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Once upon a time
I kept the horses Jonas and Carminway in a field on my milk round
route.,br. One time needing
to do some fencing unloaded a ruck of stout posts at a convenient
place near the houses, but then had to carry them some way across
the field.
I set to hammering
them in one at a time. When I wanted another post Jude would go
and get it for me, carefully rurning them lenghtwise to slot through
the narrow gap. the posts where eight foot long and heavy.
There was a row of
faces at the windows of the houses. They couldn't believe their
eyes. Wonderful Jude.
When I started doing
the drawings she just drew her self in, so Jude's there too.
Jude Too was born
MUM 1919
If you have horses
you will have a sense of humour, goes with the territory.
During this time
“Jude Too” was born, I started drawing the mad horsy sights
and happenings...... Why JudeToo? .....because Jude my lovely dog
who alas, is now passed to spirit... but she keeps in touch.
commission Emma Dutton
Bella .. commission
for Lesley Hay
 WELL
WELL, WELL!
Yes it is me, what do you expect after all that mucking out....
can have some R and R can't I.
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IT ALL BEGAN
in North Wales.
Came out of the womb saying
“where’s the
horse ? “ No Horse.....Parents hairdressers... It was just after
the war when chickens were in everyone’s backyard so I put a chicken
in a pram and made do... She was a Rhode Island Red.... very hansom....
A fond friend.
There were Barbara and Shirley my elder sisters and Beryl our wonderful
Mum. Father was absent. I never knew him but he left behind a book “Figure
and Animal drawing” and his drawing board, pretty good substitutes.
1963
Just about passed A level art at Colwyn Bay Grammer school - got an E,
the next one was F for fail.
BUT
My Art teacher Mr. Martin the best ever - he asked the class to draw a
man kicking a ball. We all did
Then, with a few strokes of chalk on the blackboard he showed us how to
make it look as if the man was REALLY kicking the ball, with all his might..
I was stunned and it is
because of Mr. Martin I can make my pictures live.
He taught me another thing too, he said whenever you draw action make
sure they look as if they are going to land without falling over.
Genius, thank you Mr. Martin.
when I left that school
all the teachers wanted my rough books, and all that time they'd laid
into me for doodling horses in instead of whatever rubbish they wanted
.... I gave them to them.
THERE WERE 2 YEARS pre
diploma course at Wrexham Art College (in those days it was a department
of the Technical College next to the football ground)., ... they wanted
me to do abstracts and all the stuff... UGH! On a brighter sidethere are
around 109 pubs in that town.
It was the sixties, everyone
mad on abstracts and there’s me drawing horses.... Never did get
in tune with exploring the hidden depths of the kitchen sink. Just wasn't
a --"modern" artist.
Guess what? I didn't get
as place in to continue with the diploma, left to work with horses.
Own Yard for nine years,
starting, schooling, and teaching horses and people.
this is when Jude Too was born in 1993 - cor doesn't time fly.
BOOKS illustrated - A Horse
Training One for Elwyn Hartly Edwards - and a Mythology one "Tales
from Wales" by Harrie Webb.
and for myself Mythological
Drawings, paintings and screen-prints.
EXHIBITIONS
Wales. Ireland. London. (cant remember the dam dates it was ages ago)
BRONZE SCULPTURES
sold in France, Switzerland, Chili, Saudi Arabia and USA.
me in Panama
1975 Artist with Sid Wignals Panama Expedition in search for Sir Frances
Drakes coffin in Porto Bella. ( do remember this date, supose it was quite
major, haven't seen Sid for years, wonder if he is still around.). that's
were I met Nick, he was there with his Remote Control submersable, he
built it to go look see what lurked treasure wise at the bottom of the
river Thames.
Trail leader for Butlins
Horse and carriage (herse)
driver Llandudno Prom.
Nick and me at Marcel's
80th birthday 2008
Ellie
Finn
Copyright
Lesley Bruce - all rights reserved
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THINGS JUST EARNING A CRUST
Factory worker once, Llandudno Junction,
machine shop making bit's for hotpoint washing machines, did twice the
productivity got paid less than half the wages as the men.
