iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 29/09/2026

Important people in the neighbourhood The friendly cyclist. Based on a real person (obviously?). flintoff.org/important-people-in-th…

Line drawing of a figure on a bike, waving.

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 28/09/2026

Just be writing, by hand Practising my handwriting again recently – cursive, or “joined-up” as we called it at school – in response to an inspiring post by Neal Stephenson (see below): "Just have notebooks lying around, or on your person. Write gr… flintoff.org/just-be-writing-by-hand

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 21/09/2026

Let a photo cross the fold A photo that crosses the fold becomes an event. A spread from my A Speccy Man Has A Breakdown One of the nicest things you can do in a Micro-Memoir is let a single photo run right across two facing pages, so the reader … flintoff.org/let-a-photo-cross-the-…

A photo running right across a double-page spread of a book

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 14/09/2026

766 companies had a list with me on it This afternoon both Meta and LinkedIn sent me emails saying that my exports were available to download. So I downloaded. The Meta files were huge! About eight years ago, I stopped doing much on Fac… flintoff.org/766-companies-had-a-li…

Meta's Export your information dialog, showing two available downloads. John-Paul Flintoff on Facebook, 876 MB, expiring 18 September 2026, and jpflintoff on Instagram, expiring 17 September 2026.

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 14/09/2026

A Little Bit Wild Most evenings, Peanut rises out of slumber and gets A Little Bit Wild. There may be a bit of fake snarling. Bit of jabbing a paw at someone. Standing and staring at a person right in the eye, no blinking. Then she goes out of the house f… flintoff.org/a-little-bit-wild

Line drawing of a schnauzer getting up with slightly wild expression.

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 01/09/2026

A kind of domestic altar There can’t be many places in a house more important to the people who lives there than the mantelpiece. Discuss. On this one: two clocks, two cats, and two framed photos. Work in progress on a portrait of a couple in a … flintoff.org/a-kind-of-domestic-alt…

drawing of a framed artwork above the mantelpiece. Objects on the shelf include photos.

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 29/08/2026

A room full of other people's rooms On the morning of the private view, I was unavoidably delayed at home for reasons too boring to go into. Early in the afternoon, I received an email from the gallery asking, er, was I coming in soon because the pict… flintoff.org/contain-multitudes-wrap

Toby and JPF in the empty gallery, four framed pictures leaning against the wall along the skirting, not yet hung

On the walls: the Peggy Jay Gallery with seven framed portraits hung in a line, JPF standing at the right with his hands on his hips, looking at them

Nancy, left, and Harriet and friends listening as JPF talks at the private view, glasses in hand

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 29/08/2026

Poetry landscape I Forever and ever amen. Felt like doing something with a more obviously “wrong” line. A bit of a relief. Colours are vibrant. Trying not to make a big deal about – whatever! flintoff.org/poetry-landscape-i

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 28/08/2026

A band on a missile First published (with permission): 28 August 2026 Last updated: 28 August 2026 Recently, I received a finished piece of work from Richard Varhman, a participant on the Micro-Memoir course. His book Greenham Uncommon is a fictionalise… flintoff.org/a-band-on-a-missile

Protect And Survive illustration by Richard Vahrman for Greenham Uncommon, showing band members astride a missile named Good Vibrations

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 28/08/2026

Come fly with me This morning I turned into a bird. But don't worry, I'm ok. flintoff.org/come-fly-with-me

Nine panel comic of JPF turning into a bird.jpeg

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 26/08/2026

A small staff of my own Not exactly a tool, not exactly an assistant. LLMs give you access to categories of labour, Craig Mod wrote recently, that individuals like him and me would otherwise be priced out of. Specialists you couldn’t otherwise afford t… flintoff.org/a-small-staff-of-my-own

Drawing of JPF at his computer with a crowd of assistants around him.

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 25/08/2026

The picture I couldn't frame Leaving the portrait of Hunter Davies on a table at the gallery, with no frame, turned out to be a really good idea. I don’t know why I didn’t think of doing it earlier. That’s the artist’s proof, with its tissue peeled back.… flintoff.org/hunter-on-the-table

The artist's proof lifted from the table, tissue folded back, with the framed pictures on the wall behind.

