Dappled light

I couldn't resist taking this photograph of the sunlight shining onto the living room wall. Shining through leaves has made the light and shadows dappled, even more beautiful in movement, the orbs of light would shimmer and merge then become still, the effect of wind in the leaves. The smallest and least noticeable things are often the most beautiful. This I must tell myself often so that I notice the small things in life.
The cold weather is here! The north of the country (where we are) is apparently about 6 degrees cooler than the south, doesn't sound a lot but it is when outside! Beautiful sunny cold blue skies with frost on the ground and snow on the hills is our introduction to winter.

Rosehips and blue

I collected these rosehips in our little park today. I was drawn to their deep scarlet coats and put them in a little duck egg blue bowl I have. I felt inspired by the contrast of the bright rosehips together with the organic shape and fresh blue of the bowl. I know this is a subject I want to draw and paint soon.

A walk, a play and sandcastles

We had a sunny play and walk around ribchester this week, Indian summer days are to me better than august or July summer days, maybe it is the fact the sun is lower in the sky this time of year, so it seems more golden and casts wonderful long shadows. On our walk we saw some beautiful Moorish tiles used to create a house number, a ladybird which became a pet for a good part of our walk and a beautiful lichen covered stone wall bordering the church grave yard. The light was magical! A play in the park was called for and a new little friend made the fairytale sandcastles!

Line drawings

Line drawings make sketchbook work more accessible. They are quick and immediate, as in very little thinking and hanging around! I haven't my usual paraphernalia of materials around me at the moment such as paint and mixed-media, due to building works here at home, so they had to be packed away. But the direct use of line and mark-making using in my case a fountain pen (my favourite mark-making tool!), still means I'm working in my sketchbook, which is becoming more important as time goes by, I'm finding it's the only link to any creative practice right now and so keeping me thinking creatively and getting me drawing everyday too.

Autumn treasure

Conkers, leaves, sticks and acorns, they are all treasure to children, and actually adults too if you include the likes of me! Gathering the conkers after prising them from their snug cases, it is a reward to see them in a cup or bucket and play with them, ours were especially useful for being carted around on our little farm, or for the horse to eat! Golden, bronze and blood red Leaves and sticks with a blanket of lichen the colour of mustard are just beautiful to look at.

Playdough inspiration

I love playing with playdough, there's something about the colours and texture- its easy to mould and shape into shapes, therapeutic really! So when I get the playdough out I'm right in there with the boys making shapes and getting stuck in! I loved the repetitive dog shapes I made in the picture, I was planning a whole pack but some little fingers came along and liked to squidge them up which was probably far more satisfying!

The rose bush and tangerine

Sketches without thinking. These can be good. I had ten minutes before my two boys were brought home by their grandparents, so eating a tangerine I sketched that, and looking out of the window I saw our old rose bush, so I sketched that too. Playing with ink, mark making, smudging and writing words, all good stuff for a sketchbook, even if they are quick!

Art books: Painted pages, Sarah Ahearn Bellemare

I am so excited to have received Sarah's book Painted pages! Being busy raising two toddlers full time hasn't given much time for making over the last couple of years, and of course if you get out of practice making, your confidence can falter which can have a real effect on if you make anything at all, so the cycle goes on! I've needed some help to get out of this creative rut and maybe it's also about help to see that how I think about making and want to make has value! Well here was the book to put me right and get all the creative juices flowing again! It's a warm, excited, happy feeling right in the pit of your stomach that tells me my inspiration is back and I'm ready to start making again (once a few hours are mine and that damn studio is finished! Ha ha!).

Gathering acorns

Autumn is beginning to show itself here, red berries on hawthorn bushes, leaves turning to bronze and tree branches gradually beginning to show. Acorn gathering has become a particular pastime by my two boys this autumn, simply because an oak tree resides close to our house, so it's a short walk to look over a fence to check if the farmer has put cows or sheep in the field and at the same time to collect acorns. I tell them that if empty of their acorn the small hats they wear are used by fairies to drink tea, but they don't seem too interested in this piece of folklore just yet!

