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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.



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 […]

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1.Happy Easter! 63 eggs and a stupid conversation. ‘Mum! What is ‘Storrac’? ‘That’s ‘carrots’. 2. My Free Hotel Slippers. 3. Capoeira- my first sighting of it. And the video I made as a result. http://youtu.be/6aTXQ-SL8zMBongos Of Hope 4. Brushing Your Teeth In The Bath. I enjoyed doing this so much, I lovingly drew it. Next […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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This time three years ago, we had a few days in Paris. After spending the first hour using as many French words as I could remember Mrs Joynes teaching us – i.e la charcuterie, le boulangerie, le or is it la supermarche – Pad joined in. View near The Louvre. The time taken over flask […]

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Years ago I cleaned for an elderly lady of whom I became very fond. I loved her Old Lady Advice and stories. When she died I missed her very much. We’d become fond of each other. I’d started doing shows and a picture of me from a Brighton Festival brochure was found in her wallet, […]

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Don’t ever share your dreams, they are boring. Look: And then, as though punishment needs to be administered for advocating living in such a cavalier fashion, it all TURNED.. These dreams are NOTHING in the history of boring dreams. The other day I dreamt Sellotape was a pound. The next day, in a shop, my […]

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These pages are from my private diary which is pretty much a document of us both blasting off. Perhaps not much else of note happens in our lives except work and I’m too busy working and trying not to blast when I’m working, to document it well. I also draw illustrated lists and my dreams […]

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So we arrived in Nottingham after an away jaunt in Yorkshire where I secretly collated Yorkshire lingo. I don’t mean to look like a royal snob, I love comparing language. If I wasn’t unemployed, I’d love to be a specialist in linguistics and social history. (Father’s voice ‘well, that sounds much more worthwhile than this […]

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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 […]

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