Time Well Spent In May

I'm sure the world of Blogger has a different time. A clock that ticks more frequently to the one in my kitchen, turning minutes into hours when our backs are turned. Have you ever noticed it?
I planned to blog a lot in May. Hmm I'm not sure what happened as now we are coming upon the end of the month and here I am with only a second post..
So, here's some of what I've been doing, these past two/three weeks is it? I'll turn the Blogger clock back and let you see.

I've walked in Bluebell woods.

 Raindrop jewelled and sunlit dappled.

I breathed in the heavenly scent of the wild woods and recharged the part of my soul that was calling out and demanding bluebells. :0)

Inspired by the woods I finished the faerie hangers that  had been waiting patiently on the side of my desk.

I'll be listing these soon if you are interested to my  Etsy shop.

Along with this woodland toadstool...

                                                                        ~*~

May has also included a weekend away to Devon and the sea.

After all the rain we were lucky, the sun shone and made us think we were somewhere more exotic.

I found a creature on the rock that looked exotic and prehistoric. (Not the beautiful creature above, that's hobbit daughter. ;)) The one below, also beautiful and looks like a giant wood louse. This was two inches long. I think it's called a sea slater?  

In the pretty village of Lee I met an owl on a gate with eyes like Coraline's other Mum.

He told me where the Devon violets grew. 

We skimmed stones for an hour.

(My hobbits are still hobbits, just not such small ones anymore. *sigh*)

We walked high up along the coast and saw flash of green, a glimpse of woodpecker fly past us.

And to a hidden beach  'Pear tree beach.'

Here I chatted with a pigeon that was resting. He was a racing pigeon I think, as he had green and yellow bands on his feet. Maybe he was Welsh and had flown across the sea? I could see Wales across the water. 

Onwards and upwards we trod.

And then down into the prettiest faerie glade. 

My camera couldn't capture the sheer beauty and magic of this. I walked through here sure that it hadn't been touched for many many years and swearing to myself that I would treat myself to a better camera. 

At dusk we headed for Exmoor and heard the cuckoo. We stayed until midnight stargazing.

Back home and the here and now. Days are sunny and so warm they are hot. I've been hiding away here, working on a project a little bit different, that will be revealed at a later date....

Surrounded by hawthorn and birdsong I wouldn't mind if time stopped completely and May stayed forever.

Moonrakers

In my last post I told you that I had been working on a painting and that I'd share it in the next post. Well here it is....
                                                            'Moonrakers'

It's for a local exhibition that I'm taking part in this June which will be part of the Corsham festival. The exhibition theme was Wiltshire/a personal Journey, who you are and you're work.  I decided to take on the famous old Wiltshire story of the Moonrakers with a whimsical twist, including my white hare guide that still leads me one step ahead along my path.

And a bushy tailed  foxy friend to join him.

Oh and an owl..

For those of you who have never heard of the Wiltshire Moonrakers, then let me explain.
Many years ago, when wealthy men wore shoes with silver buckles and women wore long gowns, smuggling was rife. Some Wiltshire folk decided to hide contraband barrels of french brandy from custom officials in a village pond. (The location is believed to be the Crammer in Devizes)
One night when the owls and foxes spoke to the bright full moon, they came quietly to retrieve it using rakes to pull the barrels out. In the middle of the act they were caught by the revenue men who asked them what they were doing raking the pond? Pointing at the moon's reflection they replied:
"Why, just trying to catch that big piece of round cheese Sir"
The excise men thinking they were simple yokels, laughed, left them to their business and went on their way.
The Wiltshire men were left to carry on  and I'm sure were very happy with their french brandy!
                                         
This picture is not the best quality as it's just a photo when the painting was on my desk. But, I have plans to get it scanned this weekend and make it available as a print in my Etsy shop shortly.
                                                                        ****
My what a lot of rain has fallen this week. It rained non stop most of last weekend then rained on and off all through the week.  My water butt that was standing dry is now overflowing which I'm most pleased about.  On May 1st the sun shone on May day.I took my camera to greet the new month. This is what I saw.

Rain soaked fields and a river that had burst it's banks.

The old bridge taking strain.

I moved away from the watery world and back amid the little woods to see signs of greening. Wanting to capture something special on Beltane/May day. I was greeted with the pungent scent of wild garlic otherwise known as ramsons, buckrams, bear leek, wood garlic, broad leaf garlic,and bear garlic.

