Feathers and oak leaves

This is a drawing I did earlier this year. I went for a walk and collected all these objects from the ground. The oak leaves, the two feathers , lots of little brown hawthorn leaves and some red berries. When I arrived home I arranged them on the paper into a pleasing composition and then drew them and painted them in acrylic paint.
It was in my exhibition during the summer. It is now in Country Living magazine in the January 2008 . My first drawing to be published, but there is more to come.

edm 91 draw an apple

This drawing of an apple which kind of represents my interest in the natural process of decay. I like watching and recording things as they start to alter and change shape as they start to decay. This apple, which I have recorded as a beautiful fresh green specimen picked from the tree took me days to paint, as the days went by it began to wither and shrivel up . Such interesting shapes formed , the leaves dried and twisted and I just had to draw it. So here is my drawing using a HB pencil. I thought it might interest others , press picture to see in detail.

edm 136 "draw something that is alive"

I sometimes feel so sorry for snails, most peole want to kill them . I actually like them, they are fascinating to watch as they peep out of their shells and then slide along. I find them to be really elegant in their movements and admire the way they can walk up walls. They have great patterns on their shells. I made mine pinky colours using inks and a paint brush, of course they are really browns. They were drawn from observations of the real live snails, so thought this fit the challenge. Press on the picture to see them close up.

edm 139 "something with a handle"

I love baskets and have lots of different shapes and sizes which I have collected over the years. This drawing is of an old vintage basket which I bought from a car boot sale. It is old and a bit wobbly , but has lots of character.
I once went on a basket workshop and made a simple willow basket. I am really proud of my own handmade basket and for a first attempt it is not bad. It made me appreciate the work and skill that goes into baskets, even more than I already did.
My drawing is done with a black ink pen. The coloured bits in paint, as they really are coloured in the actual basket. I did this a while ago, but thought it fits the challenge of something with a handle. It is on a piece of A3 paper. Press the drawing for an enlargement so you can see the detail.

Dragonfly

I love dragonflies and recently saw lots of them on the peat marshes near my home. If they stayed still long enough I photographed them, but generally I just stood still and observed them. Seeing a head move from side to side or the body pulse , and trying to take in all the detail of the patterns and shapes and those amazing wings. This is drawn using Derwent crayons ,with lots of sharpening for the fine lines of the wings. I am really pleased with this drawing and I am working on the next one. It is on an A3 sheet of paper.

Autumn Seeds

Autumn is on the way . It is actually one of my favourite times of the year. I love to see the hedgerows full of red berries and seeds. These sycamore seeds are my favourites , as children we would all throw them into the air and watch them twirl to the ground, hours of endless fun. Now I can't resist collecting them to draw , everywhere I see them and just have to bring some home with me .
I found these sycamore seeds and red berries on the ground amongst the snowdrops, this was the resulting picture . It is drawn using Derwent coloured pencils.
This is one of my set of artcards to buy on my website .

The Blackberries are ready

I love Blackberries and ever since I can remember I have collected them. They grow in all the hedgerows in the village and are now ready for picking. I love Blackberry pie, or apple and Blackberry pie, or just Blackberries and custard, or Blackberries and icecream. You get the picture , definately high on my favourite list of tasty things to eat. My drawing is in watercolour paints.

edm 90 challenge "Something with Wings"

Last Saturday I went to watch a wedding at the village church. As I walked along the road I saw this moth on the ground, hit by a car maybe, perfect but no longer alive. I wrapped it in tissue and put it in my bag. It is a Magpie Moth, delicate and with the most beautiful markings. The bride looked stunning in her fabulous dress. My Moth surely had her finest hour with her amazing wings.
My drawing is in black ink pen and derwent crayons for the orange and yellowy makings.

Seahorse

This picture will enlarge if you click on it.

I love seahorses and am always fascinated by them. I have two specimens, both bought on holiday at Malta. I love drawing them , love the shape and patterns. I know they are even more beautiful when they are alive and swimming in the sea, although I have only seen them once at a sea world. My drawing is in pencil.

Poppy Seedhead

I was doing a bit of gardening yesterday and picked some poppy seed heads to draw. I like leaving some until autumn and they become more and more interesting. I collect them at all different states of decay. I really like them when they turn into skeleton, bird cage sort of shapes, with their delicate structure showing. This one is solid and chunky , rather sculptural . It is drawn in pencil.

edm 130 School Supplies

Well I used to teach infants and everyday I had this job. I always sharpened all the pencils in the pencil pots, especially if it was handwriting . I had classes of 30 children , if I only did it once a day over one week that was 150 pencils, so over the year ..imagine. Sometimes I would hate it , a blunt sharpener and it took for ever. So I thought this had to be the challenge, a pencil sharpener , shavings and a nice sharp pencil. Not my usual drawing subject but took the challenge, in pencil.

