Small Owl Dancing with Bees

Yesterday we had a morning in Cambridge, first the Botanical Garden and then the Fitzwilliam Museum to see the Turner Watercolours and the other exhibition of watercolours which trace the development of the watercolour. Both were fascinating. But also walking through the ceramics gallery there were two lovely owls. One a huge Martin Brothers owl and the other a gorgeous smaller slipware jug.

I made a couple of quick sketches because it just so happens that I have been making a small experimental print of an owl. It started out as just a regular if stylised owl, but it seemed to need a bit of action so I changed the drawing to make it dance… and then it seemed to also need some companions so I gave it some bees.

There were brown/yellow and  blue/dk blue prints. The image is 6 x4.

Small Owl Dancing with Dees.

What was most interesting about the slip ware owl was the dot/dash decoration of the slip. The simplification is very design-y. So is my owl. I may try a print of the slipware owl too. but in some ways it seems like cheating because the “design” element has already been done…. unless I could bring something new to it….

All prints are just more experiments in combining plates, improving my cutting and trying to get the registration right. I am getting better, slowly …..

Mole: Deceased

Last week Chris saw a dead mole when we were out on a cycle. Poor mole.. but an opportunity this time to get a closer look at those feet.

It was not in very good shape, a bit chewed, very smelly and with circling flies but I did bring it home for some quick sketches and photos.

The front feet are extraordinary, huge and paddle shaped with long pointed claws. The skin is leathery and deeply scored. I have a lot of respect for the moles who attempt the heavy clay soil around here.

I sketched the rather handsome hovering iridescent green bottle fly too. Its all part of the cycle after all.

Mole is now buried under the apple tree in a box. I am hoping the flies, bugs and microbes will work well in this warm weather and in a few months time I might have a relatively clean skull!

Swans

Sue and I have both been up to our ears in academic life so the blog has had to take a back seat for a while. However by mid June we should both be back to regular blogging.

I have been let out a bit earlier than Sue and have been cycling by the Reservoir. There are swans feeding on the young corn in the field by the track and I have watched over the last couple of weeks as the corn has grown higher and the swans have begun to disappear into the green. Sometimes there are geese with them. When you walk along the track all the heads go up at once.

And as I am slowly getting back to sketching, here are a few sketchbook notes of the swans and a little colour study. They are bright white against the spring green of the corn and the dark wood.

Coot and Willow Print

The print I made last week, a continuation from my last posting on Beautiful Beasts here. There will be some more prints to come I hope.

 

I did a few initial drawings and tonal sketches for what will be a 3 colour reduction.

 

Various first stages and the lino block

Some final stages with various different colourways.

I like the image, but the printing needs work :). Maybe one really good one out of 6.

Coot and Willow..  image 6 x6 inches

I see the coot pottering about on the shoreline here, in and out of the willows. There is always a fisherman somewhere. The coot is large, the willow tree is small. That’s just how I wanted it.

Coot Sketches…

My last BB this week and some sketches of the coot for a possible print which I will be doing next week. The weather has been so wonderful that its hard to be indoors at the drawing board!

 

Print progress next time.

Canal Coot

I am just back from a wet but wonderful trip to Amsterdam. In between the showers, the museums, the galleries, the cafes, the bars and the markets we did a bit of canal side strolling Near the Rijksmuseum, sections of the canal have been planted with floating platforms of water plants, just a few feet from the bank. This is apparently a scheme to provide nesting sites for coot, moorhens and other canal birds. It seems to work.
This coot was particularly annoyed by the arrival of two ducks and rushed into the water  ferociously chasing them off. I did not get an action shot but here she is returning to her nest.

She was not over impressed by our presence either because she is, of course, protecting a chick or two. I could only see one peeping above the foliage.

Coot chicks with their red spiky featherless heads are not the prettiest “Ahhhh” factor baby birds, looking more like mini vultures,  but I am going to see what I can do this week. Some sketches, maybe a print.

The coot I see here at Grafham are shy and rather secretive. Their feet are wonderful.We see them scuttling across the lane sometimes but on the reservoir shoreline you can see them slowly  searching for food with their strange hesitant gait. 
This is a sketch from last year…

I am very fond of coot. More sketches etc to come.