Coroplast

I've been waiting for an election for so long, not that I want a change of government or anything, but because I needed a piece of coroplast, and I didn't want to buy it!

Whether our politicians are sensing an election in the air or not, I don't know, but many of them seem to find any excuse to set up public meetings, just to get their face on posters on the side of the roads. And in Ireland, we don't do simple paper posters that are displayed on a set board. No no no. That would be too environmentally friendly! No, what our politicians do is print dozens of posters on coroplast, and attach them with plastic ties to electricity or telephone poles! Coroplast is some kind of corrugated plastic sandwiched bewteen two sheets of straight plastic. A lot of plastic. It's strong. And quite rigid. And when it gets windy (I live in Ireland, remember, it's windy every other day here), these coroplast posters act like sails, they catch the wind, and sometimes, they break from their plastic ties, and go flying down the roads. So I was only doing my civic duty when I picked one up recently that my husband had seen near a junction in our neighbourhood.

So now, I was able to cut my own support board for sketching. No more worrying about holding my sketchbook's spine, or having to lean to pick up paint or water from the ground. It all fits! I didn't go for the version that Liz Steel has designed, with a flap. The full length fits in my bag. And while it's a big awkward in stormy weather, I'm so thrilled to have this new piece of kit. And I have plenty more of the politician's poster in case my first board gets damaged on my adventures! The one thing to remember is to bring lots of bulldog clips! Two to hold the book in place, one for the watecolour palette, and two for holding the pages in windy weather!