QuangoBingo

Saturday 5th November 2011:

I am taking a bit of a break from swapping to concentrate my energies on some other aspects of my life. I extend my thanks to everyone who has been in a swap with me and especially to Kristina, who started all this for me. I hope to be back at some point...

Monday 31st October 2011:

'October Hand-drawn ATC' sent to Kitturah.

Monday 17th October 2011:

'Private ATC' sent to Caromite.

Saturday 8th October 2011:

Back from Holiday!!

Friday 30th September 2011:

'September Hand Drawn/ Painted ATC' sent to MadCrazy

Wednesday 21st September 2011:

I'm on holiday! I have one ATC to send, which I will do from here in the States. I will pick up anything else which needs my attention when I return...

Wednesday 31st August 2011:

'August Hand-drawn ATC' sent to Tynkerbelle.

I am a quiet sort of chap living in the North of England with a penchant for tiny things and a love of oddments through the post. I can't beieve I hadn't come across this kind of thing before!

I am creative and can quite happily spend an evening doodling & drawing. The art I make usually involves animals and plants and is more subtle than striking - mostly...

I look forward to seeing what motivates and inspires people. Bring on the swaps!

Update:

I've finally got my fish tank up & running! It's quite small, but perfect for a bit of pond weed, some tiny snails and three fantastic sticklebacks!

I listen pretty much exclusively to the BBC's 6 Music radio station. It is a superlative resource and constantly surprises, cheers and amazes me!

Favourite DJs include Gideon Coe, Steve Lamacq and Don Letts.

Update:

Whilst I am generally happy listening to whatever the radio throws at me, I do particularly enjoy tunes with guitars and songs with meaning.

I am not a fan of generic out-churnings of pop, but I do see where they fit in the grand scheme of things and don't begrudge them their airspace (unless the lyrics are particularly brainless).

I read a lot of children's books. They have all the character development, story lines and compelling un-putdownability (if that's a word) of more 'grown up' novels, but with a charm, innocence and lack of pretension not readily found elsewhere.

By far the best books I have read in a long time are the 'Edge Chronicles' by Stewart & Ridell. In another time & place, I could rant forever about their awesomeness!

I do like a nice, well put-together film - something where a director has turned all of their creative talents towards plucking, teasing and fuelling the feelings up at the positive end of the emotional spectrum.

Case in point: 'Elling' by Petter Naess. If you haven't seen it, I suggest you go find yourself a copy. You will enjoy it. That is a promise.

As a kid, I only ever had one answer to the obligatory question: "And what do you want to be when you grow up?"

"David Attenborough!"

I don't know where I went wrong, but I am still a long way from being the world's most respected nature documentary film maker. Still, I thank my parents for the input when I was too young to choose my own televisual entertainment.

I am a generalist. I draw, paint, glue, cut-out, twist, thread, knit, solder, photograph, sculpt and create with just about anything. To this end, I have drawers, cupboards, boxes and (more often than not) disorganised piles of just about anything lying about just waiting for the inspiration to hit.

That said, I am a master of no particular artform and some of the things I create are more 'experimental' than 'accomplished'...

I wouldn't have it any other way!

I like to watch the snooker. I think it comes from my Gandma. Whenever I was ill (or off school for any other reason) and was shipped off to my grandparents', there would always be snooker on the TV. Steve Davis is fantastic (or, at least, he was back in the day...)

I organise a weekly badminton session and enjoy thwacking shuttlecocks about muchly.

I also really enjoy playing football (soccer) with friends after work, but find watching it and talking stats boring as all hell.

Reading through profiles, I have found it very interesting and (for swaps I am in) useful to know what people would like (and not like) to find incuded in a swap.

Here are some things you may find helpful if you are in a swap with me (or vaguely interesting if you're just passing through):

• I like natural themes and colours: animals, plants, landscapes, rocks, water... (you get the idea)

• My favourite animals are reptiles and amphibians. I must confess a love of newts.

• My favourite plants are either carnivourous or succulent. Aside from that, I think that moss is the best thing in the world.

• I play guitar and am currently learning how to coax the blues out of a piano, so anything musical will be much appreciated.

• Tiny things! That's where it's at! If something is incredibly small (or a lot smaller than it should be) I find it hard not to just sit & stare at it until either it goes away or I'm taken home by the police.

• I'm a linguist and anything in a language other than English is a bonus. My favourites, though, are German and Swedish.

Update:

• Crimes! How could I forget!? Dinosaurs and Pirates! Everybody loves Dinosaurs and Pirates!

• Also: Should you find yourself swapping ATCs with me, if it makes no difference whether you draw in portrait or landscape, could I request landscape? It might seem odd, but the way I want to display them relies on a petty even distribution of the two and ATCs in portrait appear to be somewhat of a rarity (at least for me!)

• Finally - after all that - I will say that (if you are in a swap with me) you should not tailor your work to fit the above or censor what you want to create if you feel that that wouldn't fit your style. The main reason I signed up to this is that I wanted to see what people like to make. Whatever you send me - no matter what the theme or how it looks - will be most appreciated if it's from you and expresses the things which inspire you. I am not easily offended.

If there is anything you would like to know more about, just ask. I am very approachable.

Thanks for reading through.

Bob x