Art in the Garden

My good friend Sally is one of nine artists in residence at the Luton Hoo Walled garden and an exhibition had been arranged for this weekend to coincide Heritage Open days and Hertfordshire Open Studio month. I took my camera and managed to catch a few moments.

The volunteer gardeners have made a wonderful job and have re-planted a section of the garden.

The artists have all created pieces connected with the history of the garden.

This piece by Abi Spendlove is about the roots put down by Lord Bute, the garden's founder, in the course of his life.  Each piece was connected with a different location.

More delicate roots in the vinery.

This installation piece by May Down was a recording  and included interviews with Land Army girls who worked on the estate during WW2. I would have loved to have had a rummage in the suitcase which was full of vintage items including the corsets.

This was Sally's installation. She was inspired by seeing large chrysalises while visiting London zoo. She has used monoprints of plants and planting lists from the garden's archive to make a set of cocoon shapes from silk and wax suspended  on cottons along one of the glasshouses. Sally's inspiration is the transient traces left over the generations within the garden. 

Sally Tyrie

These carnations below were created by Suzanne Page, they made from copies of letters written by Lord Bute.

This is an installation by ceramic artist Nici Ruggiero

I thought you'd enjoy these details.

Finally I spotted these rather splendid  cuckoo pint/lords and ladies/Arum maculatum lily stems which were glowing in the shadows.

Thank you for all of your good wishes for my Etsy shop. Now I've got that sorted I feel I can get back to creating - more later.

Have a good week, 

Jill

Ennui

I have been feeling really bored and fed up over the last few days - nothing serious, you know the feeling, it seems to strike most people and the  grim weather hasn't helped. Although at the beginning of the summer I knew a holiday was unlikely and was resigned to it, I could really do with a change of scenery at the moment, but that seems unlikely. I have  friends to visit and when I feel happy to leave Mr T overnight and I can look at four different walls.  I was hoping we would both get away in September, but it is filling up with hospital appointments etc. May be in October. Anyway enough of me wallowing in self-pity, it has been a lovely day today, for a change and I have no ironing to do as I am still waiting for the washing machine to be fixed. So I thought I would make a few altered postcards to send to our friends. I have a drawer full of postcards bought from art galleries and exhibitions, some I want to keep, but some have lost their initial appeal, so I have 'up-cycled' them and they hit the post box tomorrow.

Have  great week (I am working on some more memoirs).

Try, try again

Every year when the Japanese anemones come into flower I want to capture them on paper. Often my attempts are rather stiff and lifeless so instead of picking a flower to paint I had a little plein air session in the garden today. This is still not quite right, but better than previous attempts.

It was a lovely sunny afternoon and the air was buzzing with hover flies. I was too busy to get the camera set up but I will share these I took last August.

Unfortunately this year my lilies have succumb to lily beetle and the recent heavy rain finished them off ...

...and the eryngium is very disappointing this year...

but there are plenty of these iridescent green flies flitting around.  

There are still a few swifts around, but they will be off soon. Early in the morning there are a dozen or so young blue tits and great tits at the feeders and occasionally a flock of long-tailed tits passes through the garden. It looks as if I shall be spending the summer at home again so it is great to have an eye for an urban safari. 

News for give-away recipients - all gifts are in the post!

For moth lovers...

You know who you are...

Yesterday afternoon as we were getting ready to go out I took a walk round the garden and  to see what bumblebees I could see when I spotted what a I thought was a dead leaf caught up in the valerian and knautia. A quick scramble for the camera and the moth book quickly identified a pair of eyed hawk moths. They were huge and perfectly still. They will flash their pink 'eye' on the lower wing if disturbed but this pair were unmoved. I didn't want to hustle them too much. Here are a couple more pictures.

They're dedicated to Lesley of PRINTED MATERIAL, a lover of moths and all things beautiful.

The wings are amazing and although I have seen these moths before, I haven't had such a  good view. I love the way they look like a dried and twisted leaf or flaking bark, it is hard to believe your eyes and that their wings are smooth and flat. I definitely feel a bit of art coming on. 

As you can tell my mood has lifted, thanks for your kind words. I spent the afternoon mixing up lots of Brusho powder colours and then layering paper in different colours. I then laid it out on the lawn to dry. It was even too hot to sit in the shade out-side. (Well, for me it was)

 Could there be some moth wings in there?

I shall be busy for a couple of days so time to mull over a few ideas and the end of the month is drawing closer, so another journal page is also calling. I will leave you with this photograph, which my dearly beloved was not amused by, but I was...

(watching England beat the Aussies at cricket)

Gifts

This morning a lovely 'Jiffy Bag' arrived with my name on it - don't you love it when a package arrives in the post? Yesterday the braiding foot I ordered for my sewing machine arrived and today a larger, more exciting envelope. I knew what it was as Amelia from 101 Bird Tales had e mailed me to tell me my name had been drawn in her give-away. Amelia is one of those inspiring women who lives a full life as a practising artist, caring for her children, and teaching and enabling others to explore their artistic talents. Although my name was drawn randomly, you cannot help but feel a bit special when it is your name that come up, so this is what is in the pack.

It was another glorious morning, so I took it outside to photograph.

