The Magicians, a new television series

Twitter was a-buzz today with news of the BBC bringing a new magic show to prime time television in the New Year. R. Paul Wilson and Alexis Conran, of The Real Hustle, will be the magical brains behind the program whilst other magicians appear in the program. The program will be called The Magicians; there have been some emails asking if (because of the name) the series connects in any way with my art exhibition Magicians which begins on October 31st of this year – no, there is no connection whatsoever. There will be an aspect of competition in the series. For more details see the BBC press release by clicking on the link below.

The Magicians

Who Is It? Competition number 3

I've decided to make this a difficult one. No picture clue this time; it's all down to your knowledge of British television magicians. He appeared, fleetingly but instantly recognizable, in the film Shade - which is about card players and con men. His name didn't appear in the end credits. If any British magician was going to advise on and appear in this type of film, it would be him. Those are all the clues that you are going to get. A real toughy, this one.

On other matters, I haven't commented on the election because there has been an overdose of the subject in every form of media. Now that we finally know the result here is my only comment:

Welcome to Britain's new sitcom: Dick and Dom in Da House.

Let's hope we laugh more than we cry.
[Photograph the property of Getty]

Walter Booth, Magician and Filmmaker.

In any of the popular histories of magic there is usually a slight detour into the era of silent films. The French filmmaker Georges Méliès is usually the example cited. A British equivalent to Méliès was Walter Booth. Lamentably, despite his creative contribution to film making he is possibly one of the most unappreciated and overlooked filmmakers of early British cinema.

Booth was born in 1869. He was a porcelain painter and an amateur magician. At some point, he joined Maskelyne and co. at The Egyptian Hall. Some time after that Booth joined the filmmaker R. W. Paul. I don’t know how that came about. It may have been because J. N. Maskelyne and R. W. Paul were friends and therefore Booth would have had the opportunity to meet Paul.

Booth brought a good deal of inspiration to R. W. Paul’s films. Trick photography and themes of magic and magic related topics became subjects of their silent films. Paul and Booth seemed to have shared Maskelyne’s scepticism towards Spiritualism and so there are a couple of humorous films on that, one of which includes an expose of the kinds of tricks that might be used at a fake séance.

Booth moved to several other film companies after leaving Paul’s firm. I do not know of any one DVD that brings together all of Booth’s existing films; however, the British Film Institute released the collected films of R. W. Paul (depending on the outlet where you buy a copy, prices can vary from £6 to £20). For some reason, after Paul left the film industry he burned all his negatives; this collection by the BFI is pieced together from many different sources and many of the short films consist only of fragments. Nevertheless, it is about two hours and twenty minutes long, which consists of sixty-two short films, and the commentary by Professor Ian Christie does discuss Booth during appropriate films which were written and directed by Booth. Booth made about thirty-five films and fifteen are on this DVD. They are not all magic related but his knowledge of stage work, theatre acts of his day and of the trick photography of Méliès is apparent in these films.

In 1915, Booth went into advertising and little is known of his career from that point. We do know the date of his death, 1938.

Answer to ‘Who Is It?’ [number two] And More.

The answer to the ‘Who Is It?’ competition was Pete Firman. It was a nice easy one this time where almost everyone gave the right answer. A name was chosen at random from said people and a large bar of chocolate is now is now on its way to Alan.

In fairness to Mr. Firman, having subjected him to an optical illusion, it’s only fair to provide a link to his website and point out that he’s on tour at the moment and may be appearing at a theatre near you.

Also, to be fair to the victim of the ‘Who Is It?’ competition number one, here is a link to Max Somerset’s website.

There are two items of note that I’d like to recommend today. The first is an article by Romany, Diva of Magic. She wrote an interesting piece for the Secret Art Journal about how to build a small theatre in your own home.

The other item was twittered by R. Paul Wilson earlier this week. Madhi Gilbert is a young man of great will and determination. He has learned sleight of hand with playing cards, performing false shuffles and more. Why is this a big deal? Well, Madhi Gilbert has no hands. So I’m not entirely sure what you call sleight of hand when the magician doesn’t have any hands. Here is a link to his YouTube Channel where you can see him demonstrating his skill. I can only feel admiration for this young man, especially when people with two good hands give up on learning sleight of hand so easily because they regard it as too difficult.

