Lovely Memories

I am home after a really nice holiday in Madeira. It was so nice to return to the island as it triggered so many memories as we stayed here for ten weeks back in 2004. It was a time when I did many drawings and paintings, little objects each day. The picture shows many of the little shells I found on the sandy beach near us. The two lovely shells I bought in Madeira were later made into one of my art cards. This was part of a display of some of my shell collection from when I had my exhibition. They always remind me of Madeira.

Lots of beautiful things inspired me as we looked around the museums and galleries. The colours of fruit and vegetables and the flowers at the market. Tables piled high with freshly picked cherries and strawberries been sold on the corner of the street.

A tropical garden, incredibly beautiful churches, tiles, Mosaic patterned streets, to name a few of the images fixed in my memory. The Firework displays over the harbour, as young and old all joined in to watch, were magical. Everyone makes you feel so welcome, it is relaxing place and now back home I feel very refreshed and inspired.

I was pleased to read all the comments while I have been away. Thank you.

A Picture and a Postcard

I picked this flower yesterday as they are almost finished. It is my snakehead fritillary, see my other posting below. I was given the dead wasp after my husband found it in the house, a perfect subject for me he said. So I decided to put them together.

I knew in my mind that they would feature together because I have this beautiful postcard. I bought it many many years ago, before I had any of the flowers in my garden. It is painted by Georg Flegel (1566-1638). It says it is called Iris, Narcissus, Chess-board Flower and Hornet.

After I painted it I found my card and placed it next to my work. We see things, images that stay with us. It is so lovely to think hundreds of years ago some one had these lovely flowers and painted them too.

Thank you for visiting and your comments, I love reading them. Life has been busy, but now after all the hard work the sun is streaming into my new creative room, it feels good. I am sewing making a beautiful quilt, hoping to enter it in a show. Out side the garden is full of bees and butterflies and I have seen two damsel flies. So many things to inspire me.

Just going for a walk to see the bluebells and breathe in that wonderful smell.

Hope you like the picture.

Nature does it better

I picked this green ivy leaf one day and added the drawing to my square book. It was the curling stem and the patterns of the veins that I wanted to capture. We have ivy growing on the walls in our garden and it attracts birds and insects alike. I like to cut long strands to decorate the house at Christmas, we have done this all my life.

When it has rained we get soaked as we brush past it on the path to our house but it has so many advantages. We had a Blackbirds nest amongst it and the birds love it. It seems to attract Moths and bees, spiders build their webs in it and the snails hide amongst it.

The other thing I love is the way the leaves age into these beautiful skeletons. They look like the most delicate pieces of lace, nature does it better than us.

My brown leaf is in pencil and Derwent artist coloured pencils, the green one is in acrylic inks. Hope you like them.

My Favourite Flower

This is my favourite flower. Today as the sun shone the beautiful chequered flowers started to open and really show their colours and patterns. It is the Snakehead Fritillary.

Each Autumn I plant some more of the tiny white bulbs in my garden. I always feel excited as I wait each April to see them flower.
I think it is such a lovely shaped flower, so delicate, elegant and beautifully patterned. The tall slim stems with thin leaves which create elegant shapes too. I watch them as they grow and try to capture their beauty as I draw them. There is a black and white ink drawing in my side bar. This one is drawn using pencil. It is a life size drawing as the real specimen shows.
Watch this space as I expect there will be many more drawings of my favourite flower. I have planted hundreds and this is just one of the first to flower.
Hope you like it. You can press picture for close up, and then press anywhere on the image for a zoom up of image.

Beware, this can happen

Today I went to a blog to say thank you for visiting and leaving me a comment. This is what I saw, the picture below. There was absolutely no doubt in my mind, this was my dragonfly. I know my own work. I knew this was my dragonfly even though it has glittery bits sprinkled over it and with this background. I think it has probably been cut out, then stuck onto the background.
So I left a comment. I said did she think I would not recognise my own work. Then I said how I shared my work and was happy it inspired others but I trusted other people not to steal it.

I told her it made me sad to have to write this.

Yes I do post my work here for the whole world to see.

I will continue to post my work here.

It is a beautiful dragonfly BUT it isn't so beautiful when it is just taken.

So what more is there to say, she knows she did it, passed it off as her own.

At least she has me in her side bar, under inspirational blogs !

There I got that off my chest, thanks for listening.

Honesty

I couldn't resist collecting some oak leaves from under the old oak tree in the village. It is probably the last, as they are now very thin and brittle, most of them were broken and crumbling. Soon the new buds will burst and new green oak leaves will appear. When I reached home I was too busy to even look at this leaf until late evening, it had then started to curl up in the heat. I sketched it and painted over two days. I have been wanting to draw the honesty seed heads for weeks so I decided to add them to the oak leaf. I found this lovely brown and cream piece of china in the stream and thought it would go well with the leaf too.

