Christmas Is coming...Too Soon

Well Halloween is nearly upon us. Be mindful that the veil between this world and the next is at its thinest on the 31st October. In the UK we put the clocks back one hour last night because British Summer Time has ended. The weather doesn't realise this though. Our temps this week are predicted to be around 20C which is amazingly high for this time of year. I am sure it will change soon and we will get some lovely crisp frosty mornings.

This is my third drawing in "The Woman Who Planted Trees" series. I am planning several more in the months ahead as it is a theme I am very much in tune with. It is pen and ink with digital background etc.

I have finally completed my 2009 Christmas card design. I am quite pleased with the composition. At first it looked a little bare and then I had the idea of putting in a row of trees to break up the middle distance. I think it has worked quite well. Now I only have to get all the cards made...! This is a blackbird by the way, for those of you who are not ornithologically minded. I have to put a black border around my images printed onto white otherwise I wouldn't have any idea where to cut.

The beautiful paintings below are by Suzy Fasht who is based in Devon where she works from her garden studio. She is very interested in gardens and nature with lots of gorgeous patterning detail and fantastic colour. Looking at her art is like a glimpse into another world - fabulous. Suzy has a page full of art like this at Axis here.

Meadow With Daisies


Swan With Luggage

Summer Meadow With Ghost Trees

For some time now I have wanted to get a copy of one of the Ernst Haeckel Art Forms books. I chose his Art Forms In Nature. For those not familiar with his work, Ernst Haeckel was a very eminent German biologist and artist who died in 1919. He illustrated a huge number of animal, sea creatures and nature forms in great detail in connection with scientific research. His artwork is so beautifully detailed and patterned that it has also become a valuable resource for the artist. His art provides an endless supply of patterns for those of us seeking inspiration - and that is probably just about every artist and craftsperson. (The possibility for new tree forms is endless.)

I love the distressed and decayed wood look of Margaret Keelan's ceramic sculptures. Her doll-like figurative forms I find quite fascinating. They remind me of childrens' toys discarded and left out in the garden. She admits to being fascinated by the female form and most of her work has been on this theme. There is lots more to see on her website here.

Pet

Woman With Turban

The Girl With The Rabbit

I love any greetings cards with cat pictures on. This beautiful card is by Maren Schaffner who is a German artist. She lives in a farmhouse with her eight cats and two dogs. She obviously has no problems getting kitty models to sit for her. Bottman Design Shop here has lots of her cards. The images are quite small but you can see what a great watercolourist she is. The shop I bought this card from only had a couple of others but there is a large range. (There are two other pages as well).

I thought you might like to see some moody black and white monumental angel photos I have in my archives. All have been photoshopped a bit.

This is my cat Jack who isn't an angel yet, thank goodness, but he is looking very moody and statue like in this shot so I have included him. In fact, he is looking a little bit "witches catish" here. Now I come to think of it, he does tend to disappear around Halloween time...hmmm.

I have long admired the beautiful embroidery of Rebecca Crompton who grew up in the early 1900's and became a teacher of embroidery at the Croydon School of Art. This is a Rebecca Crompton and Elizabeth Thomson booklet which I bought from the Embroiderer' Guild bookstall at the K&S Show a few years ago. It is beautifully illustrated, and unlike my old book below, it is still easy to obtain.

This is the Rebecca Crompton book I was lucky enough to find at the Knitting & Stitching Show a couple of weeks ago. It was from one of my favourite book vendors there called Felicity J Warnes, The Old Bookshop which is actually a B&M shop in Enfield. The stand at the show is very small but they have some lovely old, out of date treasures.

Below are some of the illustrations of her work in the book. It is filled with applique embroideries and lots of her sketches and drawings. The book is dated 1936 and the illustrations are mostly black and white. The embroidery below is called Magic Garden. Interestingly enough I have seen photos of this same embroidery with much paler colours and reversed. I am not sure which is the original orientation.

The images below are all etched by the Scottish artist and printmaker Catherine Grubb. She uses a variety of media to produce her beautifully delicate and detailed work including drawing, painting and etching, and her work is highly collectable. I have illustrated her etchings here, but her pen and ink drawings and paintings are equally lovely. Being a pen and ink artist myself (although nowhere near her ability) I am always interested to see how others handle the medium. Her work is extensively illustrated on The Great Atlantic Gallery site here.