I love this little plant, it reminds me of playing in the woods as a child.
Then I came across another favourite Jack by the hedge.

And Periwinkle.

  Faerie size bouquets of hedge/cow parsley.

And twirling new growth of sticky cleavers.

And such pretty flowers and good for bees, dead nettle and ground ivy.

I took a slip of each and brought the new growth  inside, placing them upon my window sill.
Earth's delicate simple treasures.                                                       

A Day In The Sea Breeze

It's been a day of April showers here. In between the rainfall the birds have been singing as if they were in a fairy tale forest. I think they are thankful for the water. Thankful that plants will grow and seeds will set. I've been sat at my desk all day close to my heater. (It's always chilly inside when it is damp outside) I've been working away on a new painting which I will tell you about and show you next time...

 A couple of weeks ago I made some more faerie hangers. I didn't get time to write about them before they were put into my Etsy shop and now they have all sold. But... there are some more on the horizon. They are cut out but are waiting patiently to be brought to life with the touch of a paintbrush. So if you are interested, keep an eye on my shop in the merrie month of May.

I love this time of year. Everything is fresh and new and brightest green....
 A couple of weeks ago we decided it was time to  pack up a picnic and travel to the coast. Dorset being our next door county, the beautiful coastline is not very far away, almost 2 hours, as much of the journey is around winding roads. We stopped to look at the view and had a quick cup of tea.  The sun deceived us with her enticing brightness glinting on the sea, but it was cold and windy up on Lulworth hills. So windy the flask cups almost blew away.

We carried on down to Lulworth Cove.

The village of Lulworth is a pretty unspoilt place and is quite dear to me. I've been visiting since I was a child, spent my honeymoon here and have enjoyed bringing  my own children here on several occasions. There are fishing boats, pretty cottages, a duck pond and a man painting magic on oyster shells by the cafe.

 I love this cottage..

And this one...
This one is known as the dolls house. It's much smaller than it seems on this photograph I should have  took it from a different perspective. Take a look here for another picture of it.
The origin is uncertain but, it was believed to have been shipped across the ocean to Lulworth from Canada. This house has always fascinated me whenever I visited, because for years it was empty and looked very unloved and derelict. There was something about it, a feeling? It's quite recent I think, that it has been done up? Sometime in the last 15 years or so? It was at first transformed into a replica fisherman's cottage that you could view, and now it has been turned into an old fashioned sweet shop. This cottage features in one of my paintings. Can you spot it? ;)
Now the children have become teens there is the advantage that they can walk further. (This is not guaranteed at all times. ;) When you visit Lulworth you can't go home without walking the 2 miles up the hill across to Durdle Door.

Again it was windy up here. You wouldn't think so though as the water is so still.

Such a magical beach.

 There were wild cabbages growing on the cliffs which made me daydream and  imagine  a hermits life, a secret cave, boiling up cabbages and other plants and wild swimming for bathing...

 Durdle Door.

The word 'durdle' is derived from an old english word 'thirl' meaning to drill or bore. This is exactly what the sea has done to the rock over the many many years transforming it into the perfect doorway arch that it is today. You can read more here. 

Or of course it could be gateway to somewhere else.... The land of selkies and mermen? I'll leave that  up to you to imagine..

I must say a big thank you to my daughter for taking the wonderful photo's. I left my camera in the car and only realised after I had walked a mile up the hill, so didn't really fancy walking back to get it. Why not go and visit her tumblr where she shares many a magical thing. :) 

Back home to Wiltshire there was not a trace of a cobweb left in my head. A good spring clean, the brisk sea breeze had swept them away. 

For The Weekend.

Imagine from R Smittenaar on Vimeo.

A little magic and beauty... xx

African Hare

Let me introduce you to 'African hare' He came to live with us just before Easter when my husband brought him back as a present for me, all the way from Zimbabwe. I think he enjoys his new home and his new hare friends, but is a little in awe of the golden chocolate bunnies. I did tell him they were just short term guests of course. ;)

I hope you had a good Easter weekend?
April showers have arrived, and the hazel is showing off her new leaves.
Today I found it hard to concentrate. The breeze and bird song played tag with my ideas so in between, I transplanted blue cornflowers for bees.

