Collecting feathers

 It was a bright sunny day and we went for a walk down to a local sandy beach a few miles from us.  It was another day to get outside and enjoy the sunshine, as the days are getting shorter and much cooler.
We parked the car and wandered along  the well worn footpath on top of the sand dunes to the beach. And I said, "please don't let me collect anything today".  He just laughed and then asked, "Why? "
Of course he knew the answer as he knows better than anyone about my collecting habits!   Moments later I am picking up a feather,  then I put it down and walked away. But I really wanted the feather, so I went back and stuck it into the sand and said if I still wanted it I would collect it on our way back.

 We had not gone too far and there was another lovely feather, and another and he kept laughing as I placed them standing up in the sand.  Or perhaps should I take them now in case they blew away or we miss  them on the way back?     I am trying to resist by convincing myself there is no need to take them as I still have acorns and leaves and blackberries and red berries and sycamore sitting at home with a promise of being drawn,  all freshly collected from recent walks.
The day was beautiful, the views wonderful and that feelings of  freedom with this vast expanse of  space stretching out before us,  which is why I love being anywhere on the shore.  We wandered along the sandy beach and I see so many things I want to draw and I just have to pick them up and I failed miserably on the no collecting rule.

                                                                               This was my bag,  a small bag I found in my pocket which I managed to  fill with feathers, beautiful feathers and  some shells and a piece of seaweed that I could not bear to leave.  The larger gull feathers all have  fascinating  white spots which will make great drawing subjects.  And  the brown and white feathers  belong to the curlews, too lovely to resist and a few pretty shells thrown in for good measure.

 This is the view of the estuary with our village is on the right in the distance.  It was such a quiet day with just a few other people out for a walk,  all this to share.  The little tidal river weaves its way  towards our shore but soon all of this sand  will be covered with water as the tide comes in.  Along the way I found the two mermaids purses and the big fat bubble of seed weed in the tide line and I knew they would be part of my drawing.

 I like all of the objects,  each one picked up from the beach on such a nice Sunday afternoon.  And on the way back my feathers were waiting for me.....well if it makes me happy...no harm done....as the old folk used to say.

 And while I collected feathers my husband collected some beautiful photographs of the old boats.

 And as for the clutter.... I managed to draw a blackberry or two.

 Hope you liked the picture and the feathers, something tells  me  there will be lots more feather drawings soon. Thank you to my husband for the photographs.
My drawings are here for others to share and enjoy, please do not take my drawings, respect my ownership.

Thank you for the comments and emails.  I really do appreciate your comments and thoughts and to all the lovely people who let me know how much they enjoy my blog.
 Many thanks to you all.       Milly x

MY Drawings from Nature

I was asked the other day why I blog.
 The answer was easy,  I started blogging to share my art work.   I feel very lucky to live in a beautiful place and it is the countryside and the natural surroundings which inspire me to draw.  As a teacher it was my job to teach and my own enthusiasm was something that motivated the children in our art lessons.  I often meet children I taught and it is always the art work they talk about, memories of lessons drawing fresh fish or making paper or  printing,  enjoyable art lessons that left a memory.   To be a teacher was to pass on skills and encourage others to use their own skills and talents.   I share my art work  on this  blog to do just that and from the lovely comments I am often told I have inspired others to draw.
I am happy to hear this.
BUT,   I am feeling very unhappy about the way other people feel they have a right to take my artwork.   I have seen lots of my drawings on Pinterest......none of it with any requests or permission from me.  One person asked me if she could use it,  I did give her permission but also asked her to take one or two,  my work is here to view.   She then chose not to use any.
I do get requests.   I  have been asked if it would be possible to use a piece of  my work to print on a shirt, (from someone who already taken  it as their facebook header),  several requests for a body tattoo.   Someone wanted it for a business card and company logo, once for  wedding stationary and I could go on...... For free,  mention a payment and all goes quiet.  I could go on.
One person who took my Fritillary drawing and put it on her pinterest, she did add a link back to here,  but did not bother to ask.   When I found her and went to her blog,  a textile student,  it was very interesting to read  "her work was not to used or taken or used " etc  by anyone,  which was written under every post.   I think that is called double standards,  use other peoples work but nobody touch mine.
Well this is MY drawing.  All of MY work which I spend a lot of time drawing,  it is here to inspire and not to be used freely,  not to be copied.
I think the word inspired is misunderstood by many people,  they should have written I copied this.
I do not have adverts on this blog,  nor do I  earn money by people visiting this blog.  BUT  I am rather fed up of other sites  using MY  name "Drawingsfromnatureblog"  as a means of directing and generating traffic  and income to their sites.
MY  ART WORK,   MY DRAWINGS,   MY COPYRIGHT. and   ALL RIGHTS ARE RESERVED .

