New paintings and regular art updates.
I tried to zoom in on this goldfinch but the colours are really bad. It’s got a bright red head and yellow flashes on its wings. I tried to enhance the colour and exposure but didn’t get very far. If I try and enhance the red the whole picture goes red. So I can only post these images.
There were also blue tits, house sparrows and blackbirds feeding this morning.
I misidentified it as a zebra finch. It is actually a goldfinch
X
This was on the back door this morning. Resplendent in red and black, this is a Burnet moth I think. The black wings had little red patches on them. I couldn’t get a good photo because the light from outside was making it difficult to see the moth properly.
I feel lucky that we are finding such beauty in our garden.
The sky, bright blue.
Clouds of cherry blossom
float above the ground,
tied down to branches,
so they don’t soar up,
creating pink and white billows,
high up in the cerulean sky.
Blossoming petals,
snowing down in the breeze,
landing on soil and paths,
scattered by the breeze.
Cotton candy flowers,
nourishing the bees.
Day 25, urban sketchers challenge. Suddenly the blossom has burst in the garden, where there were buds a couple of days ago, now tiny pinky white flowers are sprouting out of the branches and twigs. I’ve seen and heard a very loud bumble bee, and also worker bees and hover flies. Hopefully they will do their job of pollinating the blossom and we will have cherries and pears and plums as the summer progresses.
The garden was hard to draw because of all the details. I can get the branches approximately right, then adding leaves and blossom complicates things. Distinguishing between leaf shapes and colours for instance.
I used two thicknesses of black unipin pens, fine line water and fade proof pigment ink (0.5 and 0.8). I also used a Faber-Castell Pitt artist pen black 199*** S size. Then I shaded in with a 3B graphite pencil and a charcoal pencil. I would have liked to add some dabs of colour, but I think the overall effect is quite good. I’ve taken a picture and used a black and white filter because I took the photo under electric light and one corner, a bit turned up, was reflecting back quite a bright yellow.
X
I drew this today, sitting in the garden, looking at a jumble of narcissi and other plants ( I’m not sure of their names).
Another of the USK Stoke thirty day challenge. I’m really enjoying this series of sketches. Every day a different way of stretching our practice. So many different sketches by different artists. I hope you like this.
I can’t take a photo of a bird in the dark so this will have to do.
The dawn chorus has started. I’m not sure what bird is singing , but I think it’s probably a robin based on its liquid and melodius song. All my windows and doors are double glazed, except one above our front door, that is a single glazed half circle with a stained glass window inside it. But it is enough to let the wonderful sound through.
I can’t tell if it’s one bird. There is a tiny hint of a response, but too far away to hear clearly. There are gaps in the song as if the singer is listening? Maybe we will have a Robins nest in the garden for Spring?
X
Good night
Ivy,
Reflected.
Autumn arrives?
No, Spring.
Metallic bowl
Captures
Fallen
Leaf.
Various views of our spring Garden, top view is flowers, including Daffodils, Muscari Hyacinths, Primroses, Bleeding Hearts (Dicentra), Helibores, Pulmonaria, and Celandine. The bottom photo shows the Pear tree propped up with some wood, the weight of the pears pulled it over last year, Cyclamen in a pot, the path to the summerhouse, with some railway track and our back yard, waiting to be tidied up.
I did a bit of pruning today. I’ve had so little exercise these last few weeks that I felt very wobbly when I’d finished.
X
This is the first day of spring, but it feels like mid winter. Our house isn’t that well insulated and if it gets cold it stays cold, high ceilings means that the heat rises and warms the upper part of the room before it gets to us down here on the floor. The wind is gusting from the north and whistling through the gap round the seal in the front window and kitchen. We had new windows put in, but I guess they were cheap, all we could afford. The front door slams when you go through it because they measured it wrongly, so the top sticks out more than the bottom, giving it a very strange cant.
The North Wind cools the house, rubs the heat away as it pushes past the walls. Out kitchen bathroom extention only has thin walls. It really needs an insulating layer outside, but instead ivy is taking over and a wisteria has been planted at the end. Plants don’t keep us warm, but the blackbirds like to nest in it.
Now I’m cooking our evening meal, the heat from the oven adds a little to the warmth. I could microwave the food, but the gas cooker gives a bit of extra heat.
One day it will be warm outside, the leaves will grow, and we shall have spring and summer. X
Robin painting from November.
I was reading about Robins on Facebook today where I read this that a friend had posted:
She I looked up ‘what does it mean if a Robin visits?’
Meaning found: If a robin keeps visiting you in indicates good luck. According to myths and legends, Robins appear once a loved one has died, Allegedly, it’s a simple message from heaven; that this loved one is watching over you. Robins also appear spiritually, to remind you to uncover the happiness.
Robins are also associated with the end of an old phase and the entering of a new one. To see Robin means you need to let go of what no longer serves you and find something else to bring you joy and happiness. The Robin bird is encouraging you to be brave again.
I don’t set much store in old wives tales, but this is sweet. In such a difficult world its good to remember the nice things. We have at least one Robin in the garden, bustling around, finding food. He’s very welcome along with blackbirds and blue tits. I must make an effort and try and get some photos….
Mallaband-Brown