Teddy loves his Sunday walks. They are particularly long and incredibly busy. On the way to Kenwood he meets large dogs and small dogs, has regular romps with a rufty-tufty tan-coloured mutt, and generally pokes his nose in all sorts doglicious dank spots. And we get to watch not just Teddy’s antics, but those of all the dogs and their people along the way. Taking home snatches of other people’s lives can be heart-warming. A friend told me about her walk behind an elderly gentleman and his mature, bandy-legged dog. She heard him talking in a conversational tone and assumed he was on his mobile phone. He was actually having a word with his dog. A pep-talk was underway, the terms ‘fine specimen’ and ‘real character’ were being applied and, as she passed by, the dog was reassuringly informed that he was worth ‘ten of the others’.
So, when I was killing time in Marylebone this week and found myself in that addictive interiors mecca, Skandium, I was delighted to come across a printed fabric entitled Sunday Walk. Created by dog-lover, illustrator and artist Emma Lonsdale, it features sketches of people walking their dogs in the style of a Fifties fashion illustration. It’s completely up my street, maybe yours, too?
