Jo's Blog / Latest News
Welcome to the official blog of Joanna Neary, where you can catch up on Jo’s bewildered world past, present and looming. Mainly, this blog consists of scanned pages from her sketchbook with a running commentary, dashed off between duties, work and other hobbies. As well as banging on about art, there’s also past gigs, and music, such as the one about being interviewed for Prog Magazine in 2019, which led to some delightful exchanges with fellow nerds. It was all very civil, even when Jo had to admit she’d got a Frank Zappa fact wrong.
Jo Blogs Guide to Wedding Anniversarys, Love Days and Fun Time (or Crosswords, Bums and Electrocution)
Wedding Anniversary Time Of Year Since our lad was born, we’ve had four days out. We initially called them Treat Days and then Love Days. Here, we plan LD #5.
Read moreJo Blogs Tries Harder with Drawing and Colouring In
My sketchbooks are exactly that, sketches attempting to capture moments and times I don’t want to forget and lists of things to do or have done and slightly insulting records which I have to clear with my family before posting. Anyway, here are the nearest examples I have of commissions or finished bits of work. […]
Read moreJo Blogs Guide To Documenting Nonsense Slightly Mathematically
Here is one of my days in a pie chart. Drawing it combines several of my favourite things. 1. Pretending to be a mathematician (or secretary or notary) 2. Drawing with a dip pen 3. Acting as if my day was important enough to be recorded 4. Imagining myself to be an outsider artist, earnest, […]
Read moreThe Vintage Agony Aunt Library On Style and Decorum
Since I read a load of books about how to be stylish, getting dressed has become a nightmare. Here is my morning thought process as I try and apply all the rules. Anyway, these modern books are restrictive and boring, a rehash of books from 50 years ago and more (I know because I own […]
Read moreJo Blogs Guide To Doing a Play In Slovenia In The Past
After leaving University where I’d ‘studied’ art and theatre*, I was lucky enough to be invited to do several parts in a play (including playing God in the style of Groucho Marx. I KNOW). The extra good bit was that it was to be performed in Slovenia. So obviously, I kept an over enthusiastic travel […]
Read moreJo Blogs Guide To Barcelona (Cheese and Ham)
This is my diary from a mini break in Barcelona when me and about 15 friends went to our beloved friend’s wedding (should that be ‘friends’ or ‘friends”? I think I must have been off sick when Mr Brady did that lesson). We ‘made a week of it’ as my Mother In Law might say […]
Read moreJo Blogs Guide To Keeping A Sketchbook
A sketchbook has many uses. Mine is a personal diary and a handy bit of paper to doodle on when I’m bored or want to annoy or entertain a family member. Hardly blog material, eh? I know! Read on. Sometimes or often, day to day doings are too dull to record. Everyone who keeps a […]
Read moreIdeal Trip Away Part 4. A Human Being Under Pants and Hair Pressure
Day 3 continued – we go to Driff. It’s very cheap up here and there are big discount shops filled with goods. My favourite is a large newsagent full of ‘gift ideas’ which reminds me of a department store in my hometown Redruth, long since closed – and the newsagent next door where I’d browse […]
Read moreIdeal Trip Away Part 3 – Captain Beefheart and the BLT
Sometimes my husband starts talking, inadvertently commanding my attention (I might be reading a novel or something else which looks like I don’t mind being suddenly distracted. Like waxing my moustache or getting a crumb out of my eye). But midway through his announcement, his mind goes blank. It’s really odd to be watching someone […]
Read moreIdeal Trip Away Part 1
This month, we took a trip up North to kill many birds with one stone. We visited Bridlington first, then down to Nottingham and Leicester for comedy gigs with some of the cast of Ideal -Johnny Vegas, Ben Crompton, Peter Slater and Mick Miller. Most of my sketchbook diaries are done when we’re away from […]
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