This is a book of writing by an artist – a book of writing about drawing, accompanied by drawings by the artist. Part memoir, partly for those interested in drawing, part guide for students and artists considering a life in art (and beyond) for themselves, this book shows the thinking going on in the mind of an artist and the various kinds of challenges and delights they might experience during their career.

As well as a book about drawing, it is a book about walking/travelling, and in particular, the relationship between the two. Not simply a physical interaction between artist, medium and support, drawing can take many forms and engage with the wider environment in myriad ways, both on micro and macro levels, sometimes as a performance. R&F Mo, a self-professed serial flâneuse, takes us on her life-long journey through the world, from her childhood in the north of England close to the Scottish border through her travels to the Arctic and far off lands, and closer to home in and around London.

As the book’s portmanteau title suggests, this is a publication about both wondering and wandering, for it is a process of thinking and reflecting that informs both R&F Mo’s worldview and her drawing practice as much as literal meandering around the planet. Often these things are all intertwined. Indeed, the text reveals the artist’s extensive and eclectic reading (and listening and viewing) spanning both academia and popular culture. By the end of the book, the reader is aware of having been invited into an artist’s adventure in mind, body and spirit, and as such we become privy to R&F Mo’s personal ethics, philosophy and ideology as well as to her inspirations, interests and lines of critical enquiry. There are moments of joy and jubilation, triumphs and breakthroughs small and large, along with frustrations, disappointments and disillusionment. If you’ve ever wondered what people are going on about when they talk of their ‘truth’, then perhaps this book is a good example – an artist serving us her take on her life’s work and the world in which she made it.

R&F Mo’s black-and-white drawings are curious and charming in equal measure. Sometimes they connect clearly to the text they accompany, functioning as illustrations to the anecdotes and musings she shares; other times they are completely unrelated. Rather than foxing the reader, however, these visual disconnects invite the reader’s mind to woander. As a dyslexic (as so many creatives are), R&F Mo was keen to break up large blocks of solid text, so the drawings offer the mind space to breathe and room to manoeuvre. We gradually discover some of the symbolism behind the imagery (at a certain moment the horse motifs start to fall into place, for example) and it becomes clear that the drawings have connected to many different thoughts and emotions – from the playful to the profound and the poignant. And yes, with quite a lot of the absurd thrown in.

If you’re looking for a thought-provoking personal account of drawing, walking and thinking from a unique, sincere, entertaining and lively creative mind, you’ve found the right book. So why not pause your own woandering to sit, enjoy and take it all in before carrying on your way…