Pretty Flowers and Ritchie Collins

This is an ink and digital design which I have called "Fruitful". I have just noticed that my artwork is delicate and flowery this week. Quite spring like in fact.

Anyone who follows my blog will remember this lovely deer from around Christmas time when I used it for a Christmas card. It is a copyright free art deco design from one of my books. The stylised tree is my own design though.

I love fritillaries. This is a totally stylised one of course but I think it looks nice.

This is a beautiful bag which I saw on Etsy a while ago. It is hand knitted and felted and is in such beautiful shades of lilac and green. It is sold now alas....! It is by sassafrasstudio and she has lots more covetable bags in her shop.

If you are fond of a sweet, sentimental but rousing melody you will love the song sung by Hayley Westenra and Jonathan Ansell at the 2008 Festival of Remembrance on youtube. I have played it so often that I have almost worn it out on youtube...ha ha. You can find it here.

If you like hares and textiles you will love these gorgeous silk paintings by Rachel Sumner. I have followed the work of Rachel and her sister Mary for many years. Their lovely images can be found on ties, posters, greetings cards and wrap. These hares have a wonderfully illustrative and detailed look to them. I have wrapped up many a birthday present in Sumner gift wrap over the years. Rachel also produces embroideries and drfitwood boats. Visit her website here for some more images of her work.

I love these quirky ceramic characters from Sarah McDade from her stoneware range. She has lots more on her website here.

The detail and colour of this beautiful collograph is wonderful. It is by Australian printmaker Melissa Smith and is called Channel. It has an lovely organic quality to it.

Found some more Mocchi Mocchi cards I haven't seen before. I really like their style especially the trees and birds card just below. Their website is here but they seem to have a lot more cards than are shown on the site.

Lots and lots of lovely bluebells around at the moment. The woods are full of them and the subtle fragrance is heavenly. These are local views.

This is a photoshopped version of a bluebell wood in the picture below, hence the intensity of the colours.

A local lane at springtime.

My featured artist this week is a very popular Scottish painter called Ritchie Collins. Ritchie is inspired by the beautiful Scottish countryside, Celtic art, myths and folklore. All these influences can be seen in his beautifully textural and vibrant work. I think my favourite has to be "Where Angels Meet". I love images of angels. His art is a response to places he has visited and dreams he has had. I envy him his dreams...lol. He has a comprehensive website here. Ritchie's work can also be found at Ealain Gallery here and also Just Art Gallery here.

Where Angels Meet

Temple Night

Lobster Pot

Moon Blues

Moon Temple

Temple Cat

Boat Hoose

The Dreamer

Fisherman's House

Tea N Oranges

Love Hill
I visited a local town today and was very pleased to find that a book fair was taking place there. It was actually in the Elizabethan Court House which is an ancient building next to the church which I have long wanted to have a look inside. A heaven sent opportunity. They had some very interesting old and new books and the majority at quite reasonable prices. I treated my self to a book on poultry with lots of lovely paintings, drawings and diagrams of hens and cockerels. Very inspiring for someone who loves drawing same. The other book I bought was called Traditional Arts and Crafts of Yugoslavia which will also be a mine of inspiration for my artwork. The trouble is that every time I buy new (or old) books I have to get rid of some books already in my possession to make room. Oh to have a huge library, or alternatively, a huge house with a library. Either will do nicely.

Blog Anniversary Giveaway Winners

The winners of my first anniversary blog giveaway are Pamela of From The House of Edward blog, Dolores from True Blue Canadian blog and Robyn from Art Propelled. If you could let me know your mail addresses ladies I will send the prints asap.

This is a digital piece entitled "The Place of Dancing". It was from the title of a song I heard a while back and liked.

I must say a big thank you to Caroline for this great blog award I received a little while ago. Pop over and have a peek at her lovely blog at Caroline's Studio and say hello. I have a very healthy clutch of awards now from some great bloggers.

I had a nice little sea poem to post with this pen and ink drawing but in the end it wasn't applicable. It mentioned ships and my little boat is anything but. This is called "Safe Harbour".

This is a pen and ink drawing with digital colouring. Originally I was going to keep it all black and white but a tiny bit of colour crept in - like it does.

The cherry blossom is in full bloom locally and looks fabulous. So pretty when the sun is shining on it which it has a lot lately. I think summer has come early. I noticed today that another favourite of mine, the lilac, is out. Such a plentitude of flowers in spring.

Four lovely linocut prints by Robert Taverner who died in 2004 after 50 years as a printmaker. There is a lovely collection of his prints here.

Pollarded Trees and Houses

Pony and Paddock

Cottages and Reeds

Flint Barn

I really like these beautiful, contemporary sculptures by Australian, Sally Curry. So simple with lovely textures. Sally handbuilds her figures using earthenware terracotta. You can find a lovely display of her work at The Handmark Gallery.

One World

Gift From Crete

Flora

I have just discovered another treat from Mark Hearld. This is called St. Paul's Pigeons and is a collage. Love the bright colours. Pigeons are such common and humble birds but some artists have the ability to make them appear special, and Mark Hearld is one of them.

These little sculptures are delightful. I love the colour combination of the turquoise and yellow animal. They are by Allen and Mary Dee Dodge and they produce lots of interesting sculptures and figurines which can found on their website here.

The lovely images below were created by Suffok painter and printmaker Penny Bhadresa. She uses mainly linocut techniques but also collage, mixed media, acrylic and watercolour. Her subject matter reflects her love of nature, landscape and architecture. Her style is bold, colourful and graphic and she imbues her work with lots of shapes, texture and patterns. I love stylised art and I find her work very compelling. The hares particularly seem to have a sense of myth about them. She is a very successful artist and can be found in many galleries, among them St. Judes Gallery and Cambridgegallery. Penny's own website can be found here. The two acrylic paintings were from an article about Penny in "The Artist" magazine in 2004.

Harvest Hares

When The Boat Comes In

The Wild One

The Boxers

Guinea Fowl (Acrylic)

Snow Sprinter

Apples and Pears

Snow Fowl

Black Hens (Acrylic)

I decided to visit our local car boot sale as it was a lovely spring morning. I have watched as this boot sale has grown over the years from just a few stalls to a whole field full and it is now one of the most popular ones in the area. This sale is very organised as all the stalls are in neat rows which make it easy to know where you have been. Occasionally you can come across an absolute gem for next to nothing but most of the stuff is, frankly, tat. There seems to be a huge market for other peoples' tat. It makes me smile to see what dreadful things people have given house room to. I wish I could have taken some photos for you but I thought that might be frowned upon. A couple of classics were the dachshund crudely made of straw with bits of string tied at strategic points to stop the animal falling apart, and the huge pink metal flamingo with a light attached to the body like a huge, walking lamp. Just a couple of items that should have been consigned to the rubbish tip many moons ago. Did I buy anything?...well yes I did. Three brand new little glasses for 60p (ours keep getting broken) and a DVD of Pan's Labyrinth for £2. It is a wonderfully bizarre, creepy film with very dark undertones. Definitely not your average fairy tale. I am very satisfied with my purchases today.