Umbellifer Tree And Rusty Barbed Wire

We had a wonderful geocaching walk on Sunday, literally uphill and down dale again. One path was muddy, slippery and as near vertical as anything. I almost needed oxygen at the top but coming down would have been much worse. I took lots of beautiful pictures including the dinkiest empty bird's nest my brother discovered. I have been bemoaning the fact that all the nests are high up and difficult to photograph but this one was hidden in the middle of a tree and was quite low. I have a fascination for birds' nests. I just think their construction is totally amazing and if I could find more I would have lots of photos of them to show you. As it is there is just this one so I will show you it next week. I think I can feel a bird's nest drawing coming on....!

This is a lovely song by the multi-talented Moya Brennan -Tell Me Now What You See

I knew all my multitude of umbellifer photos would come in useful as reference material. This is a very colourful version but it was fun to draw. This is a pen and ink drawing which has been digitally coloured. It is called The Farmer's Wife and she is wearing a paper hat which is my latest "thing".

You can see the paper hat in more detail here.

This little quirky drawing is called Protection.

SAVE OUR FORESTS

It recently came to the country's notice that the Government is planning on doing nasty things to our heritage behind our backs. They are planning to sell off our forests to the highest bidders. Once they have gone they will never return. We all need to help stop this from happening by signing this online petition asap. You can go here to sign: Save Our Forests Petition

Has anyone bought the new Making magazine? It has only recently started and although I have missed a couple of issues I will get it regularly from now on. It is about making crafty/arty things and the features are of a really good standard with excellent and interesting photography. They have interviews with crafters like Kaffe Fassett etc, and a Lust List of items we would all like to own. Worth having a browse when you are next in Smiths.

I am sure I am not the only one who loves old tangled, rusty barbed wire on bleached wooden fence posts. I find the textures of the old wood and the colours of the rusty wire irresistible. I must admit I have a small but growing collection of such things. It has to be rusty. New wire is not interesting in the least. It is the altered and decaying aspect of it that I am interested in. Nutty I know!

If you admire unique jewellery you will love Sara Lloyd-Morris's work. She has wonderful hares and other themed jewellery. I absolutely adore this seaweed necklace with a beautiful starfish tucked into it. Sara lives and works in Wales and has been a jeweller for very many years. She has a great website here. If you look under the jewellery themes you will find the hares.

I found a lovely churchyard angel on a walk recently. I suppose technically she isn't an angel because she is wingless but she looks like one to me anyway. It never ceases to amaze me that such beautiful sculptures reside in our churchyards. This young girl's face is so sad and poignant it makes you wonder who was the model and if she had lost someone dear to her or whether the sculptor just used his imagination. I am using the photo below on my desktop at the moment.

I think this mixed media piece by Rachel Ricketts is really sweet. It is called Fraser 3. You can see more of her sculptural work here at FountainFineArt. If you click on the archive at the bottom of the page it will take you to some past work.

This is one of the nicest chicken linocuts I have seen. It is called Sophie's Chickens and is by the artist/printmaker Jenny Crocker.

Jiri Borsky was born in Czechoslovakia and then studied in Prague. He eventually emigrated to England and now works full time as an artist and exhibits widely. He has been inspired by European medieval painters and his work definitely has a reminiscent stylised look. I love the amazing texture he employs in his work. He has a very comprehensive website here with lots to browse.

Fruit Picking

Modern Art Lovers

Harbour Lovers

Winter

Hair Wash