For all the lovely people all over the world who visit my blog to see my drawings and share a love of nature, here is my latest drawing.   I have made some wonderful friends over the years and  have enjoyed being inspired by the many kind people and friendship and support.  I have comments and emails from school children  who enjoy my drawings and adults  who appreciate seeing  where I live and photographs of this beautiful area.  It is lovely to know it gives pleasure to others by sharing my drawings.

Last weekend we walked on a local beach a few miles from us.  It was a misty day and feeling cooler.  I walked along the tide line and of course had to collect some feathers.  A huge dragonfly flew past and I hoped we might find one.  The little rock outcrop is where we walked to, from here we could look into the estuary to our village in the distance, the slate quarry and moors.

I collected some feathers and shells and seaweed.  The fine sand was blowing and  I was glad I had sunglasses to protect my eyes.

The wind blowing the sand across the shore

 Plenty of sand here. And lots of treasures of feathers and sea weeds and shells and china.

We saw several woolly caterpillars.

And then, it went very cloudy, very dark. Time to leave.

We managed to get home just as it started to rain and rain and rain, lots of that lately.

The pencil drawing of the feather was a gulls feather I found on the sand .  The four eggs were painted with my acrylic inks and a fine sable brush, which I spend many hours carefully  painting.  Hope you like them and enjoyed the beach walk.                                      Millyx

Moth and Eggs

I have been spending the last week gardening.  One day sunny,  and then one day raining, so just grab the fine days to get outside and tackle some of the jobs. I was cutting the ivy and guess what flew right in front of me.  It circled around and then settled right on the ivy and I shouted for my husband to get me a big glass jar to catch it in.   It was so beautiful and although I do not like to catch  butterflies or moths  I assure you it was set free again.  In my last post I showed you the same Magpie Moth, that one was found  dead.  It had its  wings closed and so I made a drawing of  the patterns on the underside of the wings.

see last post for drawing of this Magpie Moth

 I carefully placed  my new live moth into this little box and it was free to wander around and then I set about recording her beautiful patterns. I used a brown paper to show the white wings off and painted with a fine brush and my acrylic inks. You can see my progress as I painted the Moth.

 I sketched it in pencil and then put in the white markings and then added the black and orange patterns .  I was really pleased with the finished result and glad I used the brown background.   As I was painting my mind was comparing the spotted shapes with those I had seen on birds eggs.  That is what inspired me to paint the two eggs which belong to  the Curlew and Oyster catcher.  I am working on some other eggs as I enjoyed painting them.  As for the Magpie Moth, I opened the back door and set her free into the garden.
 There are several different versions of this moth over the years,  this one on the envelope was done about five years ago, it was interesting for me to compare and I think I have improved and also a reminder to paint more things on brown paper.

I also found an old  nest in the ivy,  we have had a blackbird family reared in our garden which has been lovely to watch.  We have also had so many colourful  butterflies coming to the buddleia bushes,  settling on the ground and soaking up the sunshine.  When you get closer their wings  look torn and faded,  the result of the weather I guess and of course it will soon be Autumn.
It will soon be time to shop for some new bulbs to plant in the garden, to flower next Spring.  Meanwhile lots of gardening to do, so many things catch my eye.  I see objects  I want to draw and  the red berries are attracting my attention,  one of my favourite drawing subjects.  Hope you like the moth and eggs.
Thank you for the lovely comments. Hope you all have a lovely weekend and some sunshine too.
Bye for now Milly x
*No Moths were harmed in the making of this blog........ I  promise.

