Ringed Plovers at New England Bay

New print alert!

Ringed Plovers at New England Bay

I love these little ringed plovers and the way they scuttle comically along the tideline. They blend so subtly with their environment that its easy to mistake them for tumbling pebbles. I watched this little group as the sun rose over New England Bay, Scotland.

I created this print from two plates - one for the background of blue blended to sand and the other for the details in buff, orange and black. The detail plate was cut back after each inking until only the little black areas were left proud.

The print was not without mishap. I convinced myself that the orange was too much but was happier when the black was added. And there was a tricky moment with a wayward leg.

TL - the wayward leg TR- the offending section removed BL - a substitute leg carved from a sliver of rubber and BR individually added to all 18 prints in the edition!

There are just 18 prints in this edition and they are available in Folksy and Etsy shops now.

Beneath the canopy

A few of the smaller delights we found beneath the canopy of those tall, tall trees. 

Beautiful blue eggshell of the American Robin

  We never walked far in the forests without the accompaniment of an American Robin. The first one or two we encountered seemed so vibrantly exotic but we soon began to regard them as we would our blackbirds.

American Robin - member of the thrush family

Wren singing to the ferns and centuries old trees at Cathedral Grove

Our other bird encounters were more fleeting and they were too quick and we were too slow to photograph the woodpeckers and hummingbirds. 

The holes drilled by sapsuckers, to harvest sap and the insects caught in this sticky treat.

Hedge, fields and birds

Inspired by glorious sunrises, neatly clipped hedges and harking back to the days when large parts of lowland of England were still covered with the remains of medieval ridge and furrow (see Turning the Plough for an explanation of ridge and furrow). I spend a fair bit of my working day making maps of medieval field systems from old aerial photographs and its sad to see that so many of these wonderful corrugated earthworks have been ploughed down or built over. Inevitably they sometimes creep into my artwork.

Available here and here

belated welsh post

This blog post is so tardy I might as well have sent it on the post card ... second class ... from a remote postbox ... on a bank holiday. Well better late than never so here goes...

This little pied wagtail arises from a recent break in Wales, where we learnt that rain sounds a lot heavier when you are inside a caravan and that it is possible to barbecue in light drizzle, but only if you are prepared to be the starter course for the midges.

As always I carefully packed watercolours, sheets of lovely paper and even remembered the brushes this time but some how the chance to paint just didn't arise. I did however get around to a little embroidery doodling ...

The  rhododendrons at Beddgelert were in full bloom so with this unplanned palette of slate grey, deep pink and found wool (with the "bits" washed off!) I felt quite at one with the landscape.

This is how far we reached up Snowdon...

We poked around in search of gold but this find was treasure enough.

And we built a rather spendid castle...

[Pied Wagtail is available in my Folksy and Etsy shops]

Happy New Year

A bit late because of a few technical issues (dying laptop and dying graphics card in pc - the only snow we've seen this christmas). The absence of a computer for a few days was a good thing and I managed to get on with some printing.

We have a little aviary near us stocked with lots of exotic lovelies and a talkative somethingorother. I love the poise of the Demoiselle Cranes and the striking feathers trailing back from the eyes. I planned a watercolour but my sketches developed into this three colour lino print instead.

Now available here or here. 

Collared doves work in progress

I love the look of the chalky white against the soft grey lino and always pause at this stage in the lino cutting and debate whether to carry on or just leave it as it is. I'll aim to match that soft grey (perhaps a shade or two lighter) in ink when it comes to printing. I might add a smudge of buttery yellow too. I've steered clear of yellow in the past but I rather liked it in Betty's Hen no.3 so i'm emboldened to try again, albeit much softer this time.