photo: recent sketchbook page - blue tits
Hello, how is your February? It’s been a bumpy sort of start to the year, but I do now feel a tiny bit more positive - I see spring ahead. Two blue tits chased and wove their way round the front garden for quite some time yesterday morning. So of course I had to stand and watch them, fascinated by their navigating. I watched and wondered if this burst of energy was territorial or a love thing. Maybe both.
We have Valentine’s Day ahead, this week coming. It just happens to be the anniversary of my father’s death. He died in 2006, at the age of just fifty-nine. There are,of course, many reasons why someone prefers not to acknowledge the commercial holiday of Valentines - I’ve never been much of a fan. But I do remember the first time I received an anonymous Valentine’s card. It was sent through the post. I was so sure my best friend had sent it to me because she felt sorry for me and thought I would not get any otherwise. But when I told her about the card she looked so honestly baffled, I realised it had not been her who had taken the time to buy not just a card but a stamp, and post it. She reckoned it was someone who went to the youth theatre group I attended - in those days I was just as reserved as I am now, but when I got an opportunity to be someone else, I did so with enthusiasm. That youth theatre group gave me such a help with my confidence. It was based at a local theatre with government funding. Now, funding for the Arts is being cut back and all these kinds of projects are under threat - if they still exist at all…. It is happening on a brutal scale at the moment and is so short-sighted.
I am rambling (making up for last week’s lack).
photo: pages in my new brown paper bag sketchbook
Let me share with you a new and exciting sketchbook - this is a book made from brown paper bags/sacks. They are what our home delivery grocery order comes in. It’s taken me a while to realise the potential of so much brown paper - I have stored it and hoped for inspiration. The book has been constructed by cutting and layering. Pages are at least two layers of paper. The whole thing needed a good press under a stack of books before it looked like a book, would lay reasonably flat. I wanted this one to be large in scale, or at least larger than many of my other books, as I knew I wanted to work freely with black gouache, drawing bigger. It measures approx 26cm tall and 36cm across when open. Working in this book will help me develop ideas for a series that I hope to offer as prints. More on that as and when.
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Giveaway: last week was my 75th studio notes - I am grateful to everyone for reading and subscribing.
I would like to offer a little goodies package containing: A WINTER TINY PAINTING (as it is still winter) - - and WOOL KNOTS BROOCH + some postcards and a bird drawing to one ‘lucky winner.’ A name will be picked randomly from a bowl of bits of paper - the most technically accurate method, of course.
To enter please leave a comment below or email me simply stating your favourite garden bird. That is all I ask. The giveaway is open to subscribers only. All welcome, international as well as UK. (You can subscribe now - I will be checking).
Winner will be announced next Sunday.
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News from the shop front: I am very pleased to say I have caught up with sending my international backlog. Thanks again to all kind people for their patience. Your package may take longer than usual to arrive but I hope you will enjoy your new artwork.
I had planned to update my shop this coming Wednesday but have decided I need a bit more time to work on things - and would like to have a super-duper update the following week. So my next update will be Wednesday 22nd Feb. I hope to offer an appealing mix of new work.
My shop is open and I am happy to take orders for spring and winter lucky dip paintings. All orders will be sent asap.
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A few small stories from this week
At my friend Kath’s house, Gladys waits patiently for my lap to become free of knitting. I finish a very long row of tiny stitches (knitting a shawl) and Gladys comes to keep my lap warm. Good cat therapy is welcome, especially as I do not have a cat these days. Gladys is, of course, not just any black and white cat, but a happy kitchen dwelling icon… An afternoon with friends, talking about making, our creative lives, is much appreciated. I go home inspired to knit more, spin more, draw more, grow more plants.
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A short walk in our neighbourhood - and my legs and hips ache. It’s going to take a while to get back to my former level of fitness. No walking across the park into town just yet. I find my way round the winding roads of houses, sure the front garden with fake lawn should be where I am - but it is not. I find my way back, passing the first flowering daffodil, proud in its bright spot. There are thick clumps of violet leaves, many crocus buds. I notice someone has just pruned their roses, the clean cut of each stem shining in the sun. Ah roses, I ponder, thinking of summer already and return home to prune my own roses on another day.
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Thanks always for reading here, for your kind comments and likes. If you would like to support my writing and sharing, you can buy me a coffee - thanks so much!
PS. Don’t know if a roadrunner is a garden bird, but I have one who visits me frequently. I live in Central Texas and love your work so much. And your beautiful garden. It’s way too hot here for the lovely flower petals. But, I do have bright colors. :)
I love the red cardinal which is so popular in my home state of Virginia. I miss seeing them while living in England. But I’m fascinated here by magpies. Your new big sketchbook is exciting!