There is a very special, highly talented gentleman who lives in Spain and paints awesome dragons, just like one seems to know they should be painted! Ciruelo is a charming chap who is loved and deeply revered within the Fantasy community. His work is like a dream come true if your passion is for dragons as he is also an accomplished writer. This wonderful man seems embedded in days of old as he weaves tales, pencil and paintbrush to bring alive what we may remember in our heart… Ciruelo Cabral is highly respected within the science fiction circles too, his amazing illustrations are collected all over the world, his art needing no translation. His books are treasured by many devoted fans, and we’ve been greatly privileged to get to know him and also see his other original, amazing way of producing art – Petropictos. This fascinating art form is honestly elemental, as Ciruelo has perfected the art of painting on stones! These give his painting a fantastic three-dimensional quality and when holding one of these treasures in your hand, you truly cannot make out which is his paintwork and which is just natural contour – they have you transfixed, like your eyes are playing tricks with you – Ciruelo has managed to ‘find’ that figure in there and it looks like he’s actually sculpted it, yet the smooth stone remains the same as it has for thousands of years! This very special man is also a musician and loves designing covers for rock albums  www.dac-editions.com  prepare for a real treat.

Puddles play an important part in our lives! Our children adored jumping in any that they could find when really young, whether or not they were wearing wellies; the swallows use them in the springtime for gathering mud with which to make their special nests; if there’s a drop of oil in one, I love to watch the rainbows swirl (I’m a real rainbow addict), the wildlife quench their thirst from them; birds bathe in them to keep their feathers preened (our geese adored them); frogs and toads even breed in them! I’m sure I’ll think of many more reasons in praise of puddles, so I’ll pause my list there and add to it gradually - but leave you with the best image of all: if you’re lucky enough to have seen Dawn French in her brilliant BBC TV comedy series ‘The Vicar of Dibley’, I'm sure you'll remember that side-splitting moment when she jumps into a puddle to hide, and totally disappears… you have been warned!

Magical Blessings, Be

“Imagination is not a talent of some men but it is the health of every man.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson