About me and contact




You can contact me at   drawingsfromnature@ gmail.com

Hello and welcome to my blog.  DRAWINGS FROM NATURE.
My real name is Eileen Postlethwaite. Milly was my nick name from school originating from my surname,  it is still used by my friends.  I have drawn all my life, give me a pencil and paper and I am happy and content.  I  trained as a teacher for three years at Liverpool.  Art was my main subject for which I gained a distinction.  After many years of teaching I retired and now I am able to devote lots of time to drawing.
I grew up in a small village and had a wonderful country childhood.  Summer holidays spent pressing wild flowers,  paddling in the beck fields and on the shore.  My days were full of observing the insects, butterflies and birds,  learning the names of flowers and trees and  watching the seasons change.  It was natural for me to draw the objects in my environment,  the things I have known all my life.
My drawings are realistic as I meticulously record the details of the chosen subjects.  I always work from the real object,  using my skills of observational drawing to capture all the detail.  My choice of materials include pencil, coloured pencils, acrylic paints,  ink pens and  acrylic ink and fine sable paint brushes.  I also like to experiment with printing,  fabric printing and sewing patchworks.  I love making things and have done since I was a child.
In 2011 some of my drawings were used as Fabric designs.  I have completed private commissions.   One such commission was for a chocolate shop,  my ink drawing of the Cacao tree was used for the boxes and the wrappings on the bars of chocolate.
An exhibition of my drawings was held at Brantwood, former home of John Ruskin, and I was very honoured to be asked to draw some of his collection of shells, which were displayed at the same time as my  art work.  It was lovely to see my work in such a beautiful studio, on the edge of Coniston Lake.
I draw because I love it.  During 2011, I have posted a weekly drawing of my "finds". I take a walk on the shore and collect whatever I see.  It has been an interesting project,  it has made me realise how quickly the year has passed as I have counted the weeks on my blog.  It has been fun. I completed the full 52 weeks  and have a wonderful illustrated sketchbook of my year.
I am always creating and making things. New projects have included  carving my designs on  a rubber stamp and printing on fabric, and paper.  I then enjoy sewing my hand printed fabric into pincushions and teatowels and a new bag. I love giving presents which I have made.  Patchwork is always on my mind and I have a huge stack of recycled fabrics always waiting for me to start a new patchwork quilt.
I love using a dip in pen and sepia inks.  Recently I have had fun making some ink from berries and also experimenting with dyeing fabric from hedgerow finds.  Oh the days are not long enough.
Hope you enjoy seeing what I get up to in my little corner of the world.            
Thank you for visiting.    Milly x