Wildlife
Frog sculpture carved in Yorkstone
On all the occasions I’ve held a frog in my hand, usually rescuing one from the road, or taking one outside that has hopped into the house, I’ve been astonished by the feel of its skin and the squishiness of its body. Also surprising has been its strength in trying to get away […]
Whimbrel Sculpture
The Whimbrel is a large brown wading bird with a long down-curved bill which it uses to probe into wet sand for invertebrates such as crabs, walking slowly through areas where the water is very shallow. It is also partial to ground insects, slugs and snails. They are significantly vocal birds having a rippling […]
In the Workshop today – Fancy Birds
Perhaps it is the powerful twisty gusts of wind that has ruffled the tail feathers of these two. It has certainly brought me into the workshop to finish them, I’m sanding their surfaces smooth and the dust keeps blowing up in my eyes and I’m buffeted off-balance. Fancy Birds – for their resplendent showy-offy […]
Lean Bird
Sometimes I can’t say where my bird sculpture shapes come from, except they’re fashioned by an impulse, a sort of drive I let take charge. Lean Bird has these undefined origins … well, perhaps not quite. When I look at it now I recall at the beginning of January I saw a Heron fly […]
Colourful Little Birds
More Little Birds. This time the Little Bird sculptures are full of colour, courtesy minerals deposited in the sediment which formed the stone, namely iron oxide. These bands of rich, rust colouring really add some special character to these small sculptures. As I was carving these two I began to wonder who carved the […]
Yellow Bird
During the Big Garden Birdwatch 2020 I was reminded of Lines Written in Early Spring by William Wordsworth. I couldn’t remember it all, but do recall The birds around me hopped and played, Their thoughts I cannot measure:- But the least motion which they made It seemed a thrill of pleasure. And so it […]
In the Workshop today – Little Bird
Around the workshop a restless Wren is busy darting about, and when the door is open comes in to check for lacewings and spiders to feed on. Although they’re highly territorial birds, during winter months, and especially when it is bitterly cold, they roost together, several dozen huddled together for warmth. It’s lovely to […]
I met an owl in the lane
It surprised us both I think! At the start of darkness, the night just beginning, out of the flickering dusk an owl takes flight, stares at the tussocks and glides up over the hedge and is only yards from me in the lane. It zig-zags away, startled. The Barn Owl reappears a field away, […]
Autumnal stroll
We’re almost in the middle of November and the darker mornings and evenings really are making a difference now. As we slide into winter, nature presents a varying palette of golds, tawny browns, oranges and reds, shifting every day and inspiring anew. I notice I’m drawn to stones with rich, seasonal colouring, how magnificent […]
Wernicke
A bird flew into the house, it was a bit panicked and flapping when it saw me. I stayed still and it flew to the bookcase and perched there. I tried to usher it back out, but each time it flew past the wide open window and back round to the top of the […]