There are small signs of spring while down in Cheshire visiting my mum: daffodils in bud, lambs and warm sun on our backs. Autumn leaves were still around in abundance though to provide the pleasure of falling into (and ly there for a while!). The owl an artist has carved from the top of a felled tree.
Met a friend with her little ones at the park in the beautiful village of Ribchester. It proved to be a sparkling sunny morning here in our part of the UK. I love Ribchester for it's ancient heritage (it was an important outpost for the Romans), visible in a lot of details including the ruins of the Roman spa baths. I must return and take some photos of these details as of course my attentions were elsewhere with kids all over the place. A good morning had by all but still oh so chilly!!
What I am drawn to as subject matter has changed since becoming a mother, why is this I wonder? I used to paint trees and landscapes almost exclusively. Now I am drawn to the more everyday and smaller such as vessels and small animals. Is it that my world has become smaller? I believe this to be so. My world is now concerned with the minutia and the objects around me. Because of this I feel there are more possibilities for my work. The first two photos are of details of tree paintings on canvas, the rest speak for themselves.
What Monday is looking like, after a busy morning at playgroup, a hectic lunch with a baby and toddler and then a serious wipe up after, sleep in the car (kids not me unfortunately!), then finally while kids asleep a cup of tea with left over bit of wonky biscuits we made, then maybe some drawing if time, oh yes need to put those dishes away too! Oh the wonders of being a mum!
Hens creating pattern and a scribbled turkey. Line, shape and mark-making are the order of the day it seems, but then I don't know when they aren't.
Beginning to explore the gulls I photographed weeks ago. Watercolour indigo blue, how I love the colour indigo! Today is a cold day here in Lancashire, warmer weather would be so welcome, for a better quality of light more than anything, we have had enough of the cold, dull, grey that seems to permeate everything! Hopefully spring will be here soon!
A few random, unrelated images for today. A few sketches in my sketchbook, one of silky hens, a breed of hen dear to my heart as we had a few amongst our hens when I was young, they are an endearing ball of white fluff. Also a quick sketch of a dragonfly, full of grace. Uninspired at the moment so not much work getting done. These sketches are all I could come up with! The other image is of my little stack of books on my make-shift studio desk. These do inspire me, both as content and as objects in their own right.
