Haunted By Glass Eyes

Yesterday I was up in London for the day with my son visiting a college open day. We had a couple of hours to spare before we caught our coach back so we wandered  around the Natural History Museum. It's quite a few years since I was here last, but it doesn't really change. The building is magnificent outside and in. It reminds me of Hogwarts.

If you've never been here, there is a lot of taxidermy (not a favourite thing of mine) but, all of it done by Victorians many years ago. Time has ticked on and the animals have faded,which adds to the melancholy feel of seeing them.

The old lion touched me the most. How can artificial eyes look so sad?  It made me wonder if the taxidermist was feeling the same as he prepared the King of the jungle for his life behind glass?  I promised him that he would feature in one of my paintings when I said goodbye.

Old Lion, how did you spend your days.

I hope you felt the African sun on your back.

Your real eyes have long gone, what did they see?

Zebra, impala, Baobab tree.

Your body treated and preserved for humans to admire.

In a cold case you stand, blind glass eyes.

I would take you out if I could.

Faded and sad and misunderstood.

                                                                    (Words by me)

I'm not going to talk about the weather, but...

Everyone seems to be talking about the weather have you noticed? I know us British folk are supposedly renowned for it, but lately it's more than normal and even people on Twitter are tweeting about weather and they are from other countries. Maybe it's always been this way and I'm just noticing it more?  Anyway all I have to say on weather is that many years ago it snowed on April 22nd. I know this as I remember it clearly as I woke up and rushed outside to see if my guinea pig had given birth. She had produced a little miracle in the night whilst the snow fell in Spring all those years ago.... and yes it was April!  Everything does seem a month behind though. In the garden daffodils are in bloom alongside the primroses and none of the trees are in leaf yet.  Like the Spring, I have been slow too. Slow writing here and slow producing my work. Maybe others are feeling this too.?I like to think it's because my body is in tune with nature's pace outside rather than the busy rush of news, tv, social media and fast paced gossip way of life. ;)

So I have some things to share. Firstly some snaps of Easter. ( I hope you had an enjoyable one, whatever you got up to)

A couple of weeks ago I went for another walk on my lunch break. I thought I'd share some of the inside shots of the Abbey that I took. They are giving me the urge to paint an interior picture which I haven't done in quite a long while...

I wouldn't mind being accidently shut in here one night, then I could get to browse the dusty pages of  these books. Think of all the words hidden. All the worlds captured inside those old bindings....

 And  of course I would look in here to see if another world existed behind it's old doors. 

My desk has been a hive of activity this last week finishing off a drove of wooden hares, threading beads and  ribbon.

They are finished now and  here they are all hung up.

Several have moths painted on them as waiting for the butterfly chrysalis to hatch on my windowsill  I have been thinking a lot about the past moths that hatched the year before last  and that very special  first one.
I even fitted in some pendants using up the odd scraps of spare wood

The hares and pendants will be listed in my Etsy shop  at 7pm ( BST) tomorrow evening  (16th April)

I will leave you now with some music by Ludovico Einaudi  from his latest album  'In a time lapse'  Saturday night I was lucky to get to see him at the Colston Hall in Bristol. What a great evening. We weren't supposed to take pictures really, but me being a bit naughty (ssh) sneaked one in at the end. Here he is before his encore.