With only a week to the Painted Carnival of the Animals concert in Cheltenham, I am working hard practising how to create the illustrations in time to music. It’s a crazy process and I am certainly getting through a heck of a lot of paper and ink!
It’s great music; the more I hear it, the more admiration I have for Saint-Saens and his dazzlingly imaginative use of the instruments. But… and there IS a but… the music is sometimes so short! And I mean really short. 35 seconds short. What kind of animal can I sketch in 35 seconds? Well, I suppose you’ll have to come to find the answer!
Meanwhile, as I practise, you should see the mess in my studio! On second thoughts, maybe you shouldn’t… But here is my table laid out ready to start painting.
And here’s a pride of lions scattered on the floor…
I especially like this one…
I have created new verses to narrate around the music, each a riddle to give clues; the animal will then be revealed in an illustration as the music is performed. So I will not show any of the others just yet!
Three brilliant young musicians will join me to play the music. I expect Jonathan, Alex and Rebecca are practising just as hard as I am! I’m really looking forward to working with them on what I’m sure will be a truly crazy fast moving concert, perfect for children and families.
Don’t forget get to buy raffle tickets – you could win one of the pictures created during the performance! And all money raised will go directly to the Cheltenham Music Festival Education programme to support their ongoing work in schools.
For information and ticket availability, please visit the Cheltenham Music Festival website HERE
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