One final bit of news is that the Bizarre Bath Comedy Walk begins its 2010 season next week on the 30th of March and its well worth attending. The Walk begins outside the Huntsman Inn on North Parade, every evening at 8pm.

Updates on Projects

The question that I have received most is ‘Why have you stopped uploading videos of your work?’ I have not stopped making the videos, they simply have not been uploaded yet. The reason for the delay is that I have been using different methods of filming other than time lapse photography and the results require more time in editing them into short videos. The reason for the change was to obtain a better quality of picture in the videos. The camera and software being used had a setback of a low resolution when in time lapse mode. It is a bit of an oddity considering all the other modes have a high resolution.

I have tried editing together a series of photographs for several oil paint portraits and the results are okay. Because the paintings take more than one day, it is a reasonable method to use but it is of no use when concentrating on a drawing or ink sketch which can be finished in an hour or two. It is too much trouble to get the right amount of photos, it interrupts my concentration and prolongs the task in an unacceptable way.

For these reasons, the time from the picture being completed and the video of the work being uploaded is now much greater.

Another reason, as far the project The Dead is concerned, is that the videos have been held back until after this year’s Remembrance Day. Although it was explained that the project is for Remembrance Day 2010, based on only one video from the project being made available there has been continual questioning from people regarding its use this year. Therefore, as stated above, no more videos from that project will be uploaded until sometime in November.

The only other piece of news is that the project Magicians has been given a longer time scale for completion due to the list of portraits required being lengthened.

Results of Oil Painting Poll

Some weeks back I put a Poll on my blog asking people to vote for the next magician to have their portrait painted in oil paints. The Poll ended this week and I now have the results:

David Devant - 54%
J. N. Maskelyne - 23%
Harry Blackstone senior - 15%
Houdini - 8%

So, at the end of the week, I shall begin a portrait of David Devant. A video of the final picture will be posted on You Tube near the end of September. However, you will not have to wait that long for new videos of other artwork to appear on my You Tube Channel. Next week, I will be posting some videos of my new project The Dead.

Snippets of News

Well, last week the mysterious white box that controls my access to the internet died in a puff of smoke and so my access to my own website and work has been limited. All was fixed yesterday thanks to the speedy response of my internet provider. You might think that a week was a long time to achieve that but with some internet providers people can end up waiting months. I am grateful it was only a week.

That, of course, means the work on my website is a week behind. Apologies to those waiting for the two remaining sections to completed.

Anyway, the news that should have been in my blog last week (if I was able to connect to the internet) is that there is an interview of me regarding my artwork in the latest issue of Magicseen. The article includes some samples of my portraits. A better reason to buy the magazine is the other articles; there are some really interesting ones. There is an interview with magical inventor Ben Harris, Craig Petty writing about gaffed coins and a feature on David Copperfield – which is something we do not see often in British Magic Magazines.

Those of you who have visited my updated website have asked questions on my new art project The Dead. Here are the answers to the two most frequently asked questions. Firstly, no, it does not mean that the Magicians project is finished; that will continue along side this new project. Secondly, The Dead is timed for Remembrance Day next year, not this year.

A piece of news regarding the Magicians project is that the client, after reflecting on the matter for some time, decided that the portrait of Noel Britten should not be included in the project. The basis of his decision is that Britten’s public image is connected more to comedy than it is to magic. Various arguments against the decision could not counter two points on which the client remains firm. Firstly, although the magic which forms an integral part of The Bizarre Bath Comedy Walk has been performed for eighteen years or so now (by Noel Britten and JJ) and has a world wide reputation, the outward image is still focused on comedy. Secondly, while Britten is respected for his work by the magic community, the general public see him as a comedian and not a magician. For that reason, the portrait is offered for sale to the general public in a ‘sealed’ or ‘blind’ bid auction. The full details are on my website in the art section.

One final piece of news is that the paperback A Briefe And Pleasaunt Treatise, Entituled, Naturall and Artificiall Conclusions by Thomas Hill, the text of 1581, is now on sale. You can buy a copy on my website (using the link on the Home page) or from my Ebay shop John Helvin's Books.

Vote For The Next Portrait Of A Magician To Be Painted

The project of portraits of magicians continues (not all the portraits are available to see on the internet). Not all the portraits will be oil paint on canvas and I thought I would give people a chance to vote as to who will be the next magician to be painted in that medium.

