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

Thoughts, Walks And Hares

A few days ago I had a day off from doing creative things.We didn't go far, just a few miles away from home. 

 

                                                                  View of Silbury hill

Moon daisies ( Ox eye)  danced to the gentle scented breeze and skylark song surrounded the ancient West Kennet Long Barrow. A burial mound 5,000 years old.

As I leaned against the stone it felt warm, no hint of the usual coldness of stone.

Roundway hill was quiet. The blue butteflies fluttered upon tiny yellow flowers of Tom thumb undisturbed, happy to have reclaimed the land.

 

On July 13th 1643 it would have looked a rather different scene here. A site of a battle

Looking down this hill above I caught a fleeting glimpse of a hare before it disappeared  beneath the bush.
I have been visiting this hill for many years and whenever I do I always remember our school day out years back when we spent the day on the hill with other Wiltshire schools reinacting the battle. We made our costumes and were only allowed to bring food that would have been available in 1643. I remember having a small bag made out of sack to carry my lunch in and to conceal my waterbottle which held blackcurrant juice. ( pretend wine!) Our class were Roundheads, on Oliver Cromwells side. I dug up an old photo of us, ready for our journey up the hill before battle commenced. :-)

                                             
Sitting on the hill and near the barrow I felt content and at home. It made me think about a recent and interesting post by Christina on her blog 'A mermaid in the Attic'. She recently did a post called 'Meditations on home'   How sometimes we can feel disconnected and feel as though we don't truly belong if our ancestors have come from another place/country. I feel very lucky to feel connected with this land and feel that I am in the right place. My husband on the other hand feels the same as Christina. Being born and raised in Zimbabwe but having ancestors from Ireland, Scotland, Italy and maybe even a pirate from Portugal! He doesn't know where his roots really are? Maybe he never will?
The feeling I have is hard to put into words. It's a deep connection,  a sharing? It's not always felt, sometimes it only shows itself when you return from a far away place and step foot on home ground. .... Of course I could be competely wrong and I may well originate from Vikings? Just 3 miles away from my home they did DNA testing and found a group of Viking descendants! However I'm not that tall ( 5ft 6) and I was born with very dark brown hair and blue eyes, so perhaps not. ...Although I do have a strong pull /urge drawing me to Scandanavia?....... ;)
Please do go and read Christina's post on the link above, as it's a wonderful piece of writing.

After our day out, the rest of the week was busy, not as busy as this Mother or Father, who I've been watching put so much hard work into feeding chicks. We have a nest in a crack in the wall above the dining room. Photo's courtesy of my Dad who had his 'good' camera with him the other day.  x

I'm sure what I've been busy with is not as important as raising beautiful chicks, but I'll show you anyway..... 

                                             Forgetmenot Hare

                                                           Star Hare

                                                                  Harebell hare
And two more Oaky hares ....

Pop across to my Etsy shop  and take a look .
And enjoy the May bank holiday whatever you are up to?
x