Perpetual Journal August 2020

August journal. Its been a busy month and now its over we have a new kitchen so its all been worthwhile. We have never had a new fitted kitchen and all our appliances were very old so this has been a complete change. Meanwhile in the great outdoors, the seasons have moved on and cooler nights and an abundance of fruits and berries means Autumn has come.

 

Perpetual journal - June 16-23rd

After 2 weeks with no drawing because of my holiday and exhibition i have done lots this week! All the rain has caused jungle growth in the garden and lanes. It is supposed to be cheering up today! Hurrah for sunshine! A few technical difficulties being experienced with our elderly computer so fewer posts and if it all goes quiet here follow me on Instagram. Ps. At the bottom of the picture you can see my lovely limpet shells lined up that came back with me from holiday. I have a few ideas I would like to follow up with them when I get some time in the studio.

Perpetual journal and daily drawing.

Happy New Year to you all! -So the desk was tidied ( this is as good as it gets folks) and the new perpetual journal begun. I have just made a few signatures - cutting paper ( now got a sore wrist!) various weights, stitching a few together and putting dates on a few. Glad I didn't make the whole thing because cartridge paper is not thick enough if you use paint, so will intersperse with thicker water colour paper.

 I keep typing perpetual journey rather than journal and I guess that is what drawing is. My aim is to draw every day for January, but I am not one for New Years Resolutions - why beat yourself up? The journal is happy with once a week because the idea is to draw on the same page next year and end up with plants etc around at that time of the year - improving your drawing and learning as you go along.

 These two specimens came from Westonbirt Aboretum and are foreigners. Witch hazel, Hamamelis and acer seed heads from a Nikko Maple. I really intend to draw from local flora, fauna and maybe some birds too. We also went to Slimbridge WWT over the holidays - yes 2 of our favourite places.

As well as a Nature Journal I have begun a landscape sketchbook. I have gotten very interested in a long thin strip of skyline for drawing and embroidery. Where the land meets the sky. We humans always look to the skyline wondering about the weather or whats over the next ridge or just to stand and stare. It's a contemplation then and looking for a sign of hope?

Keeping on with the bramble leaves.

 It has been a strange week, with a funeral which was joyous, then a neighbours burglary, decorating the lounge ( still ongoing) and the Armistice Remembrances. Who steals money from a frail old lady in broad daylight on a Saturday morning in her own home? Someone who has been watching and knows she is vulnerable. Depressing all round. So I just keep on going with my leaves.

At least the birds are back at the bird cafe. This coal tit a frequent visitor with a mate. Oh yes and we locked ourselves out of the house yesterday morning trying to be so careful about security. We moved here 40 years ago and no one locked their doors. I think I am maudlin this week. Luckily I am reading nonsense poems with my new pupils- time to set to sea in a sieve I think.

Hedgerow harvest - a beginning.

 Here are the blackberries, I just had to add some tiny black beads for a shine.

 Sketch book drawings- I began with the sloes.

 On Friday I had a whole day to myself in the studio - bliss! So I decided to begin a new piece. My first idea was to make a long concertina sketchbook in fabric. I started with a strip of calico and bonded (bondaweb) pieces of paper and fabrics to it for various textures.

 Silk, scrim, paper. I put some white free machine embroidery over the pieces to anchor them.(not shown)

 Now from here I began with an autumn leaf which I didn't like so covered over with more layers of fabric!

 But  I did like the sloes. So I decided to make it Autumn Hedgerow fruits or harvest. Collected more fruits, made the drawings above and yesterday put in the hawthorn berries. It will be a framed piece I think rather than a fold up book, so this way up.

 The hedgerows I collected from in the Enormous field. All part of my project to study a few fields near my house in detail. When we first moved here, 40 years ago there were more hedgerows. A lot were grubbed out to make the Enormous field. All the wildlife live in these edges and hedges. The more species the better and a clue to how old the hedgerow is. ( my shadow there taking the picture!)

Lovely sunny Autumn day.

Hare in the field - sketchbook diary story.

This is a new piece of work for the next exhibition at Rodmarton in Sept. I decided to make some small diary/sketchbook pieces to sell unframed and stay affordable. So my idea was to record a special moment - take an image, colour, texture, idea, fabric, stitch ( just 2 or 3 of those) to celebrate that moment. This one is 17th July- out on a walk we saw a hare in a field, first time in years. The grass is parched, the path strewn with tiny white trumpets of bindweed (convolvulus) and lots of small white butterflies. That is the story. There is always a story.