ICE CREAM VAN VENDER
in Llandudno and round abouts, my van chimed "the
waltz of the venietian woods" and had a column gear change that
came loose in your hand, used to hold up the traffic, putting it back
was a fiddle..
I didn't know it at the time but I was
a bit of a dolly bird then. It was a while before I realised but two
queques would form. There was the little kiddies eager for ice creams
at the serving window, and bigger boys on the other side eager for a
look up my mini skirt when I bent over to scoop.
MILK ROUND
early seventies
hummmm . that was an early start got some good stories for later. Never
forgot how a lie down in the middle of a road could be so comfortable
after a late night out.
BREAD ROUND
( before milk round.)
Van with that job had no proper brakes, came down Llanwryst road from
the Welsh Mountain Zoo, a steep, very steep, road which hit the main
A55 at it's MOST steepest - couldn't see a damed thing, high banks you
see topped with trees. -- BRAKES FAILED. Well actually they failed half
way down just by Oak Drive. Eeek!, that A55 lurked ahead.- What to do?
Scrape it on the high banks of course, slow it down, as luck would have
it, slotted into the traffic on the A55 a treat.
nobody noticed the scratches at the depot, i t was all part of the job.
That Ice cream vans brakes failed on
me too, near Mochdre. same A55 but at least I could see what was coming
that time.
WAITRESS
silver service waitress, what a hoot that was. Well, where I had to
serve at the Holland Alms, Bryn y Maen. serving there was a very tight
squeeze, a real stretch, and potatoes have a mind of their own you know,
they must want to travel, see the world, they recklessly leap into some-ones
pocket. And the Peas they are proper little devils.
The lucky recipient might have thought“Oooo!
what’s this potato doing in my pocket?.. "Ooo look there a
few peas too".
"Must have been a good night
various and assorted BARMAID jobs, compulsory
for Artists.
Even had my own Cafe with Glunk once
"SnackTari" in Conway, we had the source squirting incident
there. and the council didn't like my olive green and orange paintwork
theme amongst the black and white, they let me keep it though.
Niece Karen and Sister Shirley
Sister Babs when she was 60
Katie
Phoebe
.PaPatinaa
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HORSES
There was Thomas’s Riding Stables
otherwise know as "HEAVEN"
Tomboy me and Sarge
with ponies Dolly, Sarge
(my favorite), Squibs, Cloudy, Smoky and Spitfire, and there was Little
Smokey (the very first horse I ever rode) he was sold to someone, and
there was Pal, he got sick and devastatingly to all of us died. --THEN
!!!!! --PAL dog food came out. -- John Read teased me and said it was
him, ai believed him, I was only a child.
The Thomas's, they were great, let me camp under the apple trees in the
school hols, idyllic days.They never got fed up with me and I never went
home.
MUM
being left alone with three kids to bring she up had to work, so it was
good that she always knew our whereabouts.....MIND !... she would come
sometimes, insist, I went home, plonk me before the bathroom mirror and
say kindly ..“look”... I was only a bit dirty but she thought
I needed a scrub.
JONAS first show Llandudno
I was 2O before I got my very own horse, Jonas, who was with me for 29
years. He cost 29 guinnies that's £29 and 9 shillings in old money,
from Wrexham Horse Sales. It was Decenber, he was only 6 months old.
(remember this is not cronological)
Wrexhm Horse Sales again to get a horse for my neglected
boyfriend Glunk (who only went to the stables cos "there were lots
of girls there"). It wasn't horse he wanted to ride, was a mad idea
but it brought me
CARMINWAY
(sigh) I was blessed with another magic horse. Carminway Dam
of
LUTHER
(Weatherbys name KLUTE) 
1988 we broke the world speed record, he was timed at 45.91mph. (but actually
ran 48mph.) The record is in the 1988 Guiness Book of Records. The racing
world didn't like it and got it taken out, it is a long story that needs
telling.
Steven Clark's BECKET(dressage),
Dr. ZIVAGO (Three day eventer)
Carminway with her foal KING IVOR (show jumper grade A)
 Tucker
Jasmin
ENOUGH of THIS
hope you enjoyed having a peek at
my life
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