EDM 112 "Draw Something Fresh"

I live by the seashore and in the summer months Mushrooms grow on the shore. As a child I would get such a thrill at going down to the shore and searching for the mushrooms. It is best to go after rain and then sunshine , the little white button mushrooms are growing and peeping through the grass. It doesn't matter how many times you have been searching for them it is always such a thrill to find them. Last year waS a bumper year and there were masses of them. Your going to laugh when I tell you that I don't actually like eating them. But I do like drawing them. This one was picked fresh from the shore and selected for its beautiful shape and lovely patterns with the frilly scales underneath . I just love them as a drawing subject. Of course as they perish fairly quickly I needed to draw it while it was fresh, to capture all the detail. It is drawn wiith HB pencil.

EDM 31 "Draw Something You Collect"

Well this one was easy for me , it had to be a leaf. I collect them nearly everyday, I definately look at them everyday . Yesterday I went for a walk by Coniston Lake and I collected some tiny leaves. They are beautifully shaped with colours which really are more like at Autumn time. We are having so much rain I fear autumn will arrive early.These little leaves had been blown about and had turned yellow and browns and just a bit of green here and there. I also found bits of blue and white china , going to draw them together for a picture.
Back to the leaf , Challenge EDM 31, as this is what I collect. This ia actually a Dock Leaf that has been eaten by beetles and left this gorgeous lace effect. I have used a new product by Derwent called Graphitint, like a pencil with colors. I really like them, used green and brown here. Love drawing the detail.
I have my eye on a Dock plant along the roadside, it is changing into some lovely colours and also been eaten by the beetles, great shapes appearing.
Hope you like this one. You should be able to click and get a larger image as some of you wanted to view my work closer.

My Dragonfly at My Exhibition.

My Exhibition is open and it is so wonderful to see my drawings in the beautiful gallery at Brantwood. I do feel so proud to have achieved this and I hope that all the people that visit the exhibition enjoy seeing my art work. It is such a wonderful setting on the edge of Coniston Lake in the Lake District. Brantwood is the former home of John Ruskin , follow my link to Brantwood to see this lovely place.
In the gallery there are two display cabinets and I have filled them with lots of my collections of natural finds...shells, seeds , insects and feathers. I have also displayed lots of my drawings, sketch book pages and art materials . This is, for me, an important part of the exhibition and shows actual objects that are in in my drawings. Everyone seems to love the cabinets, with all the interesting little specimens, such as the dragonfly which I found last year in the roadside . It had been hit by a car and was injured, it died shortly afterwards but I kept it in a jar and did some drawings of it.
My exhibition is on for five weeks , so if anyone comes to the English Lake District and to Coniston you can see it at Brantwood in the Severn Studio. It is called "Drawings from Nature". The Large Dragonfly drawing is displayed over the fireplace, this is the original drawing , which I use as my logo for everything. It is on the Posters for my Exhibition. So follow the Dragonfly. It is drawn using coloured inks, with both paint brushes and ink pens. This dragonfly was found in a court yard in Malta, where I made detailed sketches and then later made this large drawings . This is one of my set of art cards ,on my website.

Go for a Nature Walk EDM63 Draw what you find

This is what I do on a regular basis.As I live in the countryside everyday is a nature walk. I notice things as I'm walking ,and if I like the shape of something it more often than not finds its way home with me to draw.I noticed this delicate piece of fern ,as it is drying out and turning brown, it curls around. It is drawn in pencil. I like the shape, it is elegant and delicate, which is what I liked when I first saw it.

First EDM challenge 34 "Fallen Leaf"

I have just joined the Everyday Matters drawing group. I am posting a drawing which I already had and did earlier this year. It fits the EDM CHALLENGE 34 ,draw a fallen leaf.I love oak leaves and acorns and collect them everywhere I go when I see them. My pockets are always full of objects I see and collect to draw.This oak leaf was found on a frosty day in March and I loved both the shape and colours.I have used acrylic paints to capture the lovely yellow orche colours. It is starting to fall apart ,but the missing shapes add to the shape. Hope you like it.

