Eight Years Old and Song to the Sun's return

Today this blog is eight years old! Or should I say two? It was created on this day, the 29th February,  which of course only comes around every four years.

Back in 2008 I began it as a sort of visual diary really, just to record my creativity, places I visited and other bits and pieces along the way. I have never really been any good at keeping a diary, but the ability to upload pictures appealed to me and the journey began. I named it Moonlight and Hares because they were just two things that I loved and included in my paintings regularly. Back then my two hobbits were children and now they are both young adults. Time is so very precious isn't it. Time has changed the way we interact online. Many blogs that I used to read no longer exist and Facebook and Instagram have replaced some. But there is something strange and therapeutic and satisfying about keeping a blog. It is still my preferred social media, even if I don't post that often.

To celebrate the eight years I thought it would be nice to do a giveaway.

I've recently completed this painting. 'Song to the Sun's return' inspired by my January trip to Lapland.  

 I wanted to do this painting a little differently so the shape and some of the symbols are inspired by Sámi shaman drums. I have painted the sun symbol with real shell gold and to try and get the same effect, hand highlighted the prints in my shop with gold paint. 

If you would like the chance of winning a copy of this print, just follow and comment below. I will choose one winner next week sometime and announce it the next time I put up a blog post. Only comments published on this blog will be counted, as this give-away is to celebrate the blogs Birthday.

Good luck and thank you for reading! :-)

X 

Winter and a Calendar

Winter has returned but her frozen cloak has been tossed aside for now. There are primroses in flower in the garden and the days have been mild. The birds have feasted on all the holly berries and now the tree is empty.  My holly picked a few weeks back, sits waiting in a bucket in the greenhouse. All ready to be brought indoors and tucked behind picture frames.

Inside It's beginning to look a little festive.  The piano had a good dusting and I even cleaned the faerie house out too. :)

Nine doors have already been opened in my Advent calendar. Nine! already! :-o and here my mind is still in October....
The Advent calendar is an old one, which I'm recycling because it's so pretty and because the teen hobbit has a chocolate one which is a little uninspiring to look at. Whoops, sorry chocolate companies!  ;) 

In the universe, there are things that are known, and things that are unknown, and in between, there are doors. ~ William Blake
                                       ~*~
It's been busy here, packing up orders, making more cards and trying to snatch time in between to do a little of my own Christmas shopping. On top of that I decided quite late, to do a 2016 Calendar. 
I've been waiting for them to arrive for a while now, wishing them here as time is ticking on of course. Anyway they are finally here!  And now in the shop! 

When opened out the calendar is A3 in size. Plenty of room to write things in the boxes and 13 pictures of my Artwork. One picture a month and an extra picture in the centre fold which can be used as an A4 poster afterwards.

  ~*~

                                                                  

November bits and pieces.

The silver mists of November weave their soft spider web grey. Drawn to the river and the hills after three o clock until the sun chases them away the next morning.

Coming out of Avebury, the sky went dark. The mist disguising the sun as the moon.

Until it was obscured almost completely.

 Quiet and still, stood the old hill, it's secrets kept hidden.

I love the mists and fog of November. You have probably heard me say that before if you have been visiting this blog over the years. But I need to say it each year, because each year I am reminded of just how much I love and appreciate all of this beautiful Island's seasons.  November has almost gone now and soon we will be into the frosty days of Winter...

 

I've been busy here with making and painting, and have a few things to share.

First up, some small Aceo sized paintings. Simple designs, hares. Often after I've been painting more detailed work on the hangers, I do I find it refreshing to go back to simple paintings with less detail. This first one is called 'Song to the Moon'  

The 'Sacred Pool'

Then lastly 'Midnight in the Meadow'

Then another simpler painting but bigger and back to my old 'up right' friend. We have had many adventures over the years together and I think he will always be with me.  

This time the title is inspired by Mr Tolkien...'Not all those who wander are Lost' 

Now to the detailed work that I've been busy with...

