Saturday, April 23, 2011

Lambs And Bluebells


We have had a lovely series of Bank Holidays in the UK with still two more to come. The weather has been gorgeous and spring has been well and truly sprung. The countryside is bursting with colour and fragrance and life. My favourite season and with good reason. We also have had all the hype of the royal wedding with interesting screenings on the TV of the previous royal weddings. Diana’s dress looks so fussy and outdated now that fashions have veered away from frills and flounces. We are all agog to see what the new princess to be will wear on Friday.The-Berry-Thief
The pen and ink drawing above I have called The Berry Thief.

Some of the cutest lambs we came across over the weekend. They are so sweet, snuggling up to mum and running frantically from the nasty humans with cameras. I love the middle shot of the one gazing back to see if mum is coming.

Sheep-And-Lambs

Sheep-And-Lambs-2

Lambs

I really like these two images by the late painter/printmaker John O’Connor. He was born in England in 1913 and attended the Royal College of Art where his teachers were Eric Ravilious and John Nash. In later years he illustrated for the Golden Cockerel Press. I think his cockerel is amazing and the Suffolk church wood engraving is beautifully detailed. You can find more work by him here at the Chappel Galleries.

Striding Cockerel Wood Engraving

John O'Connor - Striding Cockerel

Suffolk Church Wood Engraving

John O'Connor - Suffolk Church

We have had beautiful weather recently and spring has gone wonderfully mad providing us with gorgeous nature scenes like the bluebells below. The first two I photographed today and the bottom one a short while ago. The woods and lanes are full of blue and the fragrance is intoxicating. We are so lucky in England to have 80% of the world’s bluebell population.

Bluebells-One

Bluebells-Two 

Bluebells Three

These great cushions below are by textile artist Maxine Pharoah.
You can more by Maxine on her website here.

Bluebird Cushion

Maxine Pharoah - Bluebird Cushion

Dancing Chick Cushion


Maxine Pharoah - Dancing Chick Cushion

The lovely blossom of the past few weeks are past their best now. Sadly they don’t last long. I took these shots a little while ago when things were at their peak. A gorgeous blue sky behind helps.

White-Blossom-2

White-Blossom

The artworks below are a continuation of my Kantha embroidery theme of my last post. They are all by Asian artists and the first three remind me of the illustrative style of Kantha. I particularly like the way they have rendered the trees. The final two show the lovely graphic and colourful quality of Indian art. You can find these and other examples of detailed Indian art on the Indigo Arts Gallery site here.

Punam Kaln – Holy Cow And Mango Tree

Punam Kaln-Holy Cow and Mango Tree

Sudha Kumari – Deer In The Forest

Sudha Kumari-DeerInTheForest

Sudha Kumar – Holy Cow

Sudha Kumar-Holy Cow

Montu Chitrakar – Kalighat With Fish

Montu Chitrakar - Kalighat Cat With Fish

Baua Devi – Two Girlfriends

Baua Devi - Two Girlfriends

I was very pleased to come across a very talented scraperboard artist the other day. His name is Tom Boulton and he specialises in scraperboard, linocut and mixed media landscapes. I absolutely love his hare scraperboards particularly. They have a wonderful dark and mysterious quality to them although his other work is just as good as you can see for yourself if you visit his website here. He shares the site with his equally talented photographer wife Julia. Just click on an image to start and then go to “next” in the bar at the top to see all the work.

Hare And The Moon

Tom Boulton - Hare And The Moon
Orchard Moon

Tom Boulton - Orchard Moon Scraperboard
Hare On The Run

Tom Boulton - Hare On The Run

Hare In The Meadow

Tom Boulton - Hares In The Meadow

25 comments:

Caroline said...

Glad to hear that your weather has been so good, Cathy! Your blog is looking very springlike with the lambs and bluebells and teamed with the hares it's a real treat as they're some of my favourite subjects. Your own illustration this week - The Berry Thief - is super - I do enjoy seeing what you come up with every week.

Cathy said...

Hi Caroline. Our weather has been fabulous but today is chilly and back to the norm I think. Glad you like the Berry Thief. I love drawing black birds.

Me and Bis said...

Glad Spring has sprung there, ours has now left (blossoms)mostly just green now. Love the photos, beautiful colors and scenery. I absolutely love "The Berry Thief". The pillows are fun and whimsical, love them too!

Karen said...

Haven't we been spoiled by this weather! I didn't know about us having 80% of the bluebells? Thanks for sharing that and all your lovely images.

bunnits said...

Oh, lambs! How delightful!

Lovely art. Thanks for sharing your beautiful work and the work of all the other talented folks you find.

Cathy said...

Thanks very much for the lovely comments Me and Bis. I am glad you have enjoyed the features.

Cathy said...

You are very welcome Karen. So many bluebells and so little time to photograph them all.

Cathy said...

I see you are a fan of lambs too Melissa. I love the little devils but they are like their mums. They run away as soon as they see a camera.

Crafty Green Poet said...

your bluebells and lambs are wonderful, I agree, spring is my favourite time of your as well!

Those hares from Tom Boulton are wonderful, what evocative pictures

Cathy said...

Thanks Juliet. I love those hares too. Just my sort of art. Glad you like the spring photos. My camera has been working overtime.

sea-blue-sky & abstracts said...

Almost too much visual stimulation to bear! John O'Connor's work, which I have never come across, is just stunning - would love to own one of those prints! Wonderful photos from you Cathy - the bluebells are so pretty. x

Cathy said...

I agree Lesley, his work is wonderful. Hares always get my vote. We are knee deep in bluebells in all our woods here at the moment. I expect it is the same where you are. I wish they would last longer though.

Debrina said...

Gawd girl - you are ALWAYS so inspiring! I know I've been a bit tardy getting here (busy...3 year old boy...crazy times) but by crikeys when I arrive I just get such a buzz catching up on all your postings. My favourite flowers (and my husbands too: bluebells!). Nothing says spring like bluebells. Oh and I just love the Suffolk Church wood engraving. It's real trippy :-)

Cathy said...

Hi Debrina. Glad you like the post. Spring and bluebells are my favourite things in my favourite season. They are just starting to go over now...sigh!

andamento said...

I love your blubell photos Cathy, I hope you don't mind but I've linked to them from my blog, my own photos are nowhere near as good!

tammykingdon said...

Wow those scraperboard images are great. I trust it's inspired you to carry on with yours Cathy?

Cathy said...

I don't mind at all Anne. I am really pleased with how they have turned out. Sadly they are starting to go over now.

Cathy said...

They certainly have Tammy. I was just thinking about getting on with my scraperboard kitty the other day. I have reached the ears and they are a bit tricky which is why I left it for a while.

Pomona said...

I agree with you about the wedding guests' clothes - there were very few I would have wanted in my wardrobe, even if I had all the money in the world! Love your pictures at the top, as ever.

Pomona x

Cathy said...

Thanks Pomona. We may not have much money but we have better clothes sense than a lot of rich people. They seem to think that money = style and good taste...not so.

goose said...

Nice work. Loe the cushion

Cathy said...

Thanks goose. They are created by the very talented Maxine Pharoah. I love their quirkiness.

Chuck Behrman said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Sandi said...

Sorry that your blog has ceased. It is magic.

Cathy said...

Thanks Sandi. Sadly I just didn't have time to give it the attention it deserved.