Blog
Bold Forms and Fine Foliage
Today I bought a little fern in a pot. A love for them must run in the family – this is a view of my great-grandfather’s greenhouse. He took the picture too – photography was another of his passions. Ferns found in stone are a glory too, the fossils showing such crisp detail […]
Love is in the (sea) air
When I returned from the beach my mind was full of pebbles, rockpools, fossils and shells. I was especially taken with the limpets, which dotted the rocks, some in clusters, others on their own, some tiny and some ancient, battered, worn and encrusted with barnacles. Limpets return to the same spot on their chosen […]
A beach walk at Runswick Bay
It was to celebrate really – Runswick Bay was designated a Marine Conservation Zone on the 17th January, 2016 and I wanted to mark the occasion by taking in some sea air. As I walked the beach I began to think about what it would mean having the new status – who was responsible […]
Seasonal Scene
My very best wishes for a Happy Christmas
October Fair
There’s a colourful, bold image on the front of the Affordable Art Fair’s brochure – a vivid pink lady with hoops and balls. It made me smile, it was a craze when I was young and I remember trying to be good at keeping the hoop up around my middle, wiggling and swaying to […]
I wrote a poem
Because it is Poetry Day – the theme is Light – and I love light on stone. It falls in shadows and helps me see. Highlight delves, dances and sets free the line, curve, rhythm and hollow, guiding my pressing deeper – I follow hammer hopeful, my favourite chisel and me. I’ve really enjoyed my few weeks […]
Badger with gilded paws
Today – 6th October, 2015 is National Badger Day, so I’m thinking about badgers a lot, and the work of the Badger Trust the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and locally Ryedale Wildlife Rehabilitation. Though I’ve carved a number of badgers, there’s a sculpture I love by Beth Carter called Badger with gilded paws and here it […]
National Poetry Day
National Poetry Day 2015 is on Thursday, October 8th. Each year, the Scottish Poetry Library produces a set of poem postcards for National Poetry day. They’re distributed to participating public libraries and schools and other venues around Scotland, for readers to pick up free. Earlier in the year I was contacted and […]
Autumn Pickings
As Autumn colours emerge I’m tempted by the season’s offerings and collect snippets from the garden. Berries, seed-heads, golden leaves intense and bright. I’m trying out my single-stem stone vases (also in autumnal hues) to show off my pickings.
NGS Open Garden
Looking out at the garden I see a bit of a wilderness – it is neglect – untouched by my gardening hands for a while, yet it is busy doing its thing very happily without me. A wild rose has self-seeded and is robustly scampering over everything so beautifully with pink delicate flowers that I’m […]