Sundowner

It's a measure of how relaxed we're feeling that after dinner we take a short walk to the canal at Horbury Bridge to watch the sunset.	Compared to the calm solitude of the canal, there's more drama and turbulence on the river.	By the canal basin, the swans have succeeded in rearing all four of their cygnets.
It's not so long ago that all four cygnets were small enough to ride on their parents' backs.	The Bingley Arms, on the narrow spit of land between the canal and river, has always struck me as a handsome, well proportioned building (at least from the front; it's a different story behind!). Shame about that van!	These tall hedgerow thorns by the canal towpath almost make an arched entrance to the field.

We've been running back and forth to the printers and checking final proofs. I must say it does now seem pretty final after all that work and I'm feeling a mixture of freedom, having finished at last; excitement, on seeing how it has all turned out and trepidation, in case after all that effort it doesn't get into the hands of readers.

After clearing the piles of sketchbooks that I've trawled through and putting the stack of page proofs I've printed into the scrap paper drawer, I'm amazed how soon the studio turns back into a clear, quiet space, just waiting for the next project.

You can tell that Barbara and I are now feeling relaxed because not only do we have time for a short walk to the canal to watch the sunset but I find that I can actually be bothered taking the digital camera with us to experiment with a few dusky photographs.

Richard Bell, richard@willowisland.co.uk