Friday, January 21, 2011

Umbellifer Tree And Rusty Barbed Wire

We had a wonderful geocaching walk on Sunday, literally uphill and down dale again. One path was muddy, slippery and as near vertical as anything. I almost needed oxygen at the top but coming down would have been much worse. I took lots of beautiful pictures including the dinkiest empty bird's nest my brother discovered. I have been bemoaning the fact that all the nests are high up and difficult to photograph but this one was hidden in the middle of a tree and was quite low. I have a fascination for birds' nests. I just think their construction is totally amazing and if I could find more I would have lots of photos of them to show you. As it is there is just this one so I will show you it next week. I think I can feel a bird's nest drawing coming on....!

This is a lovely song by the multi-talented Moya Brennan -Tell Me Now What You See

I knew all my multitude of umbellifer photos would come in useful as reference material. This is a very colourful version but it was fun to draw. This is a pen and ink drawing which has been digitally coloured. It is called The Farmer's Wife and she is wearing a paper hat which is my latest "thing".

You can see the paper hat in more detail here.


This little quirky drawing is called Protection.


SAVE OUR FORESTS

It recently came to the country's notice that the Government is planning on doing nasty things to our heritage behind our backs. They are planning to sell off our forests to the highest bidders. Once they have gone they will never return. We all need to help stop this from happening by signing this online petition asap. You can go here to sign: Save Our Forests Petition

Has anyone bought the new Making magazine? It has only recently started and although I have missed a couple of issues I will get it regularly from now on. It is about making crafty/arty things and the features are of a really good standard with excellent and interesting photography. They have interviews with crafters like Kaffe Fassett etc, and a Lust List of items we would all like to own. Worth having a browse when you are next in Smiths.






I am sure I am not the only one who loves old tangled, rusty barbed wire on bleached wooden fence posts. I find the textures of the old wood and the colours of the rusty wire irresistible. I must admit I have a small but growing collection of such things. It has to be rusty. New wire is not interesting in the least. It is the altered and decaying aspect of it that I am interested in. Nutty I know!



If you admire unique jewellery you will love Sara Lloyd-Morris's work. She has wonderful hares and other themed jewellery. I absolutely adore this seaweed necklace with a beautiful starfish tucked into it. Sara lives and works in Wales and has been a jeweller for very many years. She has a great website here. If you look under the jewellery themes you will find the hares.



I found a lovely churchyard angel on a walk recently. I suppose technically she isn't an angel because she is wingless but she looks like one to me anyway. It never ceases to amaze me that such beautiful sculptures reside in our churchyards. This young girl's face is so sad and poignant it makes you wonder who was the model and if she had lost someone dear to her or whether the sculptor just used his imagination. I am using the photo below on my desktop at the moment.




I think this mixed media piece by Rachel Ricketts is really sweet. It is called Fraser 3. You can see more of her sculptural work here at FountainFineArt. If you click on the archive at the bottom of the page it will take you to some past work.


This is one of the nicest chicken linocuts I have seen. It is called Sophie's Chickens and is by the artist/printmaker Jenny Crocker.


Jiri Borsky was born in Czechoslovakia and then studied in Prague. He eventually emigrated to England and now works full time as an artist and exhibits widely. He has been inspired by European medieval painters and his work definitely has a reminiscent stylised look. I love the amazing texture he employs in his work. He has a very comprehensive website here with lots to browse.

Fruit Picking


Modern Art Lovers


Harbour Lovers


Winter


Hair Wash

18 comments:

sea-blue-sky & abstracts said...

Hi Cathy, some lovely goodies here - really like your drawing 'Protection' too.

Thanks for the link to the petition re the sell off of our ancient woodland - I've added it to my FaceBook page.

Love the bleached wood and rusted barbed wire! Have a good week. Lesley x

Caroline said...

I don't know where to start commenting on this one, Cathy!! Love it all - the umbellifers,barbed wire, hare jewellery, chickens print et al!! I'll pop over to the Forests Petition and look out for that new magazine too. Thanks for lots of lovely stuff! Have a good week.

Cathy said...

Hi Lesley, thanks for adding the forests link. I think it is so important that we add our weight to the petition. Have a great week.

Cathy said...

Thanks so much Caroline. I look forward to your comments. You are always so positive and cheery.

rossichka said...

Hello, Cathy! Such a rich post you've written! I like very much the "Protection" drawing - the force, that protects one's home... I like also that your paper hat is not made of a newspaper! You wrote it by yourself, letter by letter, and the words are a part of your message...
We don't have such magazines here, so lucky you! They provoke the imagination and give new ideas, don't they?
I like that Czech artist very much! Thanks for sharing!
Oh, and that girl from the churchyard!! She looks like an angel, yes! But maybe she's mourning... Whoever she was, she was beautiful and I want to think she had a good life!...

Debrina said...

Oh my! What a scrumptious posting! It's been an age since I was here because when I changed my blog, all my settings (like my fav. blogs) went out the door. Anyway, I'm back and loving what you're up to. I want to get me that Making magazine! Awesome. AND your artwork is, as always, sublimely beautiful.

tammykingdon said...

I love absolutely everything in your post Cathy! Thanks for sharing it.

iHanna said...

Cathy, what a rich and inspiring post! Love your drawings, and the magazine looks so yummy too! Inspiration everywhere and all around, oh, and the song, soothing me right now...

Cathy said...

Hi Rossichka. Thanks very much for your lovely comments. I am glad you like everything in the post. I love the churchyard angel. She has such a beautifully appealing face. A great find.

Cathy said...

Thanks so much Debrina. I really enjoyed visiting your blog again too. I think you have chosen a better name...haha...especially in view of probable Google searches.

Cathy said...

You are very welcome Tammy.

Cathy said...

Glad you like it all Hanna. That song is beautiful and haunting. One of my YouTube favourites.

deb said...

Oh, where to start! Love the Farmers Wife drawing, the beautiful barbed wire photos, your churchyard angel and the chicken linocut. So much to look at. Thank you for sharing.

andamento said...

All very interesting and inspiring as ever. I agree with you about the chickens, they're fab!

Cathy said...

Thanks very much Deb. You are very welcome.

Cathy said...

Thanks Anne. Yes, it really is a fabulously detailed linocut.

ArtPropelled said...

I'm totally in love with Sara's Hare necklace!

There must be quite a few nutters out there who love weathered wood and rusty wire. Great photo, Cathy.

Cathy said...

I quite agree Robyn. Every time I look at that necklace I think, how gorgeous is that.