time: knitting and crochet patterns of the 1920s, 30s, 40s & 50s. Arbour House Publishing (2008) ISBN 978-0-9556206-2-1
www.knitonthenet.com/stitchintime/
(But see above for details of A Stitch in Time: part 2)
The method of contacting me through my website is not working at the moment, but you can send me a message through Michael’s email address, michaelvr@ metronet.co. uk
Jane
What I’ve been doing
