Angels And Animals

Sorry the post is a bit lengthy this week. All those angel photos I expect but I thought I would post them all together rather than doing some this week and the rest next. Keep all your angels together I say. I will have to start searching for some new angels to photograph now which means another trip up to one of the outer London Victorian cemeteries.

I had intended posting my latest etching, which is an angel oddly enough, but it has taken much longer than I anticipated so I will have to leave that one for next week.

I have gone for a bit of colour drama with this digital image. I am not entirely happy with it though. I may have to tweak it a bit. I think the background may need a bit of black to affiliate it more with the tree as the tree is standing out too much. I am thinking this tree would make a nice needlepoint design.


This is a pen and ink drawing of a kingfisher. Now this one I am entirely satisfied with. No tweaking needed here.

These images are of my latest charity shop find. It is un-named but it is obviously an etching which I think may have been printed as a plate for a book. I am not sure what the process is but it is beautifully reproduced and the detail and colouration are exquisite. It is a very large artwork but only cost me £4.95 which I think is a bit of a bargain.

If you click on the image here you can just see the beautifully etched big cats lurking in the jungle.

I visited a favourite local art and craft gallery today who stock Marlene Hounam jewellery. I have a bracelet of hers that I bought some while ago and would love to add to my collection. She works in silver and semi precious stones and creates some gorgeous designs. Below are two favourites I crave.

The Rudge family are rightly very well known for their ceramic work. The family comprises Lawson E who is the father of Keza, Dillon and Lawson. They are all talented ceramic artists and sculptors with their own individual styles. I particularly love the stylised work of Lawson Senior who crafted the images below. You can find examples of his work at the following sites - at the Montpellier Gallery here, Rostra and Rooksmoor Galleries here and Lantic Gallery here.

Square Cow

Round Rabbit

Below are some photos of the angel sculptures I have collected over a period of time. I have removed the backgrounds of most of them because they distract from the beauty of the sculpture. Most of these sculptures are from the Victorian period. We would be a lot poorer without the Victorian ideal of funerary monuments. I think they are more beautiful now with stains of age upon them than they probably were when they were first erected.

The lovely oils below are the work of artist and illustrator Hannah Giffard. Hannah trained at Norwich School of Art and loves the wide open Norfolk countryside. Her stylised animal and bird images are beautifully painted and she uses symbolism to produce an almost mythic quality to her work. I think it is wonderful. Hannah has a great website here with lots of images of her art to enjoy and also details the childrens' books and other work she has produced. Definitely a visit worth making.

Ram And Crows In The Barley

Two Crows In Poppyfield

Hares At Caister

Hare And Crow In The Corn

Lesley found a lovely ex-library book in a local charity shop recently (she knows what I like!) It is "What Is The Truth" by Ted Hughes and is beautifully illustrated by R.J. Lloyd. It is a combination of poetry and prose and is called A Farmyard Fable For The Young. I haven't had much to do with Ted Hughes poetry in the past but there are some here that I really like. These are all connected with nature and animals and birds. Reginald Lloyd is a very well known artist with work in many prestigious collections, including the V&A. He has illustrated this book with numerous images and I have just chosen some of my favourites below. They have a lovely graphic quality, and I love the way he has employed the moon in many of them.

Here is the poem relating to the fox - or the last verse anyway:

"And he's nailed our fear of darkness to his four paws dipped in quickness,

Our cowardice a nail

In the white tip of his tail,

With the limestone from our hearts, he's whitewashed his underparts,

And he flees us like a robber, says the Hunting Horn"