After pitching the tent, the next step is to exchange ticket for wrist band. As you can see, I am hoping this year's Womad weekend wrist band will be bright pink!
Putting up the tents is the first task when we arrive at the festival site. It's always great to see the camping field gradually filling with a sea of multi-coloured tents! My friends and I endeavour to get there early enough to find space to pitch our tents next to each other.
Some of the other essentials for camping at a music festival: tent (it's amazing how compact they are these days!); air bed + foot pump; bag containing change of clothes, sleeping bag, etc; The Mermaid; and, finally, wellies. Hopefully I won't actually need to wear these at Womad this year, but if I do they are at least pretty.
I've been looking forward to doing this painting of my favourite music festival bag, known to my friends as "The Mermaid". It's practical because it is plastic, so waterproof; a good size for containing essentials to have with me at all times - sunglasses, sunscreen, sketchbook and paints, water, money, etc - plus it is largely transparent, so easier to find stuff in! A delightful holiday feature of it is that the flower on the cover flap contains real sand, which shifts around reminiscent of being on a beach. Oh yes, and I am a huge fan of "The Little Mermaid" anyway : )
July's blog project is music festivals, which I love to go to in the summer. This illustration was made for a cd cover, so is not new, but it does convey summer well! I'm going to be painting lots of images associated with festivals over the month of July. 
A money clip - very practical, but I think not used by many men in the UK, which is why I have painted a stylish silver money clip full of US dollars!
Xmas cake, especially made by my sister! (I'm the family xmas pudding maker, so we do a swap.) One year my dinky xmas cake was glamourised with purple icing and a silver star. Especially nice eaten from a fine bone china plate. 
I repainted the dragonclef avatar I use for forums and my logo last week: the subtle difference being that the original one was painted using coloured inks because at the time I had not discovered W&N's "opera rose" water colour, and wanted to have intense pink! 
I'm still working on the next money illustration (and another favourite food ; )), so here is a favourite food I prepared earlier! This one is fish and chips, which is a regular meal at Dad's: I always insist on having peas, too, then he suggests gherkins and pickled onions.
I've been away for a few days, and noticed the use of this silver sauce boat as a temporary home for money being set aside for a particular purpose!
Here is a favourite dish for when friends come over: vegetarian lasagne, which I make without cheese sauce. Usually, I layer up mushrooms, tomato sauce, and lentils with the lasagne sheets, then sprinkle lots of oil and paprika on the final layer to make a crispy topping. All served with a large green salad.
I had a migraine today, so no painting.
A very useful feature of the plastic with the magnetic strips: the ability to purchase goods internationally very easily. Given that the currency exchange rates vary on a day to day basis, too, it also adds interest (!) to receiving statements - finding out exactly how many £s the shopping in US $s translated into..
Perfect picnic food for me: french bread, a chunk of port salut cheese, and a ripe peach! Oh yes, and preferably all wrapped up in a gorgeous French napkin.
Somehow or other in the 20th century special pieces of plastic came to be treated as money. Unlike coins or paper money, the plastic cards are tricksy - you need to have a machine to read the magnetic strip on the back to how much money you have (or don't have).
One of my duties in my family is to make crumble: this particular one is blackberry and apple, made with fruits lovingly picked my my various nieces and nephews, then presented to me with a request for crumble to be made!
Money day 2 - basic pound coins and sign to remind me that money is a symbol.
Marmite on toast - yummy, especially when the toast is the wonderful sunflower seed bread made by Celtic Bakery!
