Dungeons & love have been praying on my mind of late my friends. I have become immersed in the intoxicating world of Game Of Thrones! I have resisted for too long. But now find myself watching the series & reading the books at the same time. Soon I shall overtake the celluoid version of the tales & be left with the books. I do love books. Sitting on the train to work the world falls away as I am transported to the world of George RR Martin’s creations. I AM OBSESSED!

So anyway, I’d love to stay & chat but I need to get back to my book, Lord Eddard Stark is in terrible danger & who knows what will happen to Tyrion Lannister!

To celebrate my love for this new found fetish I have created a collage on honour of the main families in the books.

How easy it would be to transform the previous paragraph into an animated gif is anyone’s guess. I am thinking it would take 500 monkeys, 25 years just to turn the Apple Mac on & register their copy of Adobe Photoshop just to start the fucking task. But animated gifs have been playing on my mind for some time now. (Since yesterday afternoon). While conducting some research for an illustration project, time & again animated gifs popped up on my screen like Texan strippers covered in BBQ juice. I was at the same moment appalled & wild with lust. What strange beasts these animated gifs are! Like Gizmo in Gremlins or Ludo in Labyrinth, vulnerable creatures with hidden strengths, capable of horrifying acts that would leave you swimming in your on filth & screaming for your scout leader.

With this in mind I set myself to the task of learning how to make these magical creatures. BELOW IS MY FIRST EFFORT. Prepare yourselves for a flood of such animated atrocities over the coming weeks, months & years.

Yes my friends, love. LOVE is the theme of this week’s blog. Ok, using the term ‘this week’s blog’ is a stretch of the imagination. I have been busy & neglected you, not blogging for many months. But like a mother cat with many kittens, I welcome you back with open paw to my swollen & lactating nipples. So, love. Why love? Because, & remember you should never start a sentence with ‘because’. BECAUSE, i’m reading a book about Picasso, by Francoise Gilot.

Francoise was old randy Pablo’s muse for many years & mother to two of his children. You’re arty types, you already knew this. It is a fascinating read of the power Picasso had over people in general, I’m only a quarter way through the book & it’s a riveting read. I never knew Pablo had such an obsession with minotaurs! And his sausage story involving Max Jacobs is hilarious! Genius artist & he loved a good practical joke, what more could you ask for? I am now going out to buy a Breton t shirt & to steal someone’s sausage as soon as I finish writing this.

I illustrated a homage to Picasso, his love of minotaurs & the danger of getting lost in a romance with such a legendary figure.

Love is a maze.