Thursday, June 10, 2010

Summer Flowers And Pretty Crocks

Really enjoying the summery weather at the moment. Not too hot and plenty of rain to keep the gardens looking nice. Lots of beautiful flowers to photograph and the countryside is looking spectacular.

I have now taken delivery of my etching inks and copper plates etc. so I am hoping to be able to get down to some serious etching.

Bit of a summer flowers theme going on at the moment. This is the first digital drawing I have done for some time as other things have intervened. The colouration was inspired by a very pretty skirt I saw in a shop. I had to try and memorise the colours until I could get home and commit them to Photoshop.



I love hares and deer in any shape or form and I have always kept my eye out for any brass models in charity shops etc. I found the lovely long haired beastie on the right a couple of days ago and the one on the left I have had for some time. I know the right one is definitely a hare and I had thought the other one was too but now they are together I am not too sure. What do you think? Hare or rabbit on left.


These beautiful paintings below are by talented English artist Helen Tabor who now resides and works in the Scottish Borders. She paints mostly figurative and landscapes in oils with collage elements. Her work is beautifully textural in appearance. You can find more of Helen's work here at Thompson's Galleries and here at Morningside Gallery.

Girl With Doves


Girl With Goose


Pretty In Pink Dogrose


Foxgloves


This picture below is of an elm tree. It is a very young one because as soon as they reach a certain height they are killed by the elm bark beetle. I, among millions of other Britons, mourned the demise of 30 million elm trees from 1960 onwards. They probably epitomised the English countryside more than any other tree and were very common in hedgerows etc. Their loss changed the landscape for ever. You can find small and young bushes today in lots of hedges and they are lovely to see but now someone has claimed to have introduced a disease free strain of the common elm. I hope he is right. It would take many generations to introduce them back into the landscape but wouldn't it be wonderful?


I found this wonderful childrens' book in a charity shop the other day. It is a series of poems selected by Anne Carter and is illustrated by Reg Cartwright. I find the illustrations very graphic and naive in style but really lovely. Just what I would have enjoyed as a child (and still do!).


Night Heron


An epitaph On A Robin Redbreast


First Sight


Collective Nouns For Animals

Don't you just love reading lists of collective nouns for animals. I found this one here the other day. Some of them are hilarious. I love the "prickle of hedgehogs" and the "clutter of cats". We have all heard of a "murder of crows" but there is also a "storytelling of crows" - I like that one.


The chinaware below is by very talented maker Alice Garland who lives and works in Suffolk. These images are from her BigCartel shop site which you can find here.





I stumbled upon painter/printmaker Anne Smith quite by chance but was very pleased that I did. I think her work is very beautiful and I like the themes she chooses. The wonderful images below are all etchings which she often colours by hand. Anne was born in the UK but has lived and worked in Australia since 1971. Much of her work seems to be inspired by plays, stories and theatrical or operatic productions. You can check out her work here and here at the Falls Gallery or here at Frances Keevil Art - both Australian galleries.

Queen Of The Night


The Flight


Papagena I


The Juggler

32 comments:

Lynn Cohen said...

What beautiful art you share here to day, YOURS and theirs! Thanks for the treat.

Pamela Terry and Edward said...

Your wonderful pink and green rooster would make for lovely kitchen linens. I can just see a tablecloth waving in the breeze on an outdoor table set for lunch!

Caroline said...

What delights you have for us this week - thank you! Your cockerel is stunning - it's handy to be able to carry colours in your head sin't it? Stood by the hare the other definitely looks more rabbity, but his head has a hare shape too so I will call him a habit or a rare! The children's book illustrations are superb - what a find!

Cathy said...

Thanks very much Lyn. I am glad you are liking what I find on the Internet.

Cathy said...

Hi Pamela. That is a lovely thought. I think that one is a response to the lovely summer weather we are having at the moment and all the flowers in the gardens.

Cathy said...