It's been a while

I haven't been here for at least a couple of months, so thought it was about time I made a visit and wrote a blog post! It has been a busy time over the summer months, and such a warm and sunny summer it has been in the UK. Our extension to build a bedroom for our smallest little boy is nearly complete and so is my little studio (yay! See picture- still plastering to do but better than it has been!). Apart from that we have been mostly attending lots of playgroups and playdates, Brockholes wetland reserve near Preston being one of them. Such a glittering day of sun, playing in the woodland and playground. The woods took me back to my childhood when a group of cousins would gather and we would spend hours building dens and enacting make belive adventures (being a tomboy helped!), such simple things, where trees, sticks and imagination is all you need are the parts of my childhood of which I have the fondest memories! The wetland reserve has a beautiful piece of floating architecture for it's cafe, activity rooms and shops, the picture probably doesn't do it justice. I do plan to blog a lot more often, one of my autumn resolutions!

Art books: The calligraphic arts of Ogawa Toshu

I can't actually remember when I got this book but I did so because of the beautiful fluid works by the artist, also the subtle visual textures within the brushwork. I also love the narrative of the lines and marks to illustrate characters of the subjects such as a crane, snow, even crockery! I love using water based media myself, such as ink & watercolours so found these images so inspirational. A lot to learn here from a master of brushwork.

The Glass house cafe at Stydd gardens

A rare breakfast without our boys this morning was a relaxed affair and rather more civilized than we're used too! We headed for the Glass house cafe at Ribchester. It is inspirational and very cleverly designed, making something unique and beautiful from what was a simple greenhouse, but a large one at that. The gardens are also very beautiful with a fairytale quality.

Studio continued

Well it is coming on slowly, what was once a patio is now becoming a room. My little studio is taking shape and I'm getting excited and of course realize how incredibly fortunate I am. A way to go yet of course,  but high walls have been built and holes for velux windows have appeared, so hopefully this will mean space & light.

Stoneyhurst

I realise I forgot to actually include images of Stoneyhurst school on my previous post, the building I was calling more magnificent than beautiful. The photos were taken on a previous visit in the winter time, hence trees without leaves and grey skies. 

Old stone

We had a Sunday walk around part of the outskirts of stoneyhurst school, a favourite location of ours because of ducks & geese for the boys and well just beautiful architecture for us grown-ups, or maybe a more fitting description would be magnificent. I just remember the front of the school and long drive were featured in the film Three men and a little lady, if you've seen that good old stalwart of a nineties (or eighties?) film you'll know what I'm talking about! We did the usual walk I do with the boys to the little farm down a lane just by the school grounds. Although not really very old by British standards it has a stone plaque on the side of one of the barns dated 1938, so I do wonder if it had an involvement in the second world war, providing provisions to the school maybe? The photos below are some of the battered and broken windows on the side of the stone barn, I just find them inspirational because of the composition of shapes and textures of the stone, a stone wall was nearby, I love the imperfect shapes locked together and small speckles of overhanging greenery invading another wall. All old stone.

To be continued

I made this printed bag (the print not the bag!) at a print day with the Make District yesterday. I am hooked! I have done print a lot in the past but the method we used here was so easy and very do-able at home. So there will lots more printing to come! The Make District is well worth checking out on line for their courses, although living in North West England would help! However there is also a lot of inspiring images of their work.

What summer feels like

Visiting an agricultural show takes me back to my childhood. We spent a few summer holidays on showgrounds because my father had a stand selling country clothes such as wax jackets and tweed hats. I have good memories of those times, the smell of the tents, brown grass from the sun, the living quarters in the back of the lorry with bunk beds, the long evenings with dad's friends eating a meal. So when I visit a show these days I get a feel of nostalgia, but of course it all feels different now. Britain was a different country back in the 1980s and it was reflected in the country shows too. But aswell as obviously not being ten years old anymore there is also something missing from shows these days, even large ones and it seems to be an aspect of the traditional. Back then there was no commercialism in shows really because country shows were so successful, they didn't need it. It's that nostalgia for the 1980s that most late 30 somethings have a feel for and I'm no different!
The longridge and goosnargh agricultural show gave us a feel of summer today. It's not a big show but reflects the farming community we have here. Of course two little boys were in heaven with tractors and farm animals, diggers and a giant inflatable slide! Maybe when they get older they will feel nostalgia for their own childhoods spent on our local showground.