Quirky Birds And Este MacLeod

This is "An Intriguing Hat" and is quite quirky really. I love drawing people with various things on their heads.

I found a picture of a lady with this posture in a book and decided it would be perfect for this picture. This is "The Blue Bird".

This design is "In The Flower Garden" and is loosely inspired by another Caroline Gardner greetings card.

I call this drawing "triangular tree" because the leaves are tiny triangles - makes sense. The blue fruit is a bit unusual of course....!

The early morning sun makes a really lovely picture of these winter trees. I haven't been out and about photographing very much lately so this is last years' shot.

I couldn't resist photographing this beech tree with the sun turning its leaves to gold. I wish autumn would stay with us for longer. We are having incredibly squally gales tonight so I don't suppose there will be many leaves left on the trees tomorrow.

This is the deer wrapping paper I found yesterday. I looks much better in real life but I think you get the general idea. Very sweet and pink.

This one is a Stephanie Dyment card. I love the bright, fresh greens. On the whole I prefer contemporary designs to traditional, although some traditional cards are really lovely, like the sheep card I featured in an earlier blog.

This is a Claire Hocking design. I am a sucker for deer and I love the little bird on its back. I love drawing birds. They are so cute and you can put them almost anywhere.

This is a lovely Lisa Graa Jensen Christmas card. This is from last year but it has been re-issued this year but a shorter version with the moon and sky missing. I often notice the previous year's cards in with the new designs. This seems to happen with the most popular designs. I suppose if you have a moneyspinner of a card you milk it for all it is worth.

The following paintings and ceramics are all the work of South African artist Este MacLeod. Check out her website for more lovely images of her art and craft.

November is passing so quickly that it will be Christmas before we know where we are. I haven't even thought about present buying but that is usually a last minute rush. I envy those organised individuals who can shop for presents as soon as summer is over. I know that I couldn't do it. Even more remarkable are those people who shop throughout the year and lay gifts away even though it may be January. I think I need the spice of the adrenaline rush in leaving it to the last minute. I always do my best work when I am under pressure...ha ha.

I am still on the Christmas card hunt though and have found some more nice designs for you to browse. I also bought my first roll of wrapping paper simply because I loved the little pink deer on it. There are so many lovely designs around at Christmas time.

The leaves are nearly all golden and yellow and red now but the weather is so wet and squally that I doubt if we shall have any left on the trees by tomorrow. I popped up to one of my favourite places for autumnal leaves yesterday, but unfortunately I forgot to replace the camera batteries so I missed the chance of sunshine on beech trees. I will probably never get the opportunity again this year so I have rooted out a couple of oldish photos for you to see. Spring and autumn are my favourite seasons.

My featured artist this week is South African born painter and ceramicist called Este MacLeod (pronounced macloud). She has quite an extensive website here. Her paintings have a stylised, naive quality and she is inspired by everyday things, dreams and the natural world. Her ceramics are beautifully quirky and very stylised and, like me, she loves putting birds on peoples' heads...ha ha. I love her work and I think she is a very talented artist and craftswoman. See what you think.