Postles Lodge

“And really it was a wonderful tea. There was a nice brown egg, lightly boiled, for each of them, and then sardines on toast, and then buttered toast, and then toast with honey, and then a sugar-topped cake.”

~C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Toast with honey is one of my favourite things, too, Mr Tumnus! I wonder what you’d think of Swiss bread and honey. 🍞🍯 But I’m sure Narnian bread and honey is good as well.

Featured here are illustrations from Creatures of Narnia by the amazing concept artist and the coloured pencil portrait of Tumnus I drew in 2018.

Q: Georgie, most girls your age wouldn’t follow a man home if he wasn’t wearing a shirt.

McAvoy: He’s not a man though.

Q: Lucy’s not doing what adults are telling her to do.

Henley: She does it because she really trusts in Mr.
Tumnus. They’re almost like long lost friends, and there’s no point in having long lost friends if you don’t go into tea with them.

McAvoy: The thing that is so special about them is they’re nearly the same person in a lot of ways, even though he’s 150 and she’s eight years old. When they meet each other it is fast friends immediately.
It’s quite unviable to make friends that quickly, but we have to believe it can happen. But if you can’t believe two people can become friends that quickly, then don’t watch the rest of the film.

Henley: They connect.

McAvoy: Yes, they connect in a really fundamental way, because they’re very similar people.

Q: How did shooting in chronological order help you?

Henley: We got more mature, really. I was a bit of a spitfire on set, I was really hyper on set, wasn’t I?

McAvoy: You were a bit hyper on set. But I didn’t help, I was jumping around like I was seven.

Henley: You were! It did help me.

McAvoy: I think so. You guys got more experienced, more chilled out. And you got so much more comfortable by the end.

Henley: And you became more faun-ey. More goat-like.

McAvoy: My beard got longer.

~Part of an interview with James McAvoy and Georgie Henley by Devin Faraci, December 8, 2005

Swipe to see a couple of rare promo photos of Mr Tumnus and Lucy having tea I found in books. ☕️🫖🍞🔥🕯️😌❄️🍃✨

“Drama teaches you to empathise and that stands you in good stead - whether you are going to be an actor, a director or a plumber - it improves your ability to connect with the world around you.”
~ James McAvoy

Our third birthday tea party guest is this marvellous actor of many talents. Since I first discovered James McAvoy as Mr Tumnus in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005), one of my favourite characters, I had to include him in my trio born on National Tea Day. 🩵

Many of you enjoyed the 35mm photographs I developed myself from Biltmore during university, and so here are some more for you! I shared a few in my stories the other month, but this is the full collection of my series on the three Brontë writer sisters, myself as Charlotte, my roommate Elizabeth as Emily, and our Resident Assistant Emily as Anne. The only ironic aspect is how dreadfully tall I am in comparison to Charlotte’s actual height of 4 feet 10 inches. But it was jolly fun! My friends and I found (rather awful looking) clothes at a charity shop, which I knew would still turn out amazing in the pictures. We went out into the fields behind campus early before classes began. The grass was very wet and you can see the bottom of my skirt quite soaked through! I’m sure it only added to the authenticity of the damp Yorkshire moors. I also got three random books from the library that were part of a set and created these labels for them to further identify ourselves with our most well known novels. It was a lot of fun picking out fonts that fit the books and writing them out by hand.

Which is your favourite photograph? Do you have a favourite film adaptation or bio pic/documentary you enjoy (and please do not say the new “Wuthering Heights” 😅)?

A very happy anniversary of the births of Queen Elizabeth II who was born on this day 💯 years ago, and Charlotte Brontë who would have been over double at 210 (!!), and many happy returns of the day to our third party member, James McAvoy, dressed as his beloved character of Mr Tumnus, who turned 47 today! 🥳

And why did I decide to have them all having tea together, you might ask? Well, April 21st also happens to be National Tea Day in the UK! ☕️🫖🇬🇧 And as they are each well known figures of the British countries (plus if you include Narnia with Tumnus being an avid tea drinker), I thought it went hand in hand quite well.