Hunter Davies drawn twice in the same first-floor room he has worked in for decades, at his desk and in his armchair.

Two visitors at Burgh House, standing over the unframed portrait where it lay on the table.

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 24/08/2026

I couldn't post about it in my own street Teresa is one of my neighbours, a very encouraging woman. She works as a coach, which isn’t the point of this, and she has a picture I made for her some years ago. She is on my mailing list, so she knew the… flintoff.org/teresa-and-lyndale-ave…

Illustration dated 2021, showing white terraced houses with grey-shuttered windows, a tall clipped conifer, a yellow trellis with climbing plants, a pink tiled bay roof, and black railings bordering a sloping street.

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 24/08/2026

My parents came to see the show My parents came to Burgh House this week. It’s the first time either of them has seen my work on a gallery wall since I was 14. Like other visitors, they didn’t go round in any particular order but zigzagged – stopping at on… flintoff.org/parents-at-the-show

My mother, in a blue jacket, looks up at framed prints on a gallery wall beside exposed brick.

My mother, hands clasped, looks up at a print in the Burgh House corridor; my father stands further down the hall by more framed prints.

My father, in a tan suede jacket, walks along the Burgh House corridor looking at framed prints, an exit sign visible ahead.

My mother, seen from behind, looks at a framed print of a book-lined living room with a patterned rug.

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 23/08/2026

I wouldn’t want one I’ve had some lovely conversations in the last few days but today has not started well: Soon after opening, two people walk round the empty gallery, look at every picture but don’t once look at me – and as they walk out one says “I would… flintoff.org/i-wouldnt-want-one

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 22/08/2026

Gallery visitor, peering closely At Burgh House, Hampstead. He seems taken with my portrait of Mark Stephens. flintoff.org/gallery-visitor-peerin…

Drawing of a man with a woolly hat and rucksack peering at a picture in a gallery.

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 22/08/2026

Nearly thirty years later My mother was a lawyer. As a small boy I used to sit under her desk, keeping out of the way of visiting senior partners. So when I got my first staff job in journalism, at Legal Business magazine, the language of the profession was alre… flintoff.org/mark-stephens

Mark Stephens in his office, drawn four times against yellow walls, wearing a tie and working at his computer, with photographs of him at other moments of his life on desk and shelves.

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 16/08/2026

I concede Van Gogh is quite good flintoff.org/checking-out...

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 16/08/2026

What might I find by querying a 30-year writing database (of my own writing)? flintoff.org/what-thirty-...

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 15/08/2026

Show details here: flintoff.org/contain-mult...

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 15/08/2026

When you get busy - overwhelmingly busy - try singing Moon River. A tip from Jane, who got the idea from someone else. - Portrait of Jane in her office is in my show at Burgh House, Hampstead, 19-23 Aug

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 10/08/2026

Power down in the eclipse to reduce fossil fuel upswing octopus.energy/eclipse/#faqs @octopus.energy

Opt into the Eclipse Power Down session.

Why should I use less electricity during the eclipse?
While the moon is blocking the sun, solar generation will plummet at the same time as home energy demand spikes. By powering down together in Saving Sessions like this one, we can help take the strain off the grid and avoid the need to switch on extra fossil fuels.
Did you know that in just one hour, the sun delivers enough energy to the top of our atmosphere to power humanity for one whole year? It's practically begging to be harnessed into solar energy.
We've answered some FAQs about our Eclipse Power Down, and you'll find the full terms and conditions here.
凹

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 09/08/2026

More experiments with cursive script, testing the capacity of iPhone and Mac to read my handwriting. flintoff.org/the-pen-slides

Handwritten text on lined paper.
How my Mac reads it:

“I havo been experimenting with ursue worlng. or Joined-up, as my school tearhers called it I Wke the way the pen slides but this one appear not to wort so well.
they don’t normally do that,
says Narit, henting me
another This on seems better perhaps even too much ink.”

