While living in our house, there was always the risk of having to pose for an impromptu sketch or (if you were lacking vigilance and a useful occupation for a Wednesday morning) even the Art Class, there were many compensations with an artist in the house.
I have indicated that holiday memories were more likely to be captured on canvas than by photograph. Christmas cards were always special and for years my father would create a special lino cut (the seagull, Polperro Harbour and Lowestoft Harbour all served along with other). The challenge for my mother was that Dad would start with a piece of lino and work from that, but never thought when starting that the piece of lino should really be in line with a normal envelope size. It was Mum who had to find the right size envelope for sending out the prints without folding them!
Birthdays for my mother and for me meant a special card, drawn in secrecy, and highlighting some achievement or hobby for the relevant year, with other family members and pets all part of the scene. There will be a collection of these as a photo album in due course.
There were also pictures to provide comfort and solace. When I was an au pair in Hamburg in 1982, I felt rather homesick for a time, and as part of my letter and packet of goodies from home one week, I received the portrait below of my dog, along with a letter "from" him, keeping me up to speed with news from home.
[Caspar Self Portrait, 1982, pen and felt tip on paper, in a private collection]