So, below is a poll with four historical magicians. Vote for the one you think should be the next subject for an oil painting. Voting ends on the evening of the 31st of August. In the meantime, I will be painting some watercolour portraits of modern magicians and a pen and wash of Egyptian Hall during the Maskelyne period.



The above poll is in javascript and may not appear in some internet browsers if javascript is not enabled.

The LaBaL Competition Is Now Open!

July is here and for those of us who subscribe to The LaBaL, the July issue will be arriving on our doorsteps very soon. That, of course, means that The LaBaL competition is up and running as of this month. The competition is very easy and the winner will be the owner of their very own paperback copy of A Briefe and Pleasaunt Treatise, Entituled, Naturall and Artificiall Conclusions by Thomas Hill, the text of 1581.

If you do not subscribe to The LaBaL then it is not too late. You can buy a single issue or take out a subscription directly from the publisher, Al Smith. He can be contacted by writing to A. Smith, 17 Osbert Road, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, S60 3LD, UK.

There is plenty of time because The LaBaL is a quarterly periodical and the competition does not close until the 15th of September 2009.

For some more details about The LaBaL read the advertisement on my website. The details of the competition will only appear in the pages of The LaBaL.

Portrait of Romany, Diva of Magic

The LaBaL Competition

In the July issue of the The LaBaL I am sponsoring a competition where one of the readers can win a paperback copy of A Briefe and Pleasaunt Treatise Entituled Naturall and Artificiall Conclusions by Thomas Hill, the text of 1581. For those who do not know, The LaBaL is one of a handful of British magic magazines which are independent of any magic club. With the demise of Abra in March of this year and The Magician Magazine last year, we are left with only four such magazines in the UK (I would be glad to hear from anyone that can name more British based magic magazines which are independent of any magic club). They are Jerry Sadowitz’s The Crimp, Mark Leveridge’s Magicseen, Benjamin Earl’s Gambit Magazine and Al Smith’s The LaBaL.

Each magazine is very different. Magicseen deals with the subject of magic in a general way touching on all or any news items, interviews, reviews, etc. Gambit’s sole concern is card magic. Both Magicseen and Gambit have their own websites where copies can be bought. The Crimp is filled with Sadowitz’s caustic humour. It is only for sale to people whom Sadowitz considers to be trusted magicians. The LaBaL is the creation of magician Al Smith.

Al Smith was the editor and publisher of Abacus, a magic magazine that went out monthly for ten years. After finishing his time with Abacus he wanted to edit a less demanding periodical and so he created what he calls a “now and then quarterly”, The LaBaL, which is now in its sixth year. He calls The LaBaL a ‘Magzine’; note that it is not a magazine with an ‘a’ but a ‘Magzine’ with the letter ‘a’ missing. Al Smith has taken the words magazine and fanzine and crushed them into one word: Magzine. It is a good description for The LaBaL. It has some of the qualities of a fanzine, a no frills spiral bound A4 periodical published for and contributed to by those who share a love of a particular interest; at the same time it has the editorial standards and number of pages of a magazine, along with the fact that some of the contributors are professional practitioners of that shared interest. Each issue contains news, reviews, tricks, etc.

If you are a subscriber to The LaBal then be sure to look for the competition in the July issue. If you are not a subscriber but are interested in The LaBaL, then you can buy a single issue or take out a subscription directly from Al Smith. He can be contacted by writing to A. Smith, 17 Osbert Road, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, S60 3LD, UK.

Tying Together Loose Ends

It has been a busy number of weeks for me; however, some of the main tasks have been completed or are near completion. One task was redesigning my main website to give it a few extra sections which would bring together various items on the web related to me. There are now sections on art, photos and videos. They do not contain everything that is on the web to do with me, just a reasonable selection making it easier to view things without going to the trouble of visiting a list of sites to see what is new. There is a new section on books. This is not been fully added yet and only lists some of the books available from one of my internet bookshops. When it is complete, there will be books listed there which are not available in my other shops and which can only be purchased through the main site. I am being encouraged to do the same with some artwork but I am against the idea at present.

