Tuesday 30 October 2012

Seashore, Butterfly and Hare.


I have had a busy time enjoying a lovely walk along one of my favourite sandy beaches.  I collected lots of beautiful shells and some seaweed and feathers.  I always try not to gather too much but it never works because as soon as I see a pretty shell, well how can I resist it when it looks so small and so lovely.  The trouble is I feel like this about so many of the found objects and so I end up with all of this.
I went for all the lovely blue shells, see how gorgeous they look  as I washed them and arranged them on a plate.  Then I washed my feathers so I could include some in a drawing.
Now to choose,  I take a few shells and the delicate seaweed and make a start sketching them on my paper.
 Then off to my Tai Chi class and back home to sit and paint  for the rest of the afternoon and all evening. Inks, water and paintbrush ready.  It is dark so quickly now we have changed the clocks,  so this is how I spent my evening cosy by the fire with my drawing board balancing on my knee and listening to the radio.
Just enough for one evening and looking nice.
 Next day I  chose some feathers and some more lovely shells and added them to the page.
All finished and a record of my beach walk.  My photograph shows  how the view out to sea is now changing as more and more windmills appear on the horizon.
I really wanted this amazing piece of seaweed in the water,  it was just fascinating and I played with it and arranged the leaves and then photographed it.  The tide had been up and left it stranded in a little pool.  I would have loved to draw it,  but as I always draw from the real object it was a little on the large size to bring home!  You can see some of my tiny shells in the water.
The other day I found something else I would have loved to keep, a perfect butterfly in our garden.  It just sat for so long,  long enough to take some photographs. It sat on my husband's hand,  so well behaved and then off she went, up, up and away.
Now for the Hares.  Last March I went on a book making course and made two different handmade books.  So have I used my new skills?   I knew that I would make a book with my hare drawing on the front.  On Saturday with a whole day to myself  I finally got around to making it.  I was afraid that I would not be able to remember all the instructions but me being me, I had made lots of notes and it all went well and hours later I had my book glued and finished.  I  was adventurous and made my own style with three tapes and larger than the one we made at the course with two tapes.   I am thrilled with my hand stitched "Hare book".
The pages are stitched and ready to glue the front and back in place.


My first ever photo collage.

My beautiful handmade Book with my hare drawings.
 You can buy this Hare Linen fabric at "Peony and Sage".
So there you have my week.  Hope you enjoyed seeing what I have been doing .
Millyx


Thank you for your comments which I always enjoy reading.
Please do not take my drawings,  Please respect my copyright and ownership.










14 comments:

Sandra said...

2You are so talented and so inspiring, thank you so much for sharing your journey with us.
I adore the book.

Sandra

Betty Adele said...

I love your handmade book. What did you do with the fabric in the spine - did you cut to a certain length? Did you glue to the page?

Kay said...

gorgeous as ever...xx

Acornmoon said...

May I be the first to admire your exquisite handmade hare book! I hope it will be the first of many!

Lynn said...

What a gorgeous post! The blues of those shells really speak to me. Your book is wonderful! I love the idea of sitting by a fire painting - lovely as we head into winter.

Debbie Nolan said...

Dear Milly - these are wonderful - your hare book looks so intriguing. As always your art inspires me to sketch more. Take care friend and have a wonderful week.

Gill said...

I love your hare book! I would love to learn book making - where was your course? can you recommend any books??

sea-blue-sky & abstracts said...

Lovely artwork Milly - the seashore offers such a wealth of subject matter. I really like your photo of the pool - a work of art in itself.

Such space where you live! Lesley x

Frances said...

Milly, thank you so much for your kind wishes. I feel so fortunate in the wake of that giant storm with the flip name Sandy.

I really like all that you've shown us in this post. Your shoreline collecting always comes up with treasures to be transformed by your artist's eye and hand.

And...the hare fabric is so lovely, and you've made perfect use of it in the hand bound book.

Bravo! xo

Melody said...

I love the little blue shells!! I don't think any of ours come in blue around these parts! Sitting by the fire drawing/painting sounds so nice. *sigh... :)))
Your Hare Book is amamzing, and beautifully done!
And your collage, that's fun too! ~ I haven't figured out how to do those yet... I love that they look like little Polaroid picutures!!
Thanks for sharing!! :))))

Kim Henkel Creations said...

Oh my what beauty you create. The drawing as always so lovely. I love how you draw from the real items, and how you compose everything so beautifully. And your hare book.... breathtaking! Divine! WOW! not sure what more to say, but once again you have captured beauty.

Vicki Lee Johnston said...

Love to read your blog - if you published one I would buy a book with all your daily treasure collections and artworks ... perhaps one day? My kind of world ...

Jill said...

Milly it is always such a delight to see what you ave been doing - even the arrangements of your finds are beautiful. The hare book is exquisite, may we see inside?

Windsongs and Wordhoards said...

What a lovely hoard of treasures from the sea! As always you arrange your composition so beautifully, it flows so naturally across the page... your book is beautiful too :)