Viv Schwarz

The Old Neighbours "We're really leaving," said Maud. "Yes, we are," said Dad, and that made it true. "It'll be fun!" The fun, Maud felt, was not true yet. Only the leaving. Dad made Maud a jam sandwich, and then, still at the kitchen table, he made lists, and notes, and plans. Plans to move house. Maud went to sit on the garden steps and watch the sunset. She would have liked to play cards against herself, but it was a bit too windy. The leaves of the largest tree trembled and glittered like silver. Maud, wrapped in her coat with the cards in her pocket, told herself that the new home would also have trees, and places to sit, Illustration: Maud and Dad at the table, as described in the text. Line drawing. Dad is looking at his notes, Maud is looking at us.

Here's how the first story in Maud is Moving begins. My favourite bit of the illustration is how she sits at the table, I was remembering how I'd sit myself as a child.

Have you ever seen one of those enlargement booths to trace reference images in? We used to have one in the studio, it was SO USEFUL but the size of a phone booth

Weird to think about - that's pre digital cameras as well. You'd take reference pics one day and then get on with other jobs while that was away to be developed. And if they were bad you'd have to use them anyway

Build Up Not Trickle Down Need-Led Housing - Shelter England The government must adopt a need-led development model that delivers genuinely affordable social homes so everyone has a safe, affordable and secure place home.

🚨New report out today.🚨

If we want fewer families facing homelessness, we need to be honest about what works... and what doesn’t.

Our new report looks at the evidence behind housing policy and why social housing is key to ending the housing emergency. 🗝️

Read the full report: shltr.org.uk/ifWuB

I had a couple of gigs when I was a student being photo reference for traditional watercolor illustrators. Getting the reference for a job involved paying a bunch of people, hiring costumes and spending a couple of days posing pictures. It was quite something

OK. Looking to raise another sixty quid to get gas and electricity. Got less than 50p left on the emergency credit on both and still a few days away from payday. Super grateful for any help getting there.

My kofi: ko-fi.com/robfearon

My PayPal: www.paypal.com/paypalme/ret...

I went exactly ONCE and I'm still not over what it did to my lungs and I didn't even get a damn mug

Looking forward to this.

Nice motion there!

Stacy Bradley voted for President Trump because of his border policies, and she likes that he has restored “law and order.” But she is unsettled by one aspect of his immigration agenda. Last month, the federal government bought a warehouse next to her cheerleading gym in Surprise, Ariz., which the administration plans to convert into a detention center for up to 1,500 immigrants. Ms. Bradley, the co-owner of Woodlands Elite Cheer, said she worried that a detainee could escape, or that protests could break out. The children who train at her gym are as young as 3 and could see “people in shackles” next door, she said.

“my children might see the children I voted to put in shackles, how shall they grow up”

Reform-run council says free library scheme for refugees ‘is not value for money’ Party withdraws all Lancashire libraries from City of Sanctuary UK programme that supports new arrivals to UK

Libraries should be for everyone. That's why our Library of Sanctuary scheme is totally free. We do this work on a shoestring so no library ever has to think twice about joining...

Please help us support even more libraries 👉 www.justgiving.com/charity/city...

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...

Fantastic work

I guess I'll have second coffee and sit in my rocking chair and smile a bit about royals getting arrested. Not British enough to have tea instead. Enough to smile

Independent Bookshop of the Year Finalists | The British Book Awards Check out the regional and country finalists for the Independent Bookshop of the year at The British Book Awards 2026

Congratulations to all those independent booksellers on the @thebookseller.com's 2026 Independent Bookshop of the Year shortlist! #booksky

www.thebookseller.com/british-book...

A pioneering initiative in Stockholm involved teenage girls in redesigning parks led to a park that focused on spontaneous dance, play and free sports. A response to the fact that the site had been dominated by a football pitch used mainly by boys and men for organised sports.

historian here!

Yes

a przewalski's horse running on light green flames surrounded by smoke before a burnt orange and teal quilt-like pattern. The numbers 2026 in gold sit in the 4 corners. Between the numbers are 4 symbols: a salamander, a log, a sprig of fireweed, and a gas lantern.

Year of The Horse
for my new years playlist
youtube.com/playlist?lis...

THIS IS NOT A DRILL

YOU CAN GET EVERY DISCWORLD TOME ON EBOOK FOR LESS THAN THE COST OF A SUBWAY FOOTLONG COMBO.

USUALLY GETTING EVERY SINGLE BOOK LEGALLY IS LIKE 400+

NOT.

A.

DRILL.

www.humblebundle.com/books/terry-...

#NewIllustrationOfTheDay by Tim Hopgood from a Cedric and Boo board book, New Boots. Cedric at ease after he and his elephant friend Boo have played in the muddy park and broken in Boo’s shiny new boots. Digital image with humour and a look of collage. Walker Books 12 Feb. @walkerbooksuk.bsky.social

You can turn a fully planned six stage family day trip into a lovely afternoon at the museum by yourself that way and everyone is better off for it. Top tip

Not sure how often I've managed to get left behind on outings. These days I have to send a "oh dear, low battery, see you back at the place tonight, have fun" text before I turn the mobile off and chill but it's still one of life's little joys

I never really feel that "being left behind" sounds that negative. When I was a child I was left behind in the school library once because no one noticed I was still reading in there and they locked it up. There was a sofa, drinking water and everything

Otherwise, the task of Leftists isn't to argue about LLMs are "good" or not. It is to understand what workers are fighting for, to understand how the glut of synthetic information is undermining democracy, and to mitigate the harms when the house of cards the economy has been built upon falls.

Mia Valentina Paz Faria A 7-year-old from Venezuela who was living in Austin, Texas Detained for 70 days “I don’t want to be in this place I want to go to my school.”

UPDATE: Staff at the ICE concentration camp in Dilley, Texas have begun raiding the dormitories of kids and their parents to confiscate and destroy letters from the children. This is in response to the ace reporting by @micarosenberg et al for ProPublica:

“I don’t want to be in this place I want to go to my school.”

- 7 year old imprisoned by ICE for 70 days in a concentration camp in Texas.

Today, after @propublica.org published this story, the camp was raided to confiscate letters from the children.

www.propublica.org/article/ice-...

I just needed to make a mess.

I've been leaning into what really cheap paper does when painting on it vigorously. Found a technique that preserves the messy marks while keeping the colours bright. It's fun! Some of it is painted using coffee, for no good reason

I might give the juliette balcony a bit more definition tomorrow. It'll do for today. It's good to let these things rest and listen to the weather and nap sometimes

I'm enjoying these vague, summery paintings. It's a happy book

Loosely painted illustration of terraced houses. A dog is on a balcony, a woman and a child look out of windows, a woman in a purple dress is about to cross the street. They all look happy

A bit of today's work.

I regularly see people wondering how it's possible that there are so many musicians and writers and film makers and artists from a tiny nation like Iceland.

And the answer is really simple: State funding for art education and artists. I literally get a salary from the government to write books.