Jackie Morris
A Silence
Barn Owl
Barn Owl
Egret Invitation
Hare and Moon
Nearly Asleep
Turq Bear
Unicorn

I love to paint. To make an image appear on a piece of white paper, spun there with layers of coloured water.
And I love the space you go to in your head when you are chasing a story and writing.
At present I am working on a book of Classic Poems for Barefoot Books, due for publication in September 2006. The book has been a bit like trying to juggle with 128 balls all at the same time when people keep taking one out and putting another in, but it has also been a wonderful waltz through poetry in search of dancing words.
I have two more books waiting - Singing to the Sun, by the wonderful Vivian French, and The Snow Leopard, written and to be illustrated by me - and I am hoping to work on a book of nursery rhymes.
My main inspiration comes, I think, from the written word. I love stories, myth and landscape. When I first heard Beowulf at the age of about twelve it lit a fire deep in my soul. I think stories can do that. They reach through generations through some kind of genetic memory and connect all things. I paint because I love to; I also paint because I have to. It is much like breathing and dreaming. To stay alive I breathe, I dream and I paint.
Fine Lines: an interview with Jackie Morris appeared in Resurgence issue 164.
More of Jackie’s work, including free e-cards, can be seen at www.jackiemorris.co.uk.