A friend of mine gave me a very small vintage frame a couple of years back and it has been sat on the desk waiting to have something painted inside it. During painting blackberries on a hare hanger, I suddenly realised what it wanted. Blackberries!  So that's what I've done, along with a hare and a wren. So this one I have titled 'Conversation with a Wren' 

 

I won't share each hare hanger that I've done as there are 10 of them, but will tell you that I shall be adding them to my shop tomorrow 27th November at 7pm (UK time ) along with the Aceo paintings and the above vintage framed one. And if you would like to see the hares you can see them on my Instagram.

In the meantime here is one of them...

In between working I have been taking time out to enjoy the simple things. A book by the fire and a glass of mulled wine.

 Chatting with my bestie. ;)

And again appreciating all the beauty that these months reveal. 

I will finish with something else that I worked on a few months back which is now available to buy and might make a lovely Christmas gift idea for someone that is interested in dance? You may remember earlier in the year I was painting this below, which was the cover for the dvd by irish dancer Edwina Guckian.  

It's a tutorial and performance dvd and is hypnotic to watch. There is magic in her feet I'm sure. 

You can buy the dvd on Edwina's website here.

And to finish, here's the trailer to the dvd.

Forgive me for cramming my work into this one post, but November has been busy and this is my only post that I've done I've  just realised. ..

Enjoy the last remaining few days and that gorgeous full moon this evening! 

X

A walk, a card and some seeds.

A walk on Cherhill downs.
Up here there is peace. Down in the distance the road curves around the mysterious Silbury hill. Up here the cars have been silenced, they are insignificant and unimportant. All that matters is the ticking of grasshopper, hum of bee and whisper of gentle wind in the grass among harebells.

In the sky, the pretty song of skylark calls. The ancient land echoes with it's tales of forgotten people.
My feet on white chalk, this old route, my footsteps following the old ways.
Wild flowers dot the grassland banks and ditches of the ancient iron age Hillfort of Oldbury Castle.
 A sea  of purple and lilac, scabious, knapweed, harebell and thistles alive with bees.

It's a good place to be for the soul up here. I can hear my own thoughts. 

Across the down, on the north side, high up above the fields of barley is the white horse of Cherhill. (Or Oldbury white horse)

How I love these white horses on hills.

Hmm I was hoping to see a corn circle too, but wasn't lucky this time. 

  

                                       “a walk is only a step away from a story, and every path tells.” 
                                                                                              ~Robert Macfarlane

This summer has been too quick for me this year,  just like the bees on the thistles in the pictures above were. I wasn't fast enough to get any decent shots that day, except the one.  Bees have been on my mind quite a bit lately. There seems to have been more in the garden this summer. Not so many butterflies though sadly. 
A couple of weeks ago I was having a bit of a play around digitally, with one of my paintings, which is fun to do occasionally. I'm no expert in photoshop or anything (wish I was)  One of the images was a bee, I played about with layers and added some vintage stock images. I liked it and thought that it would look pretty as a card. So went ahead and made up a batch of cards. 

Then I remembered about the wild flower seeds spare, gathering dust, that had been collected by myself (from my garden I must add, not the wild) and some that friends had given me and I hadn't got around to using them, as many of the plants already grow in my garden and wild nearby. Anyway, I decided how nice it would be to sell this card with a packet of wild flower seeds. After oiling my rusty graphic design abilities here's the little label for the seed packet, which has been attached to a small brown envelope that hold the seeds.
                                          'Sprinkle these seeds to help the bees'

 If you would like a bee card and packet of seeds, you can find them in my shop here.
Enjoy the bank holiday weekend and last few days of August. x

Etsy shop update

Well November has whirled and spun her Autumn cloak in a frantic frenzy this month and I have been left behind.  I'm sure the clock hands whizz around when I'm not looking... I've been very busy here finishing off a batch of work that will be listed in my shop this Friday. (21st November at 7pm uk time) All are wooden hangers, mainly hares.  I have shared them on Facebook, but incase you don't have Facebook, or may have missed it there, here they are.  Twenty four hangers, so quite a few pictures...

Rather a lot to digest in one sitting. ;) 

I shall be back sooner rather than later.  Enjoy these misty days. x