Green Berries And Blue Quilt.

I collected the green berries on the Lord and Ladies and recorded this stage of the plant.  Then we went away to see our daughter.   I returned home to find the berries are changing to orange and then they will gradually turn red,  but the stalk is all rotten and slimy. I like drawing them but  I am struggling to find many left in the hedgerows because of the heavy rain which makes them rot and collapse.  I put the green leaf next to it, this was done a while ago.  After searching through an older sketch book I have also added one of my old drawings to show when they reach darker green  and red berries.   The leaf is painted using my acrylic ink in sap green and yellow ochre. For the green berries sap green, olive green and yellow ochre and sepia brown with the dip in pen.

I did not draw while I was away but my eyes constantly looked at my new surroundings on the long journey to Brighton and back.   I collected some objects from a beach and some oak leaves from a branch to draw later.  The colours and scenes were of a very green and fertile English countryside.   The sky has given the most amazing cloud formations everyday and  different colours, from grey and white to threatening black which then brought huge down pours.   I missed our hills.  I love returning home and seeing the familiar views.  We arrived back on the most beautiful evening,  a crisp outline and such a lovely coloured sunset.

It felt good to be home, safe and well.  The geese have arrived and we hear them each morning.

Such a pretty sunset to greet us.  The colours were just spectacular and I stood at the window and just looked.

 It is only days before the Olympic Games.  I have a certificate to tell me that my quilt is going to be given as "A Gift Of  Quilts",  to the Seychelles.   I am delighted that My Blue Windmill quilt will find a home in the Seychelles when it is gifted to their Olympic team.

 The certificate and a few left over bits from the quilt which I contributed to The Gift Of  Quilts.

"Blue Windmills" quilt going to The Seychelles Olympic Team.  

Hope you like the green leaf and berries.

I am busy packing as we are going on holiday.  I hope to find time to draw and paint,  packing some pens, brushes and a sketch book, so will share that with you on my return.   So I will not be able to post for a couple of weeks, computer free holiday for me.   My eyes will be wide open.   I am going to my favourite place and I am so excited to return after four years.
Thank you as always for the lovely comments.
Have a lovely Summer everyone. See you soon. Millyx

Rainy Days, drawing and sewing

butterfly and fern in acrylic ink

 We have had more than our fair share of rain here in Cumbria.  We didn't let it put us off going to see the Olympic torch, standing in the pouring rain everyone was soaked but the young man carrying the torch through Kendal looked very happy and it was a proud moment for him.  It was probably the wettest day ever, as last Friday put down a months rain in twenty four hours!

 During these wet days I have found some time to finally do a little sewing.  I wanted to make something useful with my hare fabric so I decided to make myself two tea towels.  I made them from natural linen and then added my lovely hare drawings in the corner.  The one sitting upright was stitched with linen thread with straight running stitches and I always love the textures it creates. You can also see my pincushion I made last year and stuffed with sheep wool I collected on the shore.  I am very happy with my handmade tea towels and enjoyed my sewing days.

You can buy this fabric with my hare drawings on it at "Peony and Sage" .

I am going to enjoy using my own handmade tea towels,  my hare drawings  look so nice.

                                  There is a link to the "Peony and Sage" website in my side bar.

I have been drawing another  butterfly I found.  It is a little damaged but then there is no wonder in this terrible weather we have been experiencing.  I put it with the piece of fern I picked which also was damaged and curling,  they just seemed to go together.   I used my acrylic inks and a paint brush and also my dip in pen for the sepia drawing of the underside of the butterfly.
I have been thinking about the swan and wondering if she is safe,  because I do have some lovely news to share.  I don't know if it is the same swan but we have a family,  two  parents and three beautiful young cygnets.  I hope they have found somewhere safe to shelter,  we had such a terrible thunder and lightening storm and heavy rain yesterday.  We saw them earlier in the week on a fine day as we took a walk on the shore.