I have been busy as we are decorating, and it will be worth it as I am changing my daughters old bedroom into a room for me. A room to be creative in, sew and draw and paint. I usually just sit in the living room by the window. I draw with my book on a board resting on my knee. My clutter close to hand, pencils, paints, sketch books and of course specimens. It will be good to have the new room and my things all together and tidy. And a table by the window.

I am always busy, but lately I really haven't had much time for blogging, reading and visiting others. I am always thrilled to find your comments, so I do want to thank you for giving your time to visit and leave me comments.

Hope you like today's new page in the square book, I have left the honesty and china for you to see. Painted in acrylic paint, press for close up.

Little Shoots

We went for a ride out and ended up at Kendal. I didn't feel like shops so we walked the footpath by the river. A sandwich and cup of tea from the kiosk and we sat by the river watching the seagulls fly around hoping for some scraps. Ducks swam around on the river, pigeons and starlings walk around the seats looking for any left overs. It was good to sit in the fresh air and watch. We wandered along to a little park and enjoyed the little stroll looking at the allotments just over the fence, some gardening activity and chatting by the owners. The trees were bare and the grass looked wet and muddy, the park seats looked damp. So we just wandered until I stopped to look up at a really large tree with huge spreading branches. It was a beautiful old tree, no leaves to give a clue of what it was. Then I saw the seeds on the grass, so went to collect some. They were a really large version of the "helicopter" seeds, with a flattish end. They all seemed to be standing up right, then as I picked them up I realised why. Tiny green shoots were rooting into the soil and making them all stand up. I collected lots to bring home and draw. I examined them at home, realising the end was split open to allow the green shoot to grow. As I tugged at the shoot, out fell the seed. Two seeds from one of the largest, shaped to fit together...in the middle of the page. It is really fascinating to think this huge tree started off as one of these little seeds. I will check back when the leaves appear to try and identify it, seems to belong to the Maples looking at my tree book.

Thank you for the lovely comments, I am feeling better. I have been painting the seeds with acrylic paint and my trusty number 6 sable brush, another page in my square book. Hope you like them. It snowed today, lightning and hail yesterday, poor spring flowers are getting a battering.

Slow Pace

Life has been rather slow lately. I have had a really rotten cold and my head has felt like it didn't belong to me. I have been forced to slow down and just let it run its course. I haven't been feeling myself all week and not able to draw or even read blogs.
I felt like I was a snail, slowly moving around feeling very delicate, curling up on the sofa with my pounding head. I will spare you all the details ! When I finally woke up Friday morning and I could breath, didn't need the box of tissues, could bend my head forwards...it felt like bliss.
I really missed not drawing. I sat and looked through a few of my sketchbooks and old drawings. Then I found this snail I did with black ink pens and thought that is how I feel. It was done a while ago. As the temperature warms up the snails that are hibernating in the cracks in the wall, in plantpots and in the hedges will all wake up. I like seeing them in the garden, watching them move around, walking up the walls, hanging over the edges of the plantpots and even creeping into my kitchen. As you know I like collecting and drawing their empty shells.
Hope you like it.

Whats Yours?

Something different today, just a little piece of nature and some of my found treasures. Everywhere I go I scan the ground, noticing things, picking up objects and bringing them home. I call them my treasures. The other day I was balancing on large stones in a stream fishing out pieces of china from the freezing cold water, for the thrill of finding a lovely blue and white piece, or some other intricate pattern. I always seem to arrive home with a pocket full of my finds.
A treasured possession is an old rusty key that I found many years ago. This similar one was found in a second hand shop. I am definitely one of life's collectors, and keys are one of my favourite things.
Then the dresser in my kitchen is covered in old china, items collected over thirty years, second hand pieces chosen for their pattern or shape. I don't mind if they are chipped or cracked. I fill an old chipped jug with flowers and to me it looks beautiful. I love old china, so finding old pieces of sea washed, river washed or buried broken pottery gives me a thrill. Just last week I found lots of pieces in the garden at an old derelict house in the village.
This little blue and white piece painted on the tag was one of them, a great find, as it has a pattern on both sides.
They are little fragments of a time gone by, each one unique. I like to include them as part of a painting with natural objects. You will find examples in the side bar.
I painted on the tag and the larger key is on dark brown card.
Would you like the tag.....I am going to give it away.
Tell me what is your idea of "a treasure".
Leave a comment and I will give the tag to the winner.
I will pick the winner next Sunday 21st March 2010.
The WINNER is Pomona. She will receive the painted tag.
Thank you for your lovely comments, I enjoyed reading them all.
I will have another give away soon.