Blog
Giraffes in Lastingham
What a fabulous sight, suddenly they appeared, lifting their heads up out of the top of the church tower! They’re part of Noah’s Flower Festival in the village from the 10th to 19th July 2015 at St Mary’s Church, Lastingham. There’s an Ark, Animals, Flowers, Well Dressing and Music. On some evenings there are talks […]
Just scratching the surface
On Wednesday morning I had a bit of a dash over to Thirsk to Rural Arts where I had booked myself onto a Drypoint printmaking course tutored by Andy Dalton. The drypoint process – a printmaking technique in which an image is incised into a plate with a hard-pointed ‘needle’ of sharp metal – was explained. An […]
The Voice of Water
Where the silver wave with sweetness fed the tiny lives of grass I was bent above, my image mirrored in the fleeting glass, And a voice from out the water through my being seemed to pass. These are a few lines from George William Russell’s peom The Voice of the Waters. He’s talking […]
Staithes Studios Gallery
Yesterday I visited Staithes, as it was the opening day of the new Staithes Studios Gallery. The gallery is owned by Ian and Stef Mitchell, and is curated to reflect a passion for the natural, organic and abstract, offering a hand-picked range of contemporary fine art, applied craft, art materials and workshops. Staithes is […]
The Year in Books – June 2015
My May read H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald over-ran until now. I’m not sure why, but I made slow progress with it – and I did get lost and found it confusing at times and wonder about the ending. Why couldn’t she keep the bird whilst in moult? So, for what remains of June […]
Thoughts of Bop
Bop is a tiny, few week old Tawny Owl chick, found by Countryside Tales blog in the road, bleeding. The injured bird was quickly taken to someone who has expertise in wildlife rehabilitation who was able to care for it. I’ve been thinking about how lucky it was that someone who has understanding and knowledge of wildlife […]
A Meadow of Red Campion
There is a walk I like doing, down the lane and back along a narrow footpath edging the fields surrounding the village. As I join the footpath I’m met with a glorious swathe of pink – a meadow planted with Red Campion – looking so utterly beautiful that I had to go and sit by it. Occasionally there […]
Full Moon Dinner
Last night I had a rather special time. Around 7 pm I arrived at the Secret Herb Garden in Edinburgh to a very warm welcome at the entrance to their glasshouse – sparkly wine was being served alongside Canapes (which were placed around and amongst the herb beds, so there was a sense of foraging and […]
Written in stone (dust)
My workshop is open as part of NYOS 15 this coming Saturday and Sunday, and the following weekend. North Yorkshire Open Studios 6/7 & 13/14 June, 2015 10.30 – 5.30 daily Stone Carvings, Sculpture and my latest pieces on display.
Over a stone
Over a stone What is flying Is only clouds As I held up my fragment of Alabaster stone to the sun, I thought of this Haiku. It is by a pupil of Matsuo Basho. I’m enchanted by the translucency of alabaster and was taking a few moments in the glory of it. Basho (1644-1694) began writing poetry when […]