Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow...!

I hope everyone had a very happy Christmas and a great New Year. Ours was quiet but very nice. I haven't made any new year resolutions this year because I always end up breaking them before the end of January. I am hoping to organise my time better this year and get much more done, rather than just thinking about it. Also, I haven't forgotten about my blog giveaway to celebrate my 100th blog post before Christmas. I will be sorting that out soon.

I have just fallen in love with this song by Moya Brennan on Youtube. Most of you will know Moya as the voice of the wonderful Irish group Clannad. The video is of the very mediocre King Arthur film which was a huge disappointment. Anyway, have a listen to the music and see what you think.

You will see I have drawn a new blog header but no pink goose this time. Another point to make is the crazy way Blogger have of dating blogs. Why do they have to have the date they were first written and not the date they were published. I always take several days to write mine.

This is number four in my "Woman Who Planted Trees" series. Still more to come though.



Paradise Tree - a bit of colour to brighten up winter.


The lovely ceramics below were created by the American ceramic artist and sculptor Jenny Mendes. Jenny has a website full of deliciously quirky stuff here.

Spread Your Wings Tile


Cup


Large Pillow Tile


We had a very deep snowfall just after I signed off blogging for 2009 so I have saved some of the photos for 2010 even though the snow has all gone. It caused huge problems on the roads and lots of accidents but then this is England and we don't do snow! We went for a few long walks and the world was magical. You felt as if you had stepped out of the wardrobe into Narnia and any moment Mr. Tumnus would appear.

A Sweet Little Round Robin


Little Miss Poppy Playing In The Snow


Snowy Walk 2009


Snow Capped Apples


Snowy Farmland


Silvia Dimitrova is a Bulgarian artist who is known for her exquisitely detailed icon paintings. She works in the traditional methods of egg tempera on wood but also paints other work in the same technique which gives her images that wonderful brilliance and glowing patterns. Sylvia has lots of beautiful work on her website here.

Blue Music


Autumn Song


Many people will be familiar with Anita Klein's gorgeous work but for those who aren't you are missing a treat. Anita is a very well known Australian artist and printmaker living and working in London. Her work revolves around her family and her own life and her images are humorous, charming and witty. We all know her husband Nige and her two lovely daughters who often appear in her work. I came across one of her original huge prints at an art fair a few years ago and was mesmerised. It was black, white and red, simple and graphic and no one could pass by without looking at it. Anita has a huge collection of work on her website here.

Falling Leaves


Blue Angel With Bird


Angel Of The Winter Moon


The two cards below are reproductions of the textile printing of Amanda Ross. I came across Amanda at one of her shows and loved her work. I bought quite a few cards and these two images are my favourites. Her technique is to handprint on the fabric actual plant cuttings to make the first printing templates. She produces some lovely original work on panels which really shows off the beauty of the plants and flowers she uses. You can see more on her website here.

Flowering Leeks


Teazle


I have long been an admirer of Australian Madeleine Goodwolf's fascinating etchings. Her work is very contemporary and quirky, especially her giraffe and horses. She obviously has a good sense of humour. She is a well known and collected printmaker and you can find more of her work at the excellent Handmark Gallery here.

A Fish For Your Thoughts


There Is Comfort In Dreams


Wash Day


Where Olive Slept That Night

35 comments:

tess stieben said...

The little puffed up robin is a delight, thank you for sharing the snow postings. I recently posted snowy fog-frost laden alberta landscapes on my blog. I don't much like the cold yet I love what mother nature can accomplish with the frigid weather.

LOVE STITCHING RED said...

Beautiful work, beautiful photos, lovely art to inspire me. Thank you for bringing all these wonderful artists to our attention. I love to visit! Happy new year Cathy x

Best wishes
Carolyn

~ Phyllis ~ said...

Hi Cathy,
Happy New Year to you. Welcome back.
I love your new header. I always look forward to your new header drawings. Your Paradise Tree is another favorite. I like all the many colors.
Your snow pictures are awesome. Looks like you folks have lots of the white stuff. They are predicting that we will have snow by the end of the week. I hope so. So far we have only had a little dusting that had melted by the middle of the day. Alabama is due for a good snow. lol
Take care and glad you have returned to blogland.

Cathy said...

Hi Teresa, we have no room to complain about the cold and snow compared to yours. We have been diligently feeding the birds during the cold snap (and all the year round really). We have had hoards in the garden and several squirrels which we could do without as the pinch all the food.

Cathy said...

Thanks Carolyn and a very Happy New Year to you to. Let's hope we are all inspired with wonderful things for the coming year.

Cathy said...

Hi Phyllis. Its nice to be back although the break was nice too. I fully intended to visit blogs but I never got around to it. Yes, we had a good fall of snow and the weather people are predicting another fall before too long. I love the first day best which everything is totally fresh and beautiful.

