Spring is everywhere!

Val's fascinating prints of the blossom in her garden got me racing down to the  Jubilee Wood to see if the blackthorn was flowering there, and guess what........

 

Looks like there will be plenty of sloes for sloe gin in the autumn.......

 

As I walked around the wood I could hear the peculiar clapping noises of pigeons' wings as they tried to position themselves in the thorny hedges for their rather clumsy mating rituals.  I know they're the bane of farmers and vegetable growers but there's still something rather appealing about them - and as a vegetarian I don't mean their meat!!

 

I've been trying to catch their shape and movement using minimal lines and broad washes of colour  which is a bit of a change for me but one which I want to progress, particularly to a much larger scale.....

 

Some quick pencil and watercolour sketches of happy pigeons - before they start eating our allotment veg! 

Spring Blossom

In my garden the wild cherries are blossoming at last. The wild cherry is my tree following tree for this year. They were chopped back severely in the winter but still they are covered in the tiny pretty white flowers. The bees love them which is one of the few good reasons to have this tree is your garden.

As part of the tree following project I am intending to make a small print based on a twig of the cherry each month, to reflect the changes of the seasons. I have images for Jan and Feb when nothing much happened although in Feb there was snow. In early March the buds started to swell, followed  last week by the white blossom. Already some of the petals are falling in these strong March winds. So March will be the buds and April will be blossom and bees.

Eventually I hope to bind them in into a small book so the printing has had to be carefully worked out with a registration plate and each of the printing plates cut approximately to size. The project is really a vehicle to try out different print techniques on a small scale.

These are a few of Jan Feb and March trials… nothing quite working well enough yes but good practice.

The white flowers are giving me a problem because I need to use the white paper for the white. White ink is not very satisfactory unless really opaque. It might work better if slightly tinted. But I am using quite thin translucent layers so am persevering with the cut away shapes ( very fiddly and patience trying).
Some first proofs with various colour trials

 

Printmaking is pure alchemy, every combination throws up new possibilities. Frustrating and rewarding in equal measure. This year is all about experimentation in print, bookmaking and in developing ideas for the coursework.

It is all equally frustrating and fascinating!

A feast for thrushes

Walking through the wood I just happened to glance down at the ground  through the blackthorn bushes and saw an unusual sight..... hundreds of broken snail shells  in  a very small area, about a couple of feet square .  They were all a similar colour and size and had obviously been a food source for a very busy bird, perhaps a thrush or a blackbird.

 

When I showed my husband he made the comment that it was a prime example of optimal foraging which apparently means that one or perhaps two birds  have been feasting on yellow snails to the exclusion of everything else.  By the looks of it there won't be many more left now......

 

I've always loved thrushes so I'm sad that there numbers are reduced but hopefully there will be at least one or two well fed member of the species in Gidding Jubilee wood.

 

Watercolour and pencil sketch, first stage

 

Working hard at the coal face - wonder if they like garlic with their snails!

First Partridge Prints

I decided to try to make three plates for this, but in retrospect i think the image is a bit too small and the plates were fiddly to cut and print. The card is not very deep and with small surfaces it’s easy to over or under ink.
So not perfect by any means but I have the three plates and can keep on trying! 

First partridge prints 4 x 4 inches

The Pretty Partridge

Spring seems to be at last waking things up and I am continuing with my printmaking experiments for our Gidding Wood project and focusing on wildlife that makes “music” of one sort or another.
However  I don’t think the partridge’s rusty clucking is very much like music.. except to other partridges of course. You can hear it on the RSPB site here.

So this is one of my planned bird portraits. I chose the Red Legged Partridge because it is so pretty :). I saw one, a few years ago now, at Heligan. It was nesting in a hedge by the office.
So far I have a few notes and quick sketches and have cut one block. It’s small, about 4.5 inches square. 

More progress this week I hope. 

Long tailed tits [Aegithalos caudatus]

Theses lovely little birds are usually heard before being seen as they roam along the hedgerows in small groups, zig- zagging along and calling to each other with a  high pitched twittering.  They aren't common here but as I write this  I can see one  on our peanut feeder in the garden [wonder where the others are] and walking  through the Jubilee wood last week  a small flock joined Poppy and me as we enjoyed the Spring sunshine.

Graphite and coloured pencil sketch

 

I have heard them described as a ball on a stick which just doesn't do justice to these wonderful creatures, but with their long tail [the longest of any British bird in proportion to its body] and their habit of puffing themselves up when its cold,  I  can see why!

 

Hazel [Corylus]catkins in the late winter sunshine Jubilee Wood, Great Gidding

 

Golden male catkins are quite fascinating structures  made up of many small flowers whilst the  female flower is very small and has red styles which  you can find close to the buds at the top of the male catkins.  I've read that the name could come from the Dutch for kitten because they look like kitten's tails - not sure if that's true but  really like the idea!