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 09/08/2026

When I made this portrait Mary Ann said she knitted the jumper herself and tried to point out dropped stitches. I saw no errors. Her book The Authority Gap argues that men are assumed to be competent until proven otherwise, and women, until proven otherwise, are assumed NOT to be competent.

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 09/08/2026

Mary Ann Sieghart, author and journalist, in her office. First time we met, Mary Ann interviewed me on the World Service about my attempt to make all my own clothes. Right down to the underpants made of nettle fibre (I know!). 🧵/1

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 09/08/2026

iPhone reads it thus: I havo been experimenting with corsive wolng. or Joined-up", as my school te ohers called it I like the way the pen slides, but Tus one appear not t wort so well. they don't normally do trat says Narriet, handing me another Wis one seems better perhaps even too much ink -)

A sample of cursive handwriting, about an ongoing experiment in attempting to write "joined up"

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 07/08/2026

I live in London. You can also find me at flintoff.org, where I've lived online for nearly 25 years. Thanks for looking.

Portrait of John-Paul Flintoff's miniature schnuazer waiting at kerb in London, wearing winter coat with words on back: Best Friend.

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 07/08/2026

🧵 8/9 Two of the portraits in the show: Ayla and Patrick.

Portrait of a priest, Rev Dr Ayla Lepine, lying down and reading Black Liturgies in a room filled with pictures and icons.

Portrait of Patrick McCann in casual clothes, sitting on office chair with houseplants behind, in what was then his office at Linklaters.

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 07/08/2026

🧵 7/9 I make portraits, about interesting people: Some portraits are showing in Hampstead in August at Burgh House.

Gallery promotional image, showing portrait of a woman standing and a man seated. Title of the show: Contain Multitudes. Also a quote: "I am large, I contain Multitudes" - Walt Whitman. And details of the show:
18-23 August
Burgh House, Hampstead London NW3 1LT.
Free entry

Screenshot of text:
Over the last few years John-Paul Flintoff has been drawing people in the places where they work, live, or worship: at their desks, in their studies, in churches, kitchens, on a barge, and in a former film studio in Soho. This exhibition brings the portraits together for the first time.
Sitters include a Booker Prize-winning novelist, a City lawyer packing up to retire, a priest lying down on her office sofa to read, a head teacher pictured before a wall of her all-male predecessors, and a small-press couple on the carpet packing books for their subscribers, with the dog.
Each portrait tries to catch what does not fit the job title - the unexpected thing inside the expected role. Together they make a case for what the show's title from Whitman suggests: that every person carries more than one self, and a good portrait is one that notices.
The private view is a thank-you to the backers of Flintoff's book A Speccy Man Has A Breakdown. Everyone else is welcome, without charge, on the days that follow.

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 07/08/2026

🧵 6/9 My latest book. A Speccy Man Has A Breakdown. Contains some of the nearly 300 drawings I made in psychiatric hospital in 2018, to make sense of what was happening to me. I had severe depression. The book: flintoff.org/speccy-break...

Photo from above of a book, A Speccy Man Has A Breakdown, and a pair of spectacles beside it. Author: John-Paul Flintoff

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 07/08/2026

🧵 5/9 I draw every day. I've had my own art shows.

Photo of John-Paul Flintoff standing in front of his pictures in a gallery.

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 07/08/2026

🧵 4/9 I trained in theatrical improvisation with Keith Johnstone. I use that when I train others.

Photo of John-Paul Flintoff standing on edge of a stage, with text reading: "I trained in theatrical improvisation with Keith Johnstone. I use that when I train others."

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 07/08/2026

🧵 3/9 I used to be a magazine writer at the Financial Times and the Sunday Times.

Photo of a Financial Times magazine cover, showing John-Paul Flintoff cleaning windows on the outside of a tall building, and text reading: "I used to be a magazine writer at the Financial Times and the Sunday Times"

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 07/08/2026

🧵 2/9 I contain multitudes - just like you.

A slide showing multiple stamped heads of a figure in glasses, with the original stamp and ink pad with text reading "I contain multitudes so do you."

