The Alchemy of Autumn

 I sit on the stone ledge by the front door. A place I often sit in all seasons. The place to take my cup of tea or coffee and look at the garden. It is the afternoon and I have come outside to take a break and feel the last warmth of the early Autumn sun. Sunlight catches a cobweb, it's almost invisible thread stretches  from the rusted doorbell to the valerian plant below. A home connected to a home. 

A dragonfly darts about the garden, a shining fairy in disguise and the ivy flowers on the old shed are singing with a choir of honeybees. Sharing this feast are red admirals. Six of them. The red and white on their wings contrast against the bluest of sky, jewels of the garden, small treasures from heaven.

The Alchemy of Autumn has begun. It is visible of course all around us, but it is also a feeling felt in the stillness, the slowing down and in the bird song. A sensing of different energy and magic in the air, which to me is felt most strongly from now through to Winter.
The Autumn Equinox has passed and now the days begin to get shorter. It's time to get and do, what I call the the 'cosy things' or the hip or trendy term now seems to be 'hygge'  ;-)  Cosy socks, woolly tights, spiced tea, hot chocolate and soup. Time to light the fire inside or out, dig your hat and scarf out of the cupboard for long walks to look for mushrooms and toadstools. Time to light more candles now the evenings are darker and retrieve that half finished crochet that you begun last year. 

It's a time to gather and harvest and brew potions and wine, jams and jellies.  

 Have your ingredients ready, in this case blackberries. The other items are to help the spell. A magic wand comes in very handy if you are not so good at making Jam. Mine is made by a very talented young friend of mine and it's relatively new, so I wanted to test it and check it worked. ;-) (You can see more of her beautiful wands here)

Say the magic words and wave the wand.

Then.....'ta- dah'!  Blackberry Jam! ;-)

All there is to do now, is make a pretty label and pop it in your cupboard. 

                                                                               ~***~

'Alchemist: A person who transforms or creates something through a seemingly magical process'

On my desk a little Alchemy has been taking place.

Tiny paintings, treasures of Nature. I have used real gold to symbolise treasure and show that their importance is of equal value in the grand scheme of life. After all gold is 'nature's' treasure too, but we put so much more value on it than a flower or an animal and even water. (which I find scary sometimes)

                                                                'Between the Space of Golden Light

'Midnight's Treasure'

'Metamorphosis'

'I see the Golden Light that Surrounds You'

'In the Beginning' #2

'In the Beginning'#1

'Born of Gold'

"Here is all of life, all into one
 In moments such as this, all that lives and breathes under the sun is part of Heaven's kiss"

~ Crimson Skies. The Cinematic Orchestra

More gold on this Hare, this time not the real kind though, just paint. 

'Summer Gold'

'Night and her Magic'

'Night's Treasures'

'Hills of Home'

'Tor and Thorn'

'Tamarisk and Sea Holly'

'Sea Holly'

'Sea Holly Small'

'Magnificent Bee' (Pendants  #1 and #2)

After rather a lot of fiddly small painting I am having an urge to paint something bigger now. :-)

All of the above items will be added to my Etsy shop next Tuesday 27th September at 19.00 (7pm) UK time. 

Enjoy your weekend and fingers crossed the sun stays out for walks and gardening and whatever you are up to. 

Thanks for reading! x

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