71 + The Little Hidden People.

Graham's just painted us a new 71 on the front door. We like to ask guests to do this for us sometimes - we had Richard Hogg make us a geometric turquoise one when he had his show here, and the last one by Brook Valentine was in vulgar gold in my choice of much-loved Cooper Black.

Graham's was a nice surprise. If you come round to see his work currently adorning our walls, come and knock! And count the hidden people while you wait for us to answer.

Bee Troot.

I boiled a load of beetroots the other day and kept the juice in jars.

A casual question from assistant Brook Valentine got me thinking. A bit later I dipped my pens in it to see what would happen. Would it stay as neon pink as it was when it spilled all over my kitchen surface and hands? Would it stain the paper the same way it stained my top?

I drew a spontaneous beetroot and set it to dry for a few days. I forgot to photograph it when it was fresh, but the ink looked like this:

Four days later, it's faded to practically grey in places, which I quite like:

And looks for all the world like I've scanned it and taken the saturation down to about 25%:

I think because it has no pigments or light fasteners, optical brighteners and so on, it won't hold its colour. Unlike the particular inks I'm trialling at the minute, who are proper attention-seeking 'life and soul of the party' inks. Not quite as neon as Doctor Phileas Martin's inks, but very satisfyingly close! I used my latest inks to design my Christmas cards, and the artwork was until recently still up on the wall, with not a hint of fade or tiring.


Anyway. I just thought I'd experiment. It's in a fountain pen at the moment, and it seems to flow through it OK, though I'm not sure the manufacturer nor hordes of pen geeks would approve.