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 05/08/2026

🧵 6/7 That commission helped turn my drawing outward, from hospital toward other people's rooms. Everything since - lockdown Zoom portraits, sittings at desks, this whole show - grew from that.

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 05/08/2026

🧵 5/7 Ayla is also the reason a great deal of my portrait work exists. Some years ago, after I came out of psychiatric hospital, she commissioned me to draw more than thirty members of her Hampstead congregation from life. Nine minutes per portrait, timed on my iPhone.

A photograph of John-Paul Flintoff sitting in a pew of Hampstead Parish Church, looking up from a sketching device toward an unseen sitter in the foreground; the church's white-painted pews, columns and stained-glass windows visible behind.

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 05/08/2026

🧵 4/7 Above her sofa, a text-based artwork declares "We will get through this with art." That is absolutely what Ayla believes, as you'll see. On her shelf, an icon of Harvey Milk. Her congregation is diverse and inclusive; the room reflects that.

Drawings of icons on shelf above Ayla Lepine's office sofa. The one on the right depicts Harvey Milk.

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 05/08/2026

🧵 3/7 Reading is arguably part of her work, I said. Also, technically, a book of liturgies. "Yes," she said. "And it's Lent."

A pen-and-ink sketch of Ayla Lepine lying on her office sofa reading Black Liturgies, in a study hung with framed drawings and icons. This sketch preceded the finished digital portrait above.

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 05/08/2026

🧵1/7 A priest, lying down. Revd Dr Ayla Lepine, Associate Rector at St James's Piccadilly, propped on her office sofa, reading a book called Black Liturgies. As I worked on her portrait, she wondered briefly if it might look bad to be caught reading horizontally at work.

Ayla Lepine lying on her office sofa in a long grey robe, absorbed in a large book, in a study densely hung with icons and framed drawings, a poster reading "We will get through this with art" on the wall, light from a bright window at right and a patterned orange rug in the foreground.

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 27/05/2026

Speccy Breakdown zine: read the book's first pages | John-Paul Flintoff flintoff.org/speccy-break...

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 05/05/2026

flintoff.org/top-fun Easy to get a bit solemn about the subject of my new book. But also: I made a book! That never stops being fun. I wrote the words! I drew the pictures! I did the layout! I did it all, this time.

Photograph of a gentleman in spectacles holding his new book A Speccy Man has a Breakdown

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 19/04/2026

Paperback proofs arrived this week. The figure on the cover is, in the original drawing, standing in a yoga sun salute. Caught halfway into the envelope, he rather looks as if he's flung his hands up in alarm. Spectacles alongside, as seems fitting for this book.

Book going into an envelope with handwritten words “a speccy man has a breakdown”.

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 24/01/2026

“You can stick it up your jumper.” A generalised, heartfelt representation of – something. flintoff.org/stick-it-up-... Inspired by @genmon.fyi

Screenshot incl:
Line drawing of a standing man pointing and moving towards another man, sitting behind a desk and wearing a tie, who looks startled.
Heading: “you can stick it up your jumper”.

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 23/01/2026

Where are the European social networks?

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 22/01/2026

What do we think about brandy butter on toast? #after #xmas #improvising

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 18/01/2026

“I've watched this happen to people I know. Intelligent, curious, open-minded people who got deeply involved in online discourse…” #joanwestenberg www.joanwestenberg.com/the-discours...

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 14/01/2026

Manic technology. By Robin Sloan Read here⬇️ www.robinsloan.com/lab/manic-te...

Screenshot: “for a human mind and a human heart, one really good project is more nourishing than ten cruddy ones; that was true a hundred years ago, and it’s true today. The AI coding companions will never ever say: “Hey … whatever happened to that other thing you were working on?””

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John-Paul Flintoff @jp.flintoff.org · 12/01/2026

2/2 "I can't tell you how the system works or you might cheat" is like your boss saying "I can't tell you what your job is, or you might trick me into thinking you're a good employee." - Cory Doctorow www.eff.org/deeplinks/20...

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