All In Green Went My Love Riding

The Mysterious Garden

The Secret Lane

The Sailing Of The Sea Swallow

The Enchanted Forest

Etchings And Other Lovelies

I have really noticed recently the huge number of artists who now have blogs. Not just amateurs like myself but professional artists and craftspeople too. Often when I put in a link to an artists website or Flickr page or Etsy there is often a blog to be linked to as well. Personally, I think it is a wonderful thing because you are able to see how artists go about the business of creating their art or craftwork, the inspiration behind it, the processes involved and the reactions of people viewing the work. What did we do before blogging..?

Fox In A Magical Land

Mischievous Bird - I think I may do a digital coloured version of this when I have a bit more time.

A bit of fibre tipped illustration

These beautiful mosaic pieces are by Russian self-taught mosaicist Irina Charny. Irina incorporates found objects such as bits of seashore glass, beads, wire and buttons etc into her work as well as traditional tesserae. She has a website here and some wonderful examples of her beautifully intricate and finely detailed artwork. Her butterflies in particular are wonderful.

Mariposa

Fortuna

I have been walking out and about in the countryside recently and taking some early autumn photos. The weather has been warm and dry and very nice to walk in, but I am eagerly awaiting the autumnal mists when photography becomes very special and mundane places appear magical. We have been promised that for early October, but can we rely on the weather forecast...hmmm.

Even weeds can appear pretty in close up.

This is a very friendly local horse who I often stop to have a chat with. I don't think he is very interested in conversation but he did oblige me with a nice pose.

Early Autumn Farmland

A couple of weeks ago I made my yearly craft pilgrimage to Stonor Craft Fair in Oxfordshire. Stonor is a tiny village with some beautiful buildings and gorgeous old barns, and is surrounded by undulating hills and woods. It is an idyllic spot and has a wonderful atmosphere. I have visited Stonor House in the past and it is a fascinating home with an intriguing history. The manor house has been owned by the same family for 850 years and the chapel dates from the 1200s and is situated on what was once a stone circle. One of the stones is incorporated into the chapel wall and the others have been rearranged on the lawn.

The craft fair is one of the best in the south-east of England and is very well attended. I spent a really enjoyable few hours there.

Stonor House

Marquees at Stonor
One of the exhibitors at Stonor was Leon Evans who is an illustrator and graphic artist who works in pencil and watercolour primarily. He was displaying his wildlife art at Stonor and the two scratchboard images below really caught my attention. Having cats myself I could see that he had rendered these animals beautifully. I hadn't really come across scratchboard work before and he explained the technique to me in detail. I might get some scratchboard myself and have a go. Looks like fun. You can see Leon's website here.

These delightful cards are produced by using scratchboard by Leon. They are so cute I couldn't resist them.

I really like the almost naive simplicity of Esther Brimage's work. Esther is a UK printmaker who trained in both illustration and printmaking. You can find more of her work on her website here.

Girl With A Dog

Morning Star

I love visiting John Lewis Department Stores. All those lovely items under one roof - a browsers paradise. I particularly like their carpet and rug department. There are so many lovely contemporary designs around now, as well as the traditional rugs of years ago. So lovely to handle them too; the thick warm tactile textures. You could imagine just lying on them in front of a roaring fire - in winter of course. The three below particularly caught my eye for their graphic designs and muted palatte.

Cheese Plant Rug

Harlequin Arcadia Rug

Silhouette Leaf Rug

These gorgeous etchings below are all the work of award winning Latvian artist/printmaker Marina Terauds. I love etchings anyway but Marina's are particularly beautiful. She has a wonderful detailed style and use of subtle colour. Her subject matter includes mythology, nature, the seasons, birds, trees, fairies and lots more lovely things. If you love her work you will be delighted by her website here with lots more images to look at.

Marina also has a blog where you can see more of her inspirations, work and life here.

Summer II

Dream II

Nuthatch II

Sounds Of The Sea

Sun Moon Fairies

Bird In Hand

Fairy's Music

Lady In Hat