hedge, fields, birds - work in progress 1

I've been working on a print for the season, clipped hedgerows, long shadows, freshly ploughed fields, and strong autumnal colours. There have been some pretty dramatic sunsets over the past couple of weeks but its the sunrises that have really taken my breath away, especially if I happened to be cycling through the fields on my way to the station at the time - just magical!

Looking through the my recent photos I see orange in many places, in the sky, in a common starfish, in an unknown fruit and in a feathered thorn moth.

Here's a glimpse or two of the print in progress, with the first of the three blocks printed ...

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marbled paper

Today we have been playing with the marbling inks I bought our son for his 7th birthday ( I think I got away with that!) We had a fantastic time swirling around the colours and created a huge range of patterns, here are a few, the others are destined for Thank You cards tomorrow. The only two downfalls were a. I bought my favourite colours not his (red!) and b. i didn't add quite enough thickener and so the ink did tend to sink a little. Other than that I think I'm hooked!

Crows of Damage Barton

My latest print is inspired by the crows that wheeled and careered above the tall pines at Damage Barton. They completed these amazing dances each evening as the sun set, appearing to settle before all setting off again in restless choreography.
 

new today

Ice Blue Caribou

Available in my ETSY and FOLKSY  shops

end of summer ...

My creative side has been feeling a bit squeezed of late. I think all the talk of Christmas buzzing around the forums (and the mince pies in the Coop) has made me realise just how unprepared I am to make the most of this busy selling time. Just like last year. And the year before. 

I've had to take a moment to remind myself of what I have managed to do over the summer months to convince myself I haven't stood stock still for the duration. It doesn't amount to much inky stuff on paper but I have supplied a couple of new stockists (details to come) and I have just completed a commission piece (see extract above). And there is a new piece on the way ... i think :)

Are you ready for Christmas or, like me, are you shutting your eyes and hoping it goes away?

artichoke flowers

I couldn't bring myself to fell the artichokes for eating and one by one they burst into the most amazing purple flowers. They were short lived though and this is the only one I managed to photograph. I'm now wondering if I should make a companion piece to this print...