Tucked it there is a card from Roger la Borde. I thought I recognized the style from Amelia's post and was delighted to find that it was a  Rob Ryan  whose blog I follow. I love his paper cut-outs. I missed photographing that separately.

There was some lovely paper scraps and a card or two of Amelia's and an old wooden letterpress - G for Guerilla. I love this as my father was a printer and when I saw him last week we were talking about his time as a printer's apprentice, before WW2, and how much of the terminology has crept into modern use. ( I don't think they were still using wooden letterpresses then, Dad!!) 

Then there was  one of Amelia's calico bags embroidered with the work 'artist', and a hand-made Guerilla Stitch Kit,

 

Now I have the challenge of stitching a few words onto the pieces of calico and to liberate them around the town. Although I shall be sorry to take the bits from this book, that is what Amelia designed it for, so I shall try my best to fulfil its destiny.

Give Away

"Marvin"

"Headdresses" (there are six of these)

"Meadow"

Here goes, I've never done this before, but I have 18 little 6x9cm cards to give away in three different designs (They may vary from the ones shown) so I thought that I would give them to six of my 'followers' who care to comment - three each, one of each design but lucky-dip as to which ones. After a week I'll randomly choose the six  and ask you to e mail me your address. I hope this is fair. If less than six enter I'll share them out accordingly.

I enjoyed making these and thought it would be nice to share, hope you think so too.

The little collage meadow cards were inspired by Angie Lewin, the headdresses by the Omo people and 'Marvin' by my cat who I love to draw.

Etching Again

I spent another day at an etching workshop yesterday. Here is my print.

The trouble is I was only able to pull one decent print and I have done some extra work on the plate and was unable to take a print. The workshop was very busy and great fun, but I rushed a couple of processes and had to start again - don't say it... ' more haste ...I know, I know'

This is a scan of the first print off the plate so the definition is not that good. The better one is on too large a piece of paper to get in the scanner. However I am pleased with the intial outcome.  I wanted the contrast between the thistledown and the prickles, I think it has come across,  but I value your opinion. I shall definitely be going back in the spring to do some more.

Here is my sketch and photograph again which were my initial inspirations,

Thanks again to Karen and the Milton Keynes Printmakers

Work in progress

I loved these musk thistles I photographed last month.  They are so viciously spiny and yet thistledown is so soft. I am working on some ideas.

This is my first sketch - pigment liner and colour pencil

and this is what I am working on at the moment which I thought I'd share

acrylic with some gel pen. It could be left like this or I may work in creating more textures. I like to live with something a few days.

Glorious September

I am feeling much better and this glorious weather is helping. I'm back to the land of the living after a few days of a cold and I have been enjoying sitting in the garden with my pen and water colours. This is what I was looking forward to when I retired, last year's miserable autumn was such a disappointment. So far we have had mostly blue skies for at least a couple of weeks. I feel obliged to make the most of every hour so I have been gardening and out with my camera, cleaning windows and doing plenty of laundry. The garden seems to be having a last flush of flowers and there are plenty of insects about. I want to plant bulbs and move some shrubs, but the ground is so dry I am postponing these jobs 'till we've had some rain. I'll share some of the photographs I have been taking later.

I'm a bit disappointed wth the way this has come out even though I adjusted the colours in photoshop they seem to be really unsubtle - I just need to experiment.

Cone flower project

I've been working on images of echinacea or cone flowers. A flickr friend suggested this image would make a good place mat, something that had already crossed my mind. Something I must investigate. 

I drew these with fine pigment liner and scanned it into photoshop elements. I tinted it using elements editing which gives a great even coverage something I haven't managed to do with paint.  It printed out quite well.

Meanwhile here is another photograph which I have done some work on.

Life is a Trip Hazard!!!

I had a lovely 'trip' to the Isle of Wight last weekend with Mr T. Whilst there I expressed the urge to visit  Fresh Water Bay to get a little wind in my hair.

The weather was wonderful, and this spot an archetypal seaside scene - although away from the beach not very picturesque, but rather functional. Near the  rather unattractive boat house we spotted this sign.

I should have photographed it at the time, but it seemed a rather unlikely subject, but it left us chuckling as I have been known to trip over my own shadow - or turn my ankle on a sixpence (a small coin that was around in the 'olden days'.

I thought it might be a good idea if all children were issued with a Trip Hazard warning card before they took their first steps.  It might stop a lot of unnecessary legislation.  In the meantime I have designed this rather fetching tee-shirt for fellow trippers.  It may  help companions be aware and make sure that ice-packs and and compress bandages are packed before that walk to the paper shop in the morning.

Significant 'trips'

Age 7 - head first down stone steps triggering life long fear of stairs

Age 27 -  during engagement to Mr T skipping along arm in arm for joy ( he didn't save me from falling - but readers, I married him)

Age 37 - jumping down the last couple of steps at the local shopping centre in anticipation of pay-day spending and ending up at A&E in an ambulance, worrying as I had only paid for an hour in the car park.

Age 57 - when I thought a bit of power walking would be good for me and turning my ankle on a piece of gravel - as I headed for the deck I was worrying about making a hole in my new trousers, but just managed to  head-butt the pavement and acquire magnificent facial bruises - but saved my trousers.

Oh and last year I managed to forget we had two steps at the turn at the bottom of the stairs - well you can guess.

Luckily no broken bones.

(Ages subject to poetic licence)