Crafty Green Poet said...

what a lovely robin and Miss Poppy seems to be happy in the snow! I love your paradise tree! I'm rather envious of the waxwings you mentioned in a comment on my blog, we haven't seen any here this year.... Have a very happy new year!

Crafty Green Poet said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Cathy said...

Thanks Juliet. I love the robins and blackbirds when they fluff out their feathers to appear almost rotund.

ArtPropelled said...

Oh the Robin ... just gorgeous! Great to see Jenny Mendes work. I've been following her work for a while now. Love the Woman who Planted trees!

Acornmoon said...

Happy New Year to you and the pink goose, your photographs are spectacular!

andamento said...

Happy New Year!

I love your snowy photos, especially the robin.

Looking forward to more of your interesting and informative posts through 2010.

Anne.

Cathy said...

Thanks Robyn. I have only just found Jenny and I love her work too.

Cathy said...

Thanks very much Valerie. I think there is some more snow forecast so there will probably be a new lot of snowy pictures next week.

Cathy said...

Thanks very much Anne.

bunnits said...

Happy New Year! Glad to have you and your visual delights back.

sea-blue-sky & abstracts said...

Hi Cathy, really like your Paradise Tree and snowy photos, love the artwork showcased in this post too. Have long admired Anita Klein and love the etchings at the end. Best wishes. Lesley

Caroline said...

Happy New Year Cathy! Lovely post to start with too! I just love your photos - wonderful to see snow as thick as that - reminds me of Scandinavian winters - though there at least they are well equipped to deal with it! Snow capped apples is splendid - actually - any one of you photos would make delightful cards or calendar pics! You do have an eye for a good shot! Caroline x

Cathy said...

Thank you Melissa. Glad to be back.

Cathy said...

Anita is great, isn't she Lesley? Paradise Tree was an effort to brighten up winter.

Cathy said...

Happy New Year to you Caroline. Thanks for your comments. I do enjoy photography but art takes over really. All that snow disappeared and now we have another six inches back again. Took some more photos too.

Old World Primitives said...

Hi Cathy,
That little round robin in the snow is so adorable! Miss Poppy is quite a cutie too. She looks like she is having fun... my cats don't care much for the snow, and do a funny shaking-each-foot walk when they have to walk through it. :)

I really like the newest installment in your "Woman Who Planted Trees" series. The splashes of color seem just right, and I love the pattern on her sweater. Paradise Tree and your new blog header both make me smile with their pretty and pleasing bright colors. There are so many beautiful pieces of art to see here that are new to me too - thank you for sharing them with us!

Stephanie

tammykingdon said...

Welcome back Cathy, I've also had a break from blogging- totally unintentional, the feativities simply got the better of me. I do love Amanda Ross's work and I'm fascinated by her technique.

Cathy said...

Hi Stephanie, our cat Jack does the same thing when he walks in the snow - either that or he makes a hugely mad dash across the garden and kicks snow up all over the place.

Funnily enough all that snow photographed has now gone but has been replaced by a new fall of even deeper snow. We are having a "proper" winter for a change.

Cathy said...

Hi Tammy. Yes, Amanda's work is fascinating and very beautiful. I hope you enjoyed your blog break and had a great festive time.

Holly Zemak said...

Happy New Year - I am enjoying your photos of the snow. We are having an old fashion New England winter, plenty of cold temps, lots of wind and enough snow to keep the ground white. A good reason to stay inside and paint.

Anonymous said...

Happy New Year Cathy,

I love your new header drawing! Looking forward to enjoying more of your work and seeing what artists you uncover for us to enjoy. Wishing you a great 2010!

Mellanie

Punctuation Mark said...

I really love to see other people's winter wonderland picture because in Florida there's no snow... :)

Cathy said...

I thoroughly agree Holly. We are still snowbound but a different lot of snow to that in my photos. Today the wind is bitterly cold so I am staying at home and drawing.

Cathy said...

Hi Mellanie. A Happy New Year to you too and here's hoping for lots of new creativitiy from us all.

Cathy said...

Snow is not something we get very much of these days either Elie. The kids have been loving it because the schools have been closed all week. It does make for lovely photos though.

hens teeth said...

Hi Cathy,, thank you for your comment....I wholeheartedly agree with you.

I hope you get lots of drawing done...wonderful work and thank you for taking the time to highlight such other brilliant artists too.

Cathy said...

Thanks very much Viv.

Chatters said...

Hi Cathy

Happy new year to you too. Hope you had a lovely christmas, sounds like you did. I love your robin photo. He is sooo gorgeous. I keep meaning to go out with my camera too. Really enjoyed looking at your art work pictures. You always find such stunning art work.

Thanks for sharing
Amanda

Cathy said...

Thanks Amanda. We have had a very snowy start to it anyway. I think it is thawing slightly now. I wish I could get near to the bird tables to photograph some of our daily visitors but they are very wary.