Sunday 15 January 2012

More exercise on a sunny day

I have started the year off well with lots of exercise.  My Tai chi class and then a yoga evening class and now a long walk around the village with the up hill section that always gets me puffing and results in a red healthy looking complexion.  It was a lovely day and so we set off in the sunshine and I thought it was a chance to find something for my next page.  It seemed quite strange hunting in the hedgerows as I spent last year on the shore collecting my objects.  I saw so many snail shells, lots of  different colours from pale blues to dark brown and many fragile broken cases with holes pecked  by the birds.  One made its way into my drawing.  The hedgerows were all very neat and tidy, someone had given the whole village a good cut and so I didn't find many red berries.  I did snap off the little branches with the green lichen from a favourite tree near the shore and you can see the berries are now suffering, no more bright red glossy berries on this tree.  I was amazed to see some pretty pink campion flowers still flowering through the winter.  One of my favourite plants, Lords and Ladies, was growing fresh green healthy leaves and as it is a plant  I love to draw when they reach the red berry stage I will try to   remember where I have seen them.  I passed the big oak tree which spreads its branches across the road, and resisted collecting the leaves as most were stuck in the muddy verges.  I found the sycamore leaf in one of the muddy banks by the road,  the minute I saw it I knew it was going in my page.  It was so interesting with all the torn and eaten areas and I immediately picked it up along with other remnants of leaves attached to it.  It was very fragile and it lost little pieces onto my mitten as I carried it home. I have always loved drawing aged and worn leaves.
Along the way we passed the old flattened ruins of homes,  this is where my parents first lived when they were married,  this is another place we can find pieces of china as I saw several in the field by the muddy gateway.  Our village is made up of many different little hamlets, clusters of houses,  and in days gone by I guess everyone just discarded their old broken pots in the fields or rivers or at the bottom of their garden.  There were village rubbish tips where people took the household and garden rubbish but no collections at this time.  It seems we have china in our little rivers, in fields near the houses and on the shore.  We actually have one little river that runs downhill past cottages and eventually to the shore that my husband and I have nick named China River.  I think England has many similar villages and towns where china can be found.  I must photograph my collection to show you!
So here is my finished page.  The leaf was so lovely to draw and paint and I am really pleased with it and the shapes and  patterns it contains. The berries were added next and the snail shell to finish the page. I have added the colours of ink I used for you to see.  I have bought some dip in pens and a variety of nib sizes, so hoping to have something in sepia ink to post next week after I have experimented with them.
Yesterday was such a beautiful day that we  could not resist a long walk on the shore, even more excerise,  and  of course I collected  lots of objects so I might try them in sepia.  Watch this space.  Hope you like the page for this week.


Thank you for all the lovely comments on Week 52.  The winner of my give away is Martinealison. Please can you send me your address.
Due to my lack of technology ...I am sorry to say I did not receive the emails that were sent via the contact!  if you did sent me an email please could you  send it again.  (the link is not live,  so using your own provider.)   Thank you.                                                Millyx

18 comments:

jyothisethu said...

enjoyed your writing and the pictures...

Kim Henkel Creations said...

Hello Milly,
I stumbled onto your blog today as I meandered around this amazing blog world. I so enjoyed my visit! What a wonderful ambitious and beautiful project you took on last year! I enjoyed looking at your images. Your work is so very lovely and inspiring.
The decaying leaf drawing is wonderful. Thank you for sharing. I shall return.

Susan Scheid said...

Your eye sees what we all should, if we really looked, but so few of us do. You have taken a torn sycamore leaf and shown us it is precious. Things augur well for 2012 over here, I would say.

Frances said...

Milly, it's interesting to see what treasure a different walking route has allowed you to collect. The leaf has inspired you to create a beautiful result.

Your 2011 52 weeks inspired me to finally get to my discount art materials shop on my day off, and purchase my first three bottles of acrylic ink. On this freezing, actually below freezing, day in NYC, I did a little afternoon hibernating and did my initial experiment with these inks. I can now see why you enjoy using them so much.

I do hope that more experimenting will give me a better understanding of this medium. Thank you again for the introduction.

I love the idea of your China waterway. Please do remember to post some photos of the bits and pieces that you've discovered over the years.

xo

Lynn said...

Lovely! The leaf is wonderful with all its shapes and variations of colour.

ELFI said...

très beau...bonne année créative!

Laure Ferlita said...

Love the tattered leaf! There is such a quiet elegance to the skeletons of these old leaves.

Thanks for explaining a little more about the broken pieces of china!

Vicki Lee Johnston said...

I love the leaf Milly, it really leapt out - beautiful story and I am enjoying your stories of your new collecting environments ... wish I could say the same about the exercise aaah oh well will get to it soon!

RH Carpenter said...

Your blog reminds me to see the beauty in the simple things and thank you for that. Your artwork is wonderful and I enjoy every visit even if I don't always comment.

wandering said...

Beautiful wintery leaf..!
And yes, I think you are right, about people dumping their old pots etc. locally. My in-laws have an allotment that backs on to a row of Victorian cottages, and even without digging there are always treasures to be found, from bits of china to little glass bottles.. Little doors into the past; I like that.

Jannette

Windsongs and Wordhoards said...

I love the raggeddy leaf... a lovely page once again! I must find time to walk more, its so good for the soul!

Melody said...

I love the little bit of lichen, a nice soft green touch...and the leaf looks so very fragile. Nice that you found some little flowers out there to brighten the browns of a snowless winter....
I would LOVE to see China River...and your pottery collection, and the views around your village ~ it would be like a little mini vacation! *sigh*

Feathers said...

Lovely as usual Milly. You find beauty in the most worn and tattered items. I love dry and broken leaves too. Your walks turn into real treasure hunts.

Penny from Enjoying The Simple Things said...

I am here visiting from Mary at A Breathe of Fresh Air.

Your blog is delightful and your art is beautiful. It is so nice to meet you.
Penny

Mary said...

Hi dear - I love the sycamore leaf, I don't think we even have those trees around here and I miss them. Everything you find and draw brings back so many memories for me............like you, I loved the countryside and shore as a child in England - we were very fortunate growing up in an age when Nature provided our recreation rather than TV and computer screens!!!

I posted on my lovely purchases from you today - hope lots of blog friends will get to see your exquisite work.

Happy day - hugs, Mary

c. Joy said...

Just found your beautiful blog thanks to Mary @ A Breath of Fresh Air. Lucky me!

Beth Niquette said...

I love that leaf. It is beautiful. Fills my eyes--which is the greatest compliment I can give.

Jarnie Godwin said...

I do so love your collections. The leaf with all it's skeletal glory is great. You have so much patience topick up such minute detail.