I have received some questions asking why I have not posted any more videos of art on YouTube since last month. I have reached the stage on the Magicians project where I am now working on paintings as well as drawings. I am not making time lapse videos of the paintings and so there is nothing to post on YouTube or my main site. I still have a list of drawings to do and videos of those will be posted on the net as usual as and when they are done. Something that should be kept in mind is that all the videos pertaining to the Magicians project will be removed from my YouTube channel and my main site shortly after the project is completed. Once again I would to thank the people that have been kind enough to contact me and write nice things about my art. It is very much appreciated.

Another task which is nearly complete is the corrections to text and cover of A Briefe and Pleasaunt Treatise of Naturall and Artificiall Conclusions by Thomas Hill, the text of 1581. The proof copy of this book highlighted errors which had been missed at the editing stage and so I have been glad of the opportunity to deal with them and finally get ready to put the book on sale.

Thomas Hill was a compiler of books on various matters such as dreams, gardening and almanacs. One book stands out however and that is his Naturall and Artificiall Conclusions. It was, as far as we know at present, the first book in English to include some conjuring tricks. Aha, some of you might be saying, is not Reginald Scots’s The Discoverie of Witchcraft the book that has claim to that accolade? It was, until someone pointed to Hill’s book as having an earlier date of publication. Trevor Hall, a magician and bibliographer, researched the matter carefully and showed that Hill’s text predates Scot’s not merely by a few years but by several decades (for more on that, read Hall’s book Old Conjuring Books).

For some people, however, magic is not the sole interest of Hill’s book. The book includes items in many fields of interest amongst which are metallurgy, chemistry, botany, biology, and crackpotology. Yes, that is right, crackpotology. Hill includes a number of crackpot items that even he probably did not believe and some he certainly knew could not possibly be true. The book has relevance to the history of all these areas and even to the history of religion in the United Kingdom. Hill’s book was published during the turbulent century of the beginnings of the English Reformation and two of the items in his book may therefore have been very controversial: how to walk on water and how to change water into wine. Both are literal attempts at each task, showing that each can be done by non-miraculous means.

Being Awkward About Exhibitions

The Youtube videos of my pen sketches of magicians and the few details about the exhibition to feature them has led to my receiving various communications, most frequently involving four types; therefore, I thought it best to address them here.

The first is from the people being very kind and paying me compliments about my art. I have tried to answer the emails of as many of you as I can but the point has been reached where all I can sensibly do is say thank you to everyone by using this blog and apologise for not being able to directly contact all of you.

The second is that many people have asked if they can buy some of the portraits featured in the Youtube videos. The answer is a polite no; they have been commissioned and therefore unavailable.

The third is regarding those asking to host an exhibition of my work. These inquiries have been of the kind where someone wishes to host an exhibition of my work on the premise that I only receive any form of payment if any of the artwork sells. The answer to all and any inquiries of that sort is a polite no. My artwork for others is done on a commissioned basis only. I am commissioned to do a project, I complete the project and I get paid. Whether or not someone exhibits the final project is up to them. I will not be involved by that stage. That is what is happening with the Magicians project. I will not be attending any of the venues of the exhibition. Should a client make a profit in selling any of the artwork commissioned then that is fine with me; that is what happens in the art world anyway. (Anyone wishing to commission art work is welcome to contact me but I advise them to be sitting down when they hear the price.)

My reasons for working this way are many but here is one of them which is self-explanatory. Take a look at this picture:

It is a study in pencil of a bronze by Rodin. This was one of thirty such studies of sculptures by Rodin. Note the word ‘was’. I have three left; the other twenty-seven were stolen in an exhibition. Or so I was told by the person hosting the exhibition. It was the only time I said yes to a gallery that exhibits art with a view to selling it on behalf of the artist. After much effort, I made no profit and lost twenty-seven items of financial value. It will remain the only time that I have said yes to a gallery that exhibits art with a view to selling it on behalf of the artist.

Now we move on to the crackpots, the conspiracy theorists, etc. It has reached the stage that I delete all emails and messages of this type without reading them. For those of you wondering what sort of lunacy these emails contain, I can say that the small number that I read when I first started to receive them were of a very imbecilic nature. The subsequent ones that followed were no different. It is very sad that some people have gone to the trouble to learn to read and write and yet have not bothered to learn to think, making the whole process a waste of time.

I hope that covers most people’s inquiries. Sane and sensible people are still welcome to contact me. I cannot guarantee a reply but will try my best in most cases.

The Bristol Day of Magic 2009

I seldom go to magic conventions and have never been to an event held by The Bristol Society of Magicians; so I had no idea what to expect when I attended The Bristol Day of Magic on the 10th of May.

