Kenilworth Nub News aims to be supportive to every element of the community, from businesses, shops, and people, to charities, clubs and sports organisations.

We will be profiling some of these local businesses, and groups regularly over the coming weeks in a feature called 'Up Close With'.

The fourth in this series is with local author and artist Elizabeth L. Dripping.

"I'm not in it to make money, its just a wonderful hobby and it gets me out of the house"

These are the words of Elizabeth L. Dripping, a self-published local author and artist who has been writing books that have been bringing Kenilworth and Warwickshire to life.

Elizabeth's books are for children, and all of them follow an environmental theme.

Following 'The Amazing Adventures of Granny Tick-Tock, Poppy and Sam,' they are all set in different areas across Warwickshire, including Kenilworth, Stratford and Warwick Castle.

Five different books have so far been published.

With Elizabeth's sixth due for release later this month we spoke to her about her writing, her painting, and why she has continued to celebrate the local area in her work.

Where did it begin?

Elizabeth first had the idea to produce a book back in 2011 whilst attending a talk at Warwick Words about publishing your own work, and the process of making a book.

She had always enjoyed painting, in fact she had wanted to attend art school as a teenager, but was not allowed to by her parents.

So the opportunity to produce her own book seemed the perfect chance to have a focus for her artistic side.

"It was just that I love to paint.

"If you give someone a picture of a flower that's all very nice, but I thought if I make a book then there is a project to focus on."

So Elizabeth began her first book – 'The glow worm who lost his glow' – that same year. Containing over thirty of her own paintings, it tells the story of two young children and their grandmother who find a glow worm and go on an adventure to help find his friends again, so he can get his glow back!

Her first three books were all produced using the company Blurb. Based in San Francisco, Blurb allow individuals to use their in-house design software to publish their own books.

The third book was then reproduced by Think Design and Print Leamington.

'Stratford-Upon-Avon: A Brilliant Day Out,' 'The Fawn and the Six Honey Bees: Lost in Time,' and 'The Wild Peacock at Warwick Castle,' were all produced in Leamington, and are all still available for purchase.

As mentioned, Elizabeth does not do this for the money. "It's a hobby, and it gets me out of the house, to have a look at where I am going to paint."

Not only does Elizabeth celebrate the area around her through her paintings, but the profits from each book are also donated to her home town.

Once all of her costs are covered, she donates the rest of the money to the Friends of Abbey Fields. She has been a member of the community group for some time, helping with litter picking and maintaining the park for everybody to enjoy.

"Hopefully it gives even a little bit of promotion for them."

More information about The Friends of Abbey Fields can be found here on their website.

Another life

Elizabeth moved to Stratford from Bristol and the West Country as a child, and attended the girls grammar school at Shottery.

After leaving school, she travelled around the country, working in hospitality, and then eventually running hotels.

She returned to the area to settle her family, before taking a job as a lecturer at the now University College Birmingham, where she taught about hospitality, and is now a Fellow of the Institute of Hospitality.

Having moved to Kenilworth in the 1990's, she has been part of the local community for over twenty years now.

Since retiring she has dedicated her time to a multitude of hobbies. Aside from her painting and working with the Friends of Abbey Fields, she also tap dances with the Priory Theatre, plays golf, gardens, does needle felting and makes cards which she sells at craft fairs.

Celebrating the local area

The two clear aspects of all Elizabeth's works are the celebration of her local area, as well as the importance of the environment.

'The fawn and the six honey bees lost in time' sees the two children, Granny Tick-Tock, and their talking frog mascot explore Kenilworth and the castle.

The other books are littered with paintings of local buildings, her cottage, local bits of wildlife, landmarks and even the old cobblers shop.

"I have all sorts of people asking me for them," says Elizabeth "people love that they are about the local area."

Whilst the story is very imaginative, including magic, and talking animals, Elizabeth was still keen to emphasise that "with my books I do try really hard to do my research."

Because the books feature animals and people from history, in both writing and painting, and because they are for children "I want to make sure that they are correct for them."

'Stratford-Upon-Avon: A Brilliant Day Out' follows the main character's adventures as they help to clean up rubbish which happens to fall into the river.

Whilst her second book 'The Five Terrible Suits' sees the main characters make friends with the local animals, to drive away the weasels and stoats that are ruining the woodlands.

The books are designed for parents to read them to their children, but they also have opportunities for kids to interact. Each book tells the children to count how many frogs that they can see, and the correct answer is at the end.

Each book also contains a small piece of verse for children to sing. 'Poppy's Song' finishes with the lines 'we need to help the wildlife, give nature a chance to grow' which probably summarises the essence of all six books.

What's next?

During lockdown, time was certainly aplenty, so Elizabeth was able to get out her brushes once more to produce her sixth book.

The book is called 'Bats About Halloween' and as you may suspect, combines the themes of bats and Halloween, continuing the environmental aspect of all her other work.

Book number six was inspired by her grandson Sam who thought that a Halloween theme would be an exciting topic.

Bats About Halloween will hopefully be available at the end of September, in time for October. It and books three, four, and five will all be available direct from Elizabeth, as well as from Kenilworth Book Shop and The Farthing Gallery.

But don't think that this will be the last in the series. Elizabeth said "I'm a bit miffed at the moment because I haven't got anything to paint!"

So don't be surprised if we are bringing you book seven if a few months time.

If you would like to buy one of Elizabeth's books, you can purchase them from Kenilworth Books and from the Farthing Gallery.

If you would like to read the other articles in the Up Close With series, please follow the links below

Singer-songwriter Darcy Blu

Local Artist Cartwright Creates

Soon to open, Forrest Coffee House