Delamere

Third painting. I used the reference photo less and added leaves on the left hand side that were further towards the centre than was on the original photo. The lady who lent me the photograph told me this was taken at Delamere forest, which I think is in Cheshire.

I tried to emphasise the blues in the background to give it a distant feeling. Then I emphasised the reds and greens to ring them to the fore. The leaf litter was fun to paint trying to shape it and add light shining through the leaves onto the ground. It’s a small acrylic on canvas.

Bench view

I wonder how long it will take for the leaves to come on these trees in the park. Then the view of the horizon will be covered for another six months. The hills in the distance will be gone. My hubby, sitting on the bench before me will be in shade during the morning and in light in the afternoon.

The clouds will drop their rain and the leaves of the trees unfold. Every day they will take in sunlight, until the temperature drops and the light levels fall. Then the wind will blow and the leaves, that have now rurned to brown and orange, will fly from the trees and uncover the view again…

Spring Helibores

I think of daffodils and crocuses at this time of year, or snowdrops and later tulips. But an often overlooked plant is the Helibore. The flowers tend to droop their faces towards the ground and they have larder five lobed leaves. There colours can be a mottled grey green, white with green splotches or a greyish pink. This is a manipulated image to show how interesting they can be. Lift up a flower and be captivated by its hidden subtle beauty.

Outside

Yesterday, 1st December, a pelargonium (sometimes known as geranium) outside our front door. It’s still in flower since we planted it this summer. In flower for almost six months. We have other plants in the garden like nasturtiums. But today is probably going to be the coldest day and night this winter. I will be sad to see everything wilt and die. We can only look forward to next year. We will be planting more of these and some manage to survive the winter too.

Partial Eclipse

There is a partial eclipse across Europe tomorrow. 25.10.2022. Don’t look up at the sun unless you have proper eclipse glasses. It can burn your retinas and blind you because of ultra violet radiation. But one thing you can do is look at the ground, either in a puddle and yo may see a reflection, or if you stand under a tree that’s in leaf you may see images projected on the ground that look like crescent moons. These are images of the sun as the moon partly glides across it. The reason for the images? The leave are acting like a pinhole camera.

Nasturtiums

Nasturtiums sprawling in the back yard. They are in our front hedge too. There are flowers six foot up in the air. You can tell its nasturtiums because of the shape of their leaves, sort of like umbrellas. The leaves, as you can see, are sometimes variegated. The colours vary from pale cream to deep red. I’ve never seen a blue or purple one? Maybe they will do some genetic modification to change that? At the end of summer they are something cheerful to look at.