Usually, any review of anything has its overall conclusions and recommendations at the end of the article but here I feel it is best to say these things at the beginning: It was a great day, worth every penny, and I completely recommend that if you have never attended before, then you should definitely think about doing so next year.

The venue was The Winter Gardens in Weston-super-Mare. There were plenty of rooms for all the various events and a small restaurant area too.

The day was opened by the president of The Bristol Society of Magicians, Steve Lawrence, followed by a short speech by the president of the British Ring of The International Brotherhood of Magicians, Trevor Lewis.

This was then followed by about six hours of lectures, close up magic sessions, and a one man show. Jill and I attended the lecture by David Tomkins, the one man show of John Archer and the close up sessions of Steve Beam, Nick Einhorn and Shawn Farquhar. While all this was going on there was a dealer’s showcase in another part of the building where all sorts of magic equipment and supplies were on sale. In order to take advantage of the opportunity to buy things I needed (thank you to The Card Collection, Magic Books by Post and others) and to take time out for lunch, we missed a few of the lectures. It seems odd that the schedule for the day did not have a set lunch break, meaning that people could either go hungry or miss out on one of the events, but there was so much to pack into one day I am really not sure how a break could have been provided without compromising the variety and quality that The Bristol Society of Magic provided that day.

There was a two hour break in the evening and then everyone met at the The Playhouse for the gala show, Spellbound, which was absolutely fantastic.

The people who made the biggest impression on me on the day were John Archer, Nick Einhorn, Steve Beam, Shawn Farquhar and Michael Pearse. Pearse’s act in the gala show was one that received a lot of appreciation from the audience. In his seventies, Pearse juggled various items whilst firing out joke after joke after joke. In one of the close up magic sessions Shawn Farquhar presented an original take on the cups and balls that left the audience somewhat speechless at times. During the gala show he performed several tricks, one of which can be seen being performed by him on Youtube at another venue. John Archer has a channel on Youtube but nearly all the videos are from the television program Undercover Magic and in no way represent the very funny comedy magic act we saw at the convention.

Next year will be the fiftieth Bristol Day of Magic and it was hinted that this will be an extra special event.

Sketch of John Archer

Sketch of Roy Walton

Sketch of Teller

Sketch of Penn Jillette

I might not film many more of these portraits being drawn. Setting up the camera and the fact that the camera is in the way as I draw are slowly me down somewhat. Therefore, I might simply get on with drawing and painting the remaining portraits without the nuisance of filming them. I am about half way through the agreed list and I want to get ahead of schedule so I can get on with editing projects that are in danger of being neglected. I have not fully decided yet.

I have received an email regarding the client's original idea that the videos would be played at an exhibition when the portraits were on display. Although the client is keen, the management of the venues are not. If no venues are interested then I will not bother with any more of these type of videos and just get on with completing the project.

Not Taking a Photograph of Wayne Dobson

We went to Weston-super-Mare to attend the Bristol Day of Magic and nearly did not attend. What does that mean you ask? Well, Jill and I decided to have a long weekend at Weston. On Saturday and Monday we would relax and enjoy Weston. On Sunday we would enjoy the Bristol Day of Magic. I felt great on Saturday. I did not feel so great when I woke up Sunday morning. No, not a hangover, I do not drink alcohol. It was going to be one of those days when my body was going to be as disobliging as possible. The tinnitus in my left ear was ringing particularly badly and my right ear, which is actually the weaker one, was making everything sound like I was under water. Great timing for an ear infection, I thought (an ear infection, gum infection or tooth abscess can make mild tinnitus not so mild for the time that the infection lasts). It was when I tried to get out of bed that I found out the full extent of my dilemma. I have had bone and muscle problems for many years. My knees, my back and my neck were working in unison to thwart my aim of going to the magic convention.

Okay I thought, when I walk, every time I take a step, it is like someone is hitting each knee in turn with a hammer; my back is refusing to straighten leaving me hunched like Quasimodo; my neck is arching backwards worse than ever. I do not care, I thought, I am a tight fisted Celt who paid to attend the convention and I am not going to let that money go to waste. So, I said to myself, I am going.

