Root Cellar Books

Root Cellar Books

As anyone who has visited the Gwelf region can attest, it's very well known for the variety and quality of it's book shops. This is a topic I have been meaning to get to for quite a while now. The problem was,  where to start, what with there being so many worthy establishments deserving a mention. So, as luck would have it, I ran into Fox the other day at the Belle Flower Inn and he told me, over several pints, how much he still enjoys popping into Root Cellar Books, the one out there on Kenilworth Road near the old stone bridge. I know the place well and was quite prepared to launch into my own reflections on time wasted and hours spent browsing those same dusty shelves when old Foxy began reminiscing himself. He is a gifted story teller and so I gave way.

Young Fox

He discovered the place many decades earlier when still a teen and began frequenting it regularly instead of going to school. He didn't have any money in those days so he would borrow the books, sit outside on a stone, which is now known as Fox's stone, and read in the warm autumn sun. At the end of the day he would return the books to the shop and in exchange, would sweep out the shop and empty the receptacles. According to Fox it was much different in those older, simpler times and borrowing a book from a shop meant to sell them was not frowned upon. Fox borrowed and read many.

Old Fox

Epic poetry and history were his subjects in those days and it is not at all surprising that he would grow up to become a scholar and a writer himself, despite his lack of formal education. I couldn't help but agree with his opinion that advanced mathematics and geometry have little or nothing to do with writing, story telling and the creative arts. There are of course some that say mathematics is a creative art in itself but that world is so foreign to me that I shan't comment. Needless to say, old Fox went on to have a brilliant and well known career as local historian, bard,  composer of fiction and patron of Root Cellar Books. Pop in if you're in the area and have a moment. I'm heading over right now. It hasn't changed a bit.

Thanks so much for stopping by again.

More soon.

Cheers.

Rabbit's Cottage - New Watercolour

Yes, this is a new watercolour, but it is also a reworking of a picture I made about a year ago that I called Rabbit's Garden. At that time, when I painted Rabbit's Garden, I also started this one which is about twice the size. I wasn't sure which one was going to work but I was curious to see if I could get this larger version off the ground. However I felt at the time that the smaller one was looking stronger so I completed it and put this one away. I recently pulled it out again and felt as though I was now ready to pick up where I left off with it.

For the past year or so I have been working through the most horrendous creative block. You've probably noticed posts going up and coming down as I search for a path out of this wilderness and try to get around whatever it is that's keeping me from moving forward. I feel, for now at least, as though completing this picture is a step in the right direction.

Thanks for bearing with me.

More soon.