Hi Caroline. I love the thought of it being a rare or a habit. Very clever...haha. He does still look a bit harey to me on close inspection. I enjoyed doing the cockerel and I love doing stripes as you know.

andamento said...

Love the look of that book. I think I'll track down a copy for A (and I can enjoy it too!)

A bird in the hand said...

Oh, the flowers! The foxgloves are perfect. Flowers are perfect!
thank you once again for a lovely tour of beautiful things. xoxo

Art4Sol said...

My favorite is Papagena....in her feather attire!

~ Phyllis ~ said...

Beautiful pink and green digital. I am so looking forward to your etching. I know your etchings will be lovely as is all of your work.

Cathy said...

That is a good idea Anne. It is beautifully illustrated and just right for kids.

Cathy said...

Hi Colette. The foxgloves are so wonderful at the moment. One of my favourite of all wild flowers and lucky for me they spread quickly.

Cathy said...

I love that one too Art4Sol. I also like the beautiful expressions she gives her ladies.

Cathy said...

Thanks Phyllis. I will do my best. I am just working on another etching at the moment.

Artist said...

love the colors of the digital drawing you did! i bet that was hard to remember all those colors!

Holly Zemak said...

Looking forward to more of your etchings and your comments on the learning curve. Went to my first craft show of the season last weekend, it drizzled but that did not matter, I so enjoyed it and came home with several new treasures.

Cathy said...

Thanks Artist. Funnily enough I did see the skirt with the colours on again and realised that it had a lot more shades and tones of cream, green and rose than I had put on my picture.

Cathy said...

Hi Holly. I am glad you found some treasures. I have only visited one craft fair so far this year. My favourite one is in August. I will have to save up my pennies for that one.

Crafty Green Poet said...

I love your bright cheery rooster with the flowers, gorgeous design!

Reg Cartwright's illustrations are wonderful too, bold and clear and full of character!

On the left, hare or rabbit, bit tricky but probably a rabbit

Cathy said...

Thanks Juliet. I love Reg Cartwright's images too. So great for kids. I definitely think you are right about the rabbit. The more I look the more rabbity it appears.

Debrina said...

Hi Cathy - I've just been catching up on all your inspiring, amazing postings! I just love coming over here once I've updated my own blog to see what you've been up to and what treasures you have gathered around you along the way. I just LOVE Helen Tabor and Ann Smith's work. Totally inspiring...and of course, I can never go past your gorgeous work without my jaw dropping.

LOVE STITCHING RED said...

Oh goodness what an absolute feast for the eyes and I ADORE your header photo. Thank you for sharing the art and beauty of nature that you find along your path

:o)

ArtPropelled said...

Lovely images and I've also been enjoying your sidebar today.

Sarah Summers said...

Hello again Cathy
I love Reg Cartwright's illustrations too. I have The Winter Hedgehog, which he illustrated, it's a really sweet book and full of gorgeous illustrations. Your posts are always a pleasure to read.
Sarah x

Nicky Linzey said...

Love your cockerel illustration Cathy, the colours are wonderful. Came across you via Caroline's blog!

Cathy said...

Hi Debrina. What a lovely comment. I am so glad you enjoy the blog and my new discoveries from the Internet. Luckily for me there are so many wonderful artists around.

Cathy said...

Thanks Carolyn. I love photographing in the English countryside. So beautiful and varied. The header turned out better than I expected.

Cathy said...

Thanks Robyn. That is nice to know. I spend a lot of time looking at other bloggers' sidebars too.

Cathy said...

Hi Sarah. Nice to see you here again. I agree about Reg Cartwright. I love his style of artwork. I will have to see if I can find the one you mention.

Cathy said...

Hi Nicky. Nice of you to visit. Thanks for the comment about my cockerel. I really enjoyed that one as I hadn't done any digital colouring for some time.

Send Flowers said...

Your foxgloves are gorgeous! I love the colours in the first digital drawing..so many different patterns but it works! Thanks for sharing :)

Cathy said...

Thanks Send Flowers. Glad you like the blog.