This is, in fact, the new and improved ink sketch of the original one I drew five years ago. I felt it was strongly missing some cake, a vital part in Her Majesty’s tea ritual (especially for a birthday), and I also since learned more about the particular shape of the Queen’s sandwiches! See my first post on her to find out why! It’s most interesting. Clue: 🥪😳⚰️

But this is not yet the full surprise! There is still a special version coming soon, so stick around if you’re curious and have enjoyed this unique cultural gathering of birthday buddies over tea on tea day. 🖼️🎨🖌️🌈✨

One of Queen Elizabeth’s birthday buddies is Charlotte Brontë who was born 110 years before. She is most well known for her novel, Jane Eyre. Pictured here is a biography written by her contemporary and friend, Elizabeth Gaskell, another favourite author of mine (who else loves Wives and Daughters or North and South?), my most recent Jane Eyre edition (I have three) published by the Cranford Collection (seems like an unintended pun), as well as a little engraving of Charlotte, and my very own colour pencil portrait of Ruth Wilson as Jane Eyre (BBC 2006) which I drew at the age of 24 — the same age as Ruth when she portrayed her. Complete, of course, with a cup of tea and a piece of shortbread. 📖🖼️☕️✨

Do you know who the Queen’s birthday buddies are?

…As much as we all love Paddington, I’m afraid it’s not this sweet bear, nor me either, for that matter. 😅 But he and I have very slight resemblances to her tea companions in my artwork (in a way).

You’ll have to wait and see in the following days! 👀

Conversation Piece at the Royal Lodge, Windsor (1950) by Herbert James Gunn

A more domestic scene of the royal family having afternoon tea commissioned by King George VI and his wife, Queen Elizabeth — showing a side that would be relatable and down to earth to the people during the aftermath of the Second World War.

Leading up to the centenary celebration of the birth of Queen Elizabeth II, I will be sharing some insights on Her Majesty in connection with the next print I will be releasing — also piece you also have seen before, but now in a brand new edition. ✨

Yes, it has something to do with tea! Here is a mini biography through images of the late queen and the love of her daily rituals, which leaves me quite inspired, being an avid tea drinker myself. ☕️🫖

There will be a couple of other birthday buddies joining the tea party soon, too! 🧣🐐👩🏻‍🏫🌬️📚

I am sad that Queen Elizabeth is no longer alive to experience such a milestone, although she did have a fascinating life and left a most remarkable reigning legacy on the history of Britain. But what is even more special and personal to me is that my own grandmother who was born in 1926 IS still living and well on her way to the grand 100! So this dedication is also to her. 🥰💯

All quotes are taken from the following resources:

🍰 The Wicked Wit of Queen Elizabeth II, Compiled by Karen Dolby

🍓 The Little Princesses, by Marion Crawford

👑 Long Live the Queen! 23 Rules for Living from Britain’s Longest Reigning Monarch, by Bryan Kozlowski

💂🏻‍♂️ themirror.co.uk article by Cecilia Adamou and Magdalene Dalziel

Share your favourite story! 🎂

View from Culver Down shown here in the large print size in a most delightful room at the Wildt’sches Haus in Petersplatz, Basel — the city where I live. From Switzerland to England, I probably flew over this scene in my painting today as I am in the UK as we speak.

This place was built for the daughter of Jeremias Wildt-Socin who lived there with her husband who was a silk ribbon manufacturer, an artist, and an art collector.

Another fun fact, it is one of the locations I feature in my story of Earl and Ebbs (remember them?), the two Branchwood brothers who leave their father’s mill to pursue a career in art curation and establish a special gallery. You may recognise the front of this beautiful, blue building from the cover I made. I do need to get back to writing (and illustrating!!) more to this series. 💜✨

It was so fun to finally step inside on one of the open house days. I took many pictures inside to use later as illustration reference. And for now, as a little mock interior to display my prints!

Available now in three different sizes on my website! 🖼️🛒

Curious about my process? This is a little more in depth look into the making of these two Isle of Wight paintings. These kinds of work in progress scenes are some of my favourites to see from other artists I follow, so I thought I would share some from my end, too.

A mix between timelapses, layering, detail work, and pretty palette colours, here you get to witness the various steps that go into creating these small pieces. 🖌️🎨

The originals have been sold, but there are prints available in three different sizes on my website. 🖼️🛒