LINDA Combi's 2015 York Calendar is hot off the printing press as the York illustrator continues her search for the city's more unusual and quirky characters that made this year's debut Combi calendar such a humorous delight.

"Even after living in the city for many years, I found I still had much to discover," says ex-pat San Franciscan. "When an American visitor to York asked me, 'What’s with all the cats?', I was prompted to find out more about the Cats of York, who adorn many buildings around the city. Now they are seen partying for Hallowe'en in the illustration for October.”

Another friend reminded Linda of the small sculpture of Minerva, the goddess of wisdom, who sits above a bookshop at the corner of Minster Gates and High Petergate. "She was perfect for a back-to-school image for September, while Purpleman on Stonegate told me he had a dream of flying over the sign of the Olde Starre Inne on his bike, so that was an image I couldn’t resist drawing for May.

"Another new find for me was the cosy Perky Peacock Coffee Shop on Lendal, which now provides a warm break for a Medieval Knight in January, and I also discovered the dodo’s egg on display at the Yorkshire Museum, which inspired my April fantasy of the egg and chick escaping to enjoy Easter out in the Museum Gardens."

Linda felt it was important to include ordinary people in the 2015 calendar. "So, for December, I’ve portrayed friends singing the Hallelujah chorus in the Minster, accompanied by gargoyles," she says.

In many cases, it was hard to exaggerate the more weird and wonderful things Linda observed over the year, given the spectacles that greeted her. “June depicts a party of young men on a stag night dressed up as brides, as they proceed up Micklegate, watched over by the omnipresent bouncers. The hats I illustrated for Ladies’ Day at the Ebor race meeting for August were tongue in cheek, but actually, there were equally fantastic specimens seen en route to the races this year," she says.

Linda also wanted to reinterpret some favourite characters of York. "So my Viking couple are finding romance on Valentine’s Day at the Viking Festival in February and Guy Fawkes is seen as a ghost haunting his birthplace, while enjoying a pint in the bar with other punters in November," she says.

"Having always loved the cool clean lines of the Mallard steam engine, I used it as a character for July, as it takes the scenic route to Scarborough. Dame Berwick Kaler has stayed in character for Old Mother Hubbard despite the end of the panto season, and in March he enjoys a Mother's Day surprise."

Born in San Francisco, California, Linda was drawn to Europe in a quest for art and romance and is now a British national and cricket lover. "I came to England on a trip, met an Englishman and never went back. Sort of an English 'Monsieur Dupont'," she says, referencing the number six hit for Sandie Shaw in 1969.

"I've been illustrating for many years, mostly for magazines and books, usually on a humorous theme. Monthly caricatures in The Cricketer magazine required much research at cricket grounds around the country from 1994 to 2004, and I also produced a book of cricket cartoons many moons ago called A Broad On The Boundary, which charts my learning to love the game. It was published and remaindered by The Fourth Estate in 1992 but you can look on Amazon for used copies."

Linda's illustrations have appeared in the Observer magazine, the Independent on Sunday, Tatler and Sainsbury's magazine, as well as in several illustration exhibitions in London. She continues to exhibit work in a range of media, her choice of subjects reflecting her enthusiasm for music, travel, the movies, English eccentricities and people-watching, and earlier this year she marked Le Grand Depart from Yorkshire by producing two Tour de France artworks in the form of A4 signed Giclee prints, still available from her website.

Her 2015 York Calendar can be viewed and bought online for £12 including postage at lindacombi.biz – just follow the link to the Calendars section – or at The Blossom Street Gallery, Frankie and Johnny’s Cookshop, in Bishopthorpe Road, Pyramid Gallery, in Stonegate, Spelman’s Bookshop, in Micklegate, andThe Golden Ball pub in Cromwell Road, Bishophill.

 

Win Linda Combi's 2015 York Calendar

Courtesy of Linda Combi, We have five signed copies of next year's Combi calendar to be won.

Question: In which North American city was Linda Combi born?

Send your answer with your name and address to charles.hutchinson@nqyne.co.uk, by next Friday, November 14. Usual competition rules apply.