I will leave you with this gorgeous photograph taken by my husband.  I hope you like the drawing and seeing my drawing and sewing together too.  Hope you all have a good weekend.
Thank you for the lovely comments.                                                                Millyx

Green Wings

Everywhere is very green and lush with all the rain we have had.  The tall cow parsley is shoulder height along the lanes and looking beautiful.  The fields are full of thick grass and filled with yellow buttercups and white dog daisies.  Many of the village hedgerows have been cut back as the fast growing wild flowers hang over the narrow roads and make them look even narrower and harder for cars to pass.  The verges  are home to many plants  and then when the space is needed they get cut down too.  I like to see all  the wild flowers and then the butterflies and insects are attracted to the colours and scents.  The honeysuckle and the Elderflower are both welcome sights as they are now flowering in the hedgerows.

I had been to see my sister and we wandered through her garden  I admired all her flowers which always attract beautiful butterflies.   She told me a dragonfly had flown into her conservatory on Sunday, she sees lots over the summer because of the pond and stream at the end of her garden.  Then I was given this butterfly which she had found dead in the conservatory,  as she knew I would draw it.  It is quite small and has  pale yellow and white wings with green  lines.  On the way home the wind was really picking up and it looked like a storm was heading our way.  The trees were catching the strong breeze and the little green sycamore wings were being blown off the branches.  I picked some up off the road,  and found I had collected a triple one.  So when I arrived home they ended up on my page together.... Green wings on the butterfly and green sycamore wings.

I drew the delicate butterfly in pencil first and then again a little larger to add the colours.  I painted it using a number 4 sable brush and  my acrylic inks with sap green, yellow ochre, and white to mix the colours.  I also used a little red with the sap green for the sycamore wings.

  I looked up the butterfly in Collins Butterfly Guide and it is a "Green veined white".  I hope to see lots more colourful butterflies during Summer in my sisters garden.  I will take my sketch book to show her the butterfly.   It is raining non stop here, everything will be growing and I guess it will be even greener and the grass even taller.

   I have visited a garden centre this week and bought some new plants,  two new peonies and some Lavenders,  and  geraniums for the pots at my door. I am going to be gardening when the rain stops and hopefully spend lots of summer days outside and sit and enjoy the views across the estuary.  Hope you all have a lovely weekend.
Thank you for the comments which I love to read.                                                        Millyx
  

A Celebration.

The Jubilee celebrations are now over.  In our village we had a Gala day on Monday and it was a glorious sunny day, we were so lucky as we are having lots of rain today.   I was invited to display some of my drawings as part of an exhibition of art by people who live in the village.  It was a lovely display representing children from the village school, an art group and anyone of any age who enjoys painting or drawing.  I decided to put lots of little drawings together on a large sheet to show lots of different subjects which I draw.

I added some pencil work, some using black ink  and several pieces of coloured work in crayon and paint.   It was a sample of the kind of  natural objects that I always choose to draw, things I find when I go for a walk around the village or on the shore.  There was also a glass covered display of my work showing the real items next to some of the drawings, such as shells, feathers and seeds.  It was interesting for me to see lots of my old work as I went through it  deciding which drawings to include.  I do draw the same things each year but they all look  different.  I had a spell of using mostly coloured pencils as in the feathers, then I painted with acrylic paints and now I seem to use acrylic inks.  My love of pencil drawings and black ink is also represented.  Well it is all very much  me, with feathers, red berries, shells, a moth, oak leaf and sycamore seeds...all  the things I  love to draw.  And also it shows how I like to use tags to draw on.

I hope you enjoy looking at the drawings too. The Gala was a great success, a bonfire and fireworks ended a lovely day.  I particularly was wowed by the fantastic Cake stall and chose four different cakes!  Hope you all enjoyed your celebrations and had a great weekend too what ever you were doing.
I have also been to see the new film " Snow White and the Huntsman",  which I really enjoyed from start to finish.  Some of the scenery was filmed in the Lake District and at one of the tarns,  it is a great film.
Thank you for the lovely comments.                                                              Millyx