My Feather Collection

I am lucky enough to live by the sea. The view from my bedroom window looks down across the sea shore. It is an estuary and has lots of wild birds and is actually a place of special scientific interest. When I go for a walk on the shore I am always finding feathers. I love the pure white swan feathers but my favourites are these brown and white striped ones. In the summer I can find so many, all diffrent sizes, tiny ones and much bigger ones. They are all different, the colours ,shapes and patterns. I like placing them in a line and then drawing them. It does take me a long time to do a drawing like this but I love the finished result.
I have so many different feathers, so many different colours and patterns and shapes. Some of them are drawn in pencil because I want to capture the lines and all the detail.I have used Derwent crayons to do this line of feathers.
Just the other day I spotted a tiny feather in the road and it had bright blue up one side. My husband said it was a Jays feather. He showed me a picture of a Jay and it has blue on its wings. What a great find , I must draw it in one of my pictures.
Hope you like my feather drawing. There is a similar drawing to this going to be in my exhibition . It starts two weeks tomorrow.I am going to put some of my feathers on display along with other natural objects which I have drawn.
I collect feathers when ever I see them. I usually wash them in soapy water and that way I know they are clean. Some people are allergic to feathers, not me, so do take care if you handle them.

Feathers

I have been really busy . Each day I focus on getting yet another task done and take great pleasure crossing it off my to do list. I have visited the picture framer on a regular basis and I am happy with the framed drawings. It is strange seeing my drawings framed and I try to image what they will all look lke up on the wall displayed together. Three weeks today and the exhibition will be open to the public. As this is my first ever exhibition I feel very excited . Then of course I hope other people enjoy it and like my drawings. I know I will feel a sense of achievement and proud of myself . This is a big step for me , a step into the unknown , sharing my work .

For those of you who followed my CL blog , you will know I love to collect and draw feathers . Saturday night , I am sat listening to the radio drawing feathers , my idea of relaxing.My feather drawing is done in Derwent coloured pencils and is two owl feathers. This will be in my exhibition.

Beach Finds

I like going for a walk along the beach and collecting objects that I find. This picture was drawn from a collection of objects I found on one of my beach walks. I love oak leaves and this huge leaf was on the sand at the waters edge . I found the red berries on the tide line , and I wondered how did they get there? The feather , blue shell and pebble were all brought home and arranged on the paper in front of me and then I drew them as a record of my day.
It was a beautiful day and the beach is such a lovely calm and relaxing place to be . I always feel free and alive and feel so inspired. My picture reminds me of that day. This picture was painted in acrylic paints , it is going to be in my exhibition this summer at Brantwood , Coniston in the Lake District.

Oak Leaves and Acorns

I just love oak leaves and acorns. Everywhere I go and I see them, I have to collect them. I have lots of different drawings of oak leaves .
I have found some interesting oak leaves on the tideline, having been sea washed and turned into a very dark brown colour. I painted the dark oak leaf with a shell, feather and red berries, all found on the same day. I have a pencil drawing of a very fragile decaying leaf and a painting of a fresh green leaf on a piece of branch.
These oak leaves in my picture were collected by the lake at Coniston. I loved the colours and shapes and tried to capture them , so on the day I found them I brought them home and layed them out in a row and drew them .They are drawn in Derwent coloured pencils . This is one of my collection of 8 artcards and lots of people have bought this card. I like the idea that lots of people have my oak leaves and acorn drawing.
The original drawing is going to be in my exhibition. It looks really beautiful now it has been framed . I can remember the day we were walking by the lake and I saw all the leaves and spent ages choosing the ones I liked the best . I have some lovely detailed drawings of the acorns , using pencil which will also be displayed at my exhibition.
If you would like to see some more of my drawings visit my website.
www.drawingsfromnature.com

Collected Objects on my walk.

I like going for awalk . My eyes are constantly scanning the
ground ,the hedgerows and the views . I notice all kinds of things as I walk and every now and again I see something which attracts my attention and makes me stop and look .
I collect objects and always arrive home with a pocket full of
bits and pieces . This particular day, the two feathers were laying at the side of the road near to the large oak tree where I collected the fragile pale oak leaves . The little dark brown leaves littered the ground under the hawthorn tree and a rose hip was picked from the otherwise bare hedgerow. It was a cold frosty day last year. I came home and drew the objects. I liked the shapes , the colours and patterns and this is how I placed them on the paper in front of me. It is a reminder of that day. I like working like this, just set off and see what you find , a walk or a day out somewhere, at the beach , in a garden .Try it , just look and see what you find.
It is painted in watercolour paints.

My Beautiful Fritillary

I have spent all day drawing one of the snakehead fritillary from out of my garden. I love these delicate and fragile flowers with their checked patterns.I wanted to capture the elegant flower with its drooping neck and delicate leaves.

Welcome to my first blog

Welcome to my first blog.
Hope you will enjoy some of my drawings from nature. I will be sharing some of my drawings and telling you about my first exhibition which is to be held this summer. All my artwork is drawn from real objects , close observations of natural objects ,which I have found or collected.
Here is an example of my work .