We didn't know it until recently but Jo Dyson - one of the funniest bloggers around - is also a very talented artist...

And while Jo tells us she's not a 'commercial/professional' artist, she did manage to sell enough artwork a few years ago to finance living on a houseboat for a month in Amsterdam!

Below is a small selection of some of her work and we hope to be able to share some more soon.

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'The Fossicker' by Jo Dyson

The Fossiker is most comfortable in the silence.
Rummaging and rooting for hidden treasures, the prize is in the time alone.

It’s a joy understood by fishermen, bush-walkers, and gardeners.

Whether in the back of the shed, at the top of a mountain or the end of a jetty, there is a contemplative comfort to be found away from the babble.

My father-in-law was a fossicker. Camouflaged by his quietness, his watchful eyes missed nothing. Not one to contribute much to the conversation, I used to wish he would engage more.

Now he is gone, I’d be happy to just sit quietly beside him on an upturned bucket in the middle of a river and swish water for specs of gold.

 'A Literary Escape' - by Jo Dyson

When my ten-year-old daughter told me that sometimes a book feels like a best friend, my literary heart sored with delight.

Enid Blyton, CS Lewis and Judy Bloom had filled my childhood with friends and escapades.

Through their stories, I could climb into a world of adventure and connection - an escape for a chatterbox who was stuck in the land where children were meant to be seen and not heard.

  
 'Redbrick Childhood' by Jo Dyson


There are windows of opportunity throughout life, that if we don’t take them, are missed, so wear your Spiderman onesie to the shops, buy the yellow sports car and sing ‘All That Jazz’ at the top of your lungs on the verandah of your grandparents red brick house.

 We'll have more from Jo Dyson soon!

All text, drawings/artwork etc (c) Jo Dyson

That's it!... we'd appreciate any comments below!