conversations with a snowman

made by Thomas age 24 years 11 months.

mid winter

21st December

the shortest day

dawned bright

with the bluest of skies upon a winter wonderland.

and lit up corners of  my home.

Happy Solstice everyone.

my snow day….

Yesterday at work was a busy, but very enjoyable day, it was our annual Christmas wreath making workshop.   Holly and ivy had been collected and willow had been cut, and with a little guidence,  our visitors were able to make their very own christmas wreath to take home and hang on their front doors.

for four hours, hands were busy winding willow, holly and ivy, raffia and ribbon into lovely decorations.  Carols were sung and wonderfully, snow began to fall.

The snow was like sharp needle crystals.

on the maze it looked like spiders webs.

That was yesterday,  over night the snow fell on and off and by morning it was clear I would not be able to get my little car out of my steep street.  An unexpected snow day!  A day for watching the flakes fall,  feeding the birds in the garden and of cause recording the day.

my summer house became a winter house!

Sleighing was taking place on the park at the end of my garden,

and I got to hang the wreath that I made yesterday on my front door.

Time for hot chocolate, hope you are all snug and warm where ever you are.

Christmas, snow and sparkle ….

Snow is falling as I type this, how lovely and seasonal it feels.  It was -5 this morning and ice was on my bedroom window pane!

The tree is decorated ,

as is the dresser

and the mirror above the fire place.

Christmas, snow and sparkle, lovely!

sometimes….

times passes by and then all of a sudden you realise that is is weeks, nay months since you have spoken to friends, friends who were so sweet as to take the time to leave wonderful comments on old black and white drawings, comments that made my heart swell and smiles came to my lips. I am sorry that I have negleted you, but I have not forgotton you.  Life has just sort of taken over recently and it has not put me in the frame of mind for chatting, but I am trying to shake it off now, and look towards the festive season.

There has been a little painting taking place in the evenings….

when the day quietens downs and the curtains are drawn against the dark night,

I sit down and open my pallet of colours and find a brush and small canvas,

and one by one

angels have appeared and calmed my mind.  I had hoped to put these in my Etsy shop in good time for Christmas, but I am now wondering whether to leave it until the new year, as time seems to be running away and I am still tweeking them now and again.  Christmas seems to be creeping up quite fast now,  A huge (for us) Christmas tree arrived yesterday and is standing in the corner of the room waiting for adornment, it smells wonderful, of pine resin and forest,

I could almost imagine a little red squirrel appearing from within the branches.  Can you see – it even has fir cones on it, magical!  Speaking of forests, this is another creature that is in the process of appearing on a canvas….

Thank you to all those who left such wonderful comments on my last post, they all meant so much to me,  I would love to find my way back into illustration, at the moment it all seems a way off, but hopefully one day ….

black and white

I have been sifting through old boxes and art folders and have come across some of my drawings that I did some years ago, thought I would share them with you…..

 

These two studies of flowers were done around the time I was staying with a friend at her Suffolk cottage.  A beautiful place tucked away in the depths of the countryside.

 

The flowers and herbs were picked in her garden and the jug was one that she made herself.

 

This view of pretty cottages was taken from a photograph that I took.    unfortunately I can’t remember where it was taken.

 

This is an imaginary landscape, that was eventually chosen by a friend to use on their business stationery.

 

This one was inspired by the town houses that I used to see while I was at college.

 

I seem to remember that I based this cottage window on a photograph I once saw in an old copy of Country Living.

 

This illustration came about after waking up to a wintery scene after it had snowed overnight.  Black and white illustration is something that I have always enjoyed doing and it was lovely to rediscover these pictures after so long, it makes me wonder what I am going to turn up next!

sometimes….

when youngest son has a bright idea – his ears lights up!

glueing and sticking

Sometimes, days just don’t go right,  sometimes it all gets a little tough out there.  Some open a bar of chocolate, some open a bottle of wine, and yes, some open both, I have been known to do this, but another thing I do is a little glueing and sticking of the papier mache variety.  I find ripping up pieces of newspaper into tiny, tiny strips and pasting them onto a form made of card, wire or screwed up paper is soooo satisfying, I just can not tell you how much. So it was the other day became one of ‘those’ days and I took my self up to my little room and got the glue and paper out and off I went.  Ages ago I made some little creatures…

The two smaller ones eventually sprouted wings and became quite colourful, it must have been their summer plumage!  I have been wanting to make more of these, so I set to.

I decided to make one with wings and spent ages covering her with bits of newspaper, this is so relaxing and even better if there is a good play on the radio to listen to.

I drew  a peaceful face as I was feeling so much more peaceful now.  Then I reached for my pen and paints, and the decorative part began.

While I was on holiday recently I was lucky enough to meet up with Jackie Morris at her cottage.  Jackie’s beautiful paintings involve a good deal of gold leaf.  I told her how my late father used gold leaf in his work occasionally and that I have his burnishing tools still, which are beautiful things in their own right.  Jackie suggested that I have a go at gold leaf myself sometime.  So when  I returned  home I ordered a small book of  gold leaf, but then I was stumped as to what to do with it. It looked so gorgeous and so precious, I didn’t want to waste it, but then I looked at my little creature with wings and knew exactly what to do.

After I rubbed the gold leaf through the back of the transfer paper,  I gently lifted off the paper and was amazed by the dazzle of the gold that I saw,  it looks so beautiful, I really gasped when I saw it.

Here it is along with Dad’s burnishing tools, which were so lovely to use.

I enjoyed myself so much, What ever it was that had been bothering me, had faded into the background for the time being, which very felt good indeed.

the life of brian – the dog

A couple of days ago I visited a friend and met a new acquaintance in the shape of a beautiful greyhound, namely Brian.  I had heard about this new dog from my friend who had recently lost their old dog Lucy, also a greyhound but with lurcher in her.  Lucy was a sweet dog with such lovely eyes and such intelligence you thought she could read your mind.   My friends went for some weeks saying “no more dogs” and then “well, maybe a whippet would be nice” until I received the “we’ve got a dog” phonecall!  So on Friday I was summoned to meet ‘the dog’ who had been described as being very large, white and pink with no brains plus a Gaelic name no one could pronounce let alone remember.  Barely had I arrived than I was greeted by the most handsome greyhound I have ever seen,  white and pink he was not, but black and white with a lovely dappling between the patches of black and his face was just gorgeous, I think it was love at first sight! 

He is so gentle and elegant and looks as though he should be in a medieval tapestry or stretched out infront of a huge yawning fireplace in a baronial hall.  Brian is a rescued greyhound and at only three years old and having failed to win races for his former owner, he found himself at a greyhound rescue centre, but now his life has turned around and he has got his second chance and I think he has definitely won this time, as he settles into family life with my friend.

If you want to know more about greyhound rescue click on this link.

Just need to add a picci of Mabel or she will be so jealous!

workspace

I am loving my new little workspace, it is tiny and getting a  bit cluttered.

I have cobbled together some shelves in the corner,  which also seem to be getting a little cluttered – oh well.

I love sitting there drawing, painting or just dreaming.   Angels have started appearing, one of my favourite subjects.

and Mitten is never far away doing what cats do best.