Bouquet

A beautiful bouquet of flowers. I have been inspired for a while by some particular illustration work on the web and I am at last trying to see how I can develop something similar from my perspective. This is only a doodle and not properly structured as such, but there are elements in it I like.

Blackbird

A blackbird sitting in a willow tree in a neighbour's garden this evening.

 

Garden

This spring seems to have found me working hard landscaping the Garden and not doing much artwork. Since we move into the house a couple of years ago the garden has needed some attention. A long stretch (nearly 30metres) of concrete path has been dug up, new vegetable patches created in the lawn and a new patio built in front of the summerhouse. The photos show the top two-thirds of the garden where all of the landscaping has taken place. Yes, I was standing on a ladder to take the first view! Today I finally felt that I had tidied up many loose ends, finished arranging all my seeds and plants and restoring a bit of balance to the place. I am not keen on bedding paths and structures in too much concrete as I like gardens to change and evolve. Even today I was realigning a path to fit in with how we now move around the garden. Ideally I want a paved path all the way up the garden. That will now probably be an autumn job when I won't have so many plants in the way. There are some long term projects on my list of things to do. We would like a bit more height and so will add an arch or two here and there (the area in front of the summerhouse will all be reshaped) and I need to built a proper compost heap. A large pile of hardcore is available to anyone who wants it and if anyone likes playing with chainsaws then I can keep them occupied for an hour or so!

The biggest stress was working out what to do with my tomato plants that were growing too vigourously indoors and yet I was reluctant to place them outside. I decided to build a tall triangular polythene covered cold frame in which I could place six plants in buckets and it hope that will keep any chill off them over the next few weeks.

Vegetables that I hope to harvest this year are: tomatoes, courgettes, lettuces, radishes, celeriac, leeks, beetroot, cucumbers, sweetcorn, potatoes, chard, garlic, strawberries, parsnips, runner beans and probably a few other bits and pieces.

Dawn Chorus at Croft Castle, Herefordshire

A week ago found me at 5 am walking through Fishpool Valley on the Croft Castle estate listening to the dawn chorus. This beautiful small wooded valley is always a pleasure to walk though and when one is surrounded by a cacophony of high definition birdsong it made the several hundred mile round trip so worth it. Well, I did have other motives for making the trip at that time, but when I had an opportunity to be in that place and at that time I was certainly not going to let it pass by.

The previous evening I had been up on Croft Ambrey watching the sunset. I am fairly certain I saw a redstart up there. It isn't a bird I generally knowingly come across and the fleeting glimpse of its red tail in the evening sunlight has stuck in my mind ever since. One day I ought to invest in a pair of binoculars. I had a great pair in my teens and haven't done any serious birdwatching since then. I'll add it onto my list of things to do.

Sketching

I have been meaning to post this picture for several weeks but have been sidetracked by other things. This photo was taken at Dukes Coffee House in Tavistock, Devon, on Easter Saturday. It was just warm enough to sit on a bench for a while, have a cup of coffee and a piece of cake and do a little bit of sketching. This is quite a good location as there is good throughput of interesting people either sitting or just walking by. I could quite happily spend day after day there but, as my visits to Devon are only a couple or so each year, I have to make do with only a limited time there.

Ramblin' Man

I had been looking forward to my week in Shropshire for many months. I was particularly eager try and solve a creative problem that has been with me for a while: in what direction should my art and illustration work go?

To me, my creative spirit is a disturbed spirit. It finds no home and is distracted by many things. It wanders over the landscape seeking the touch of inspiration. It reaches out into the natural world to touch, sense and explore everything. Mainly it is an observational spirit, it doesn’t ask many questions but just accepts what it finds and dwells in the presence of being present in places. There is a song by Lemon Jelly called Ramblin’ Man (on Youtube) that I recently came across. It speaks to me in many ways and it isn’t often songs do that to me. It carries with it a sense of wandering, going places and never resting. There is a sense of journey, but never ending, just a continuous walk from place to place. Recently, a long walk found me up on Bury Ditches just north east of Clun. I hadn’t quite planned to walk up there but I was out for a day’s walk and it was a bright, clear day with a hint of spring in the air. As I walked around the ramparts of the hill fort on  top of the hill and overlooked the surrounding valleys and hills, I thought of this song and noted how much I just love to walk. I could walk all day. With no time limitations I could go where I wanted to and just walk and walk. This was all I wanted to do. It was the end of my holiday and this was my last full day away from the busyness of work. Up here, on a hill in my homeland, I felt at peace and at home. But also a place to which I would have to say goodbye until my next visit.

The next day I walked into the greenhouse in the walled garden at Croft Castle and did a little bit of sketching whilst sheltering from a cool breeze. In front of me was a bench with a few small watering cans and some plants growing up and around the iron framework. As I scribbled on my sketchpad I suddenly felt as though a whole wealth of ideas and possibilities suddenly merged. In front of me I had the solution to how I could work on the iPad, do paintings and a develop a new way of working that could cross digital and traditional hand illustration. Things take time to evolve with me. It is like going on a long walk or a journey. Ideas may appear but it may take ages of thinking, trying out ideas or exploring techniques before something of value emerges.

Clun

Quick sketch of ducks in the river at Clun. It was a little chilly out and I didn't t really concentrate much on this, but I had an excellent long walk in the area