I have to admit I spent most of the day trying to avoid conversation with people because I could not hear most of what they were saying. When Jill would speak to me I would, at times, get her to speak directly into in my ear so I could hear what she was saying. I could hardly ask people I had just met to be so intimate as to talk directly into my ear, so when I did speak to anyone it consisted of me politely nodding and probably saying things that had very little to do with what was being discussed. I am sure I confused more than one person by saying the completely wrong thing in reply to something I misheard them say.

Fortunately, the lectures involved either microphones or the lecturers projecting their voice across a silent and attentive room of listeners; so I did not miss out on those events and can write about them another time. I did not take many photographs because I was concentrating more on how I was going to get through the day rather than thinking there’s a photo opportunity, and another, and another. In hindsight, I could and should have taken a lot more photographs. There is one photograph I definitely should have taken but did not; at the time I was too moved and personally inspired by the moment to think about using a camera.

Sometimes, conveying an experience in writing is not easy, especially when that experience is particular to our own personal circumstances. What is a big deal to us as an individual can easily mean very little to someone else. Well, here goes … at the Bristol Day of Magic I had got through the morning telling myself that after each next lecture, or whatever, that the pain was too much and I should throw in the towel and just go back to the hotel and skip the rest of the convention, including the gala event at the theatre in the evening. Jill and I ate lunch and I thought we would take a look in the hall where the dealers in magical goods had set up their stalls. Magic Books By Post had a stall there and I wanted to check for one particular book as well as be nosy about the stalls. Then I would throw in the towel and go back to the hotel.

In initially wandering around the hall we saw the stall for DTrik, the business owned by Wayne Dobson. As I walked past the stall, to my left was a man in a wheelchair. It was Wayne Dobson. I said hello. He replied and because all I could hear at that moment was a sort of under water version of the murmuring of all the people talking in the hall in one ear and monotonous whistling in the other ear I had no idea what he said. Therefore, trying to escape embarrassment at being cloth-eared by avoiding a conversation with someone that I did actually want a conversation with, I introduced Jill hoping she would do better. I have no idea what they talked about and we quickly moved on.

It does not seem much of moment does it? Nevertheless, for me, it involved a shift of perception that has helped me a great deal. I had known for years that Wayne Dobson has Multiple Sclerosis. I had also been aware that MS has taken its toll physically and he uses a wheelchair. Over the years magic magazines have included photographs and details of Wayne Dobson, so in meeting him he looked just as I expected him to look. But in that moment I realised that prior to it, whenever I had reason to read about or discuss Wayne Dobson, the Wayne Dobson in my mind was the Wayne Dobson of the very early 1990s - an animated, dynamic and versatile person full of energy and drive.

At this point you might be thinking that it only really just registered with me that he had MS; seeing is finally believing and all that. No, that was not it. As I have written above, I knew he had MS but I could not shake off the image of him from his time on television. Because I could not hear what Wayne Dobson said, I was paying attention to the other details we sometimes overlook. As Jill and I moved on, I looked back a few times to see him meeting other people, I noted the same things again and I knew I was not wrong. Prior to meeting him, I had unintentionally been right. He still is that animated, dynamic and versatile person full of energy and drive. The difference is that he appears to have found the courage or wisdom, or both, to stay being that person within himself despite a body made disobliging by MS. I have seen others fail in that. I doubt that I would be able to succeed if it were me.

And so, waddling along with my arthritic knees going click-ka-tee-clack, I was inspired to go the distance and attend the whole convention. Much later I realised I missed an opportunity to take a photograph of Wayne Dobson. I need some up-to-date photos for a second portrait of him for the project.

The next day, my back and neck were not so bad and my right ear had cleared. My knees were still giving me grief and I was fed up with the single note tune in my left ear. Even so, Jill and I had a nice day and we were home by late afternoon. It was at home that I thought of another reason why I should have taken a photograph of Wayne Dobson. Because - at home - are my neck brace, my neck stretcher, my back stretcher, an exercise gizmo, my crutches and more; I have learned to do without the crutches through sheer bloody-mindedness - which is not a good attitude to have to deal with such things. There are plenty of days when I feel my age of forty-five and have no trouble going about my business doing the things a forty-five year old man is supposed to be able to do. It is on the bad days when I feel about ninety-five that it would be good to have a photograph of when I met Wayne Dobson - as a visual reminder of the moment when I experienced a different, better attitude to my own long term illnesses.

Sketch of Tina Lenert