Violet Hare

Recently when we were walking one Sunday, I spotted the most beautiful clump of wild purple violets growing in the grass on a hillside.

After I took this picture of my son and daughter, my rechargeable camera batteries decided they needed recharging, so I didn't get a picture of the violets. How annoying! (Note to self, always take spare batteries!)
The violets were not forgotten and inspired me to paint a Violet Hare.

I love violets but especially love seeing them grow wild. They remind me of mossy banks and childhood walks and holidays. As a child whenever we visited Devon or Cornwall you would always see little bottles of violet scent as holiday souvenirs. Do you remember? I remember bringing them home as a gift for my Nan. I especially loved the white glass bottles that were hand painted I think? I 'm sure you can still get them, but they aren't as common as they were years ago. Years back violets were grown commercially and sold to Covent garden flower markets in London. Then during the war the land was used for growing food and violets went out of fashion. Browsing online, I was pleased to find that you can buy violet products here.
                                 
I like the name Violet. When I was painting, my mind wandered on the theme of violet and strayed here for no particular reason?
Violet Baudelaire from Lemony Snicket's books 'A Series Of Unfortunate Events'  Strange, imaginative and beautiful imagery. Here is a still from the film.

(Copyright Paramount pictures/Dreamworks pictures)


O wind, where have you been,
That you blow so sweet?
Among the violets
Which blossom at your feet.
The honeysuckle waits
For Summer and for heat
But violets in the chilly Spring
Make the turf so sweet.
Christina Georgina Rossetti




The violet hare is for sale in my Etsy shop along with a primrose hare here.

Warm Days

Winter has now 'officially' ended and Spring is here.
Outside a  symphony plays. The musicians are black velvet gowned, red breasted and speckle chested. Rook, blackbird, twitterings of hedge sparrow, sweet song of robin, and enchanting lull of song thrush. Celandine, primrose and white violet scent the spring air and the sun is warm. I'm wearing short sleeves in March.

I've made some birds.

Little birds with hearts and toadstools on.

And I finished 'Peaceable Kingdom'

I hope you are enjoying the sunshine and birdsong as much as I am?
Happy Spring! x

The Love Of Stars

I want to sleep in starry meadows where the hare runs wild as the wind. With a lace pillow of clover petals, thistledown and tom thumb I will lay my head down low, shaded by umbelliferae.  Beside the wild thyme stems and stalks I will dream where the mice and beetles dream. And when the darkness falls glow worm will be my lighted lamp.  Soft rustle of grass sings my lullaby and high above when I stir, the ancient constellations kiss my drowsy eyelashes with stardust. 

 Karen Davis 2012


March has come in like a lamb and I have painted a hare.
                                                                             Lepus

Lepus ....a constellation lying south of Orion. It's name being latin for hare.

I love stars and the night sky as you have probably already guessed. I do paint rather a lot of night sky Maybe too many? Can you paint too many? I don't think so. ;) I was once told by my tutor at Art college to go and paint an article on abortion and that I couldn't make a living out of painting starry skies. He of course was telling me that life is not all sugar coated and twee and encouraging me to stretch myself and make my work more adaptable for commissions which of course was his job. I know that life is not all starry skies, we all know that, but we can choose what we want to include in it to a certain extent. Yes, I could do dark and I did and I still can if I want to. Just to prove it, here is a glimpse of that old  darker work....

I still added some stars though. ;)

My son is a keen amateur astronomer and the other day I tried to take a photograph of the moon through the eye piece of his telescope. While it didn't turn out quite as I'd hoped, I like this photograph all the same.

A couple of weeks ago we visited the William Herschel museum in Bath. William Herschel was a musician and  astronomer and from his residence in Bath, which is now the museum, he discovered the planet Uranus in 1781.

It was very interesting there and I really enjoyed myself.
I wonder if he was a night owl? I am a night owl, a lover of indigo skies, familiar to the creaks of the house in the night when all are asleep. When larks minds are weary mine comes alive.

I am back to painting Peaceable Kingdom now after being distracted and chasing a March hare.
Thank you for the comments about the sketches. I love the idea of a theme being passed around on this. Maybe I could make a page and you can send me anything you create on the theme, pictures writings etc? Just a thought?