New Discoveries in Cornwall

We've had a lovely holiday in my favourite place, Cornwall.

While we were staying there this time, I wanted to visit the Eden Project, I've never been before. The biodomes were far bigger than I imagined. Their natural forms fit beautifully into the landscape.

This Peruvian wall painting intrigued me. It was inside the rain forest dome along with the words below.

Make of that what you will.

I liked the pattern inside this tree trunk, nature knows how to make the best shapes doesn't it?

I loved the beautiful yellow prairie plants. What lovely shapes they make against the dark interior of the hut.♥♥♥

Right across from the other side of the Eden Project landscape I could see a giant steel man sculpture. He represents 'Adam'. Apparently 'Eve' was there too but I didn't notice her. I'll have to go again and see all the things I missed the first time!

We stayed in St Ives which you'd never guess from looking at these photos would you? I've been there many times over the years because it's so perfect with so many different types of beaches and weather to choose from. Yes, choice of weather! It could be raining in the top car-park but on the harbour beach very hot sun, while Porthmeor beach could be as windy as you can imagine, all this at the same time.

From St Ives I've often noticed in the distance the lighthouse of Godrevy. The lighthouse is on a little island and in all these years I've never been to this part of the coast. I discovered it is stunning.

You can see St Ives across the bay from here. You'll need strong binoculars to see it properly though! It was an odd feeling seeing my familiar St Ives from such a different viewpoint.

Walking up along the coastpath, there were a few people looking over the side of the cliff. I thought they were just looking to see how high up they were or maybe watching sea birds but to my surprise there were actually hundreds of seals sunbathing on the beach below!

An amazing sight!

This ends in a sad tale though because using the binoculars we could see that one of the seals had recently given birth. The baby looked dead, so very sad. I'm sure this must happen all the time, it's the way of nature isn't it? There must also be lots of healthy ones that survive because I'm not sure if I've ever seen so many seals in one place, they must be doing ok on the whole.

The final evening we met up with Middle Daughter and her partner who live in Cornwall. Her favourite place is Perranporth and it also so happens to be my favourite place to watch the sun go down.

It really is one of the best beaches to watch the sun set in Cornwall. A lovely end to the holiday.

A New Baby and a Society6 Update

I mentioned in my last blog post that I'll soon be bringing news of new beginnings. Well here he is! Little Ted is the newest member of the family, Middle Son's new baby son came into the world on Saturday, a bouncing 8lbs. Why do we say 'bouncing'? New babies don't bounce, or maybe they do?
I hope to be able to meet him in person as soon as they get home from hospital.😊

So, the last days of summer are upon us and my thoughts are turning to a reorganisation of my online shops.
I've been with Society6 for the past few years but now I feel it's time for a change. I love seeing my designs on different items and I've even bought my own items from them to give as gifts or to keep for myself but now that I've discovered Redbubble I personally prefer it and that's the reason I've decided to close my shop at Society6.
It is still open at the moment and will stay open until 18th September so if you'd like to buy an item from my Society6 shop, there's still a couple of weeks to get in there!

Thanks so much for looking and coming to visit me on my blog today. 

You can reach my Society6 shop by CLICKING HERE or by using the link at the the top of this blog. Don't forget, 18th September is the closing date.

Have a great week! xx

A Busy August

I've had a very busy summer with family visiting 

and it's not over yet!

We've been on lots of outings,

Middle Daughter at Totnes Rare Breeds Farm

and drawing together,

After everyone left, we decided to have a few days away up north. 

First we stopped at The Peak District.

Here are some of the cottages in Eyam, Derbyshire. This village has a very sad tale of how they were wiped out by the black plague in 1665.

And the very pretty Bakewell, Derbyshire.

York was our final destination. I've been here once before and loved it, especially the Jorvik Viking Centre. It's recently reopened after a terrible flood and it's even better now than I remember it! I didn't take any photos while I was there. I was too busy soaking in every second of the experience but here's a short video from the web to give you a taste..

They look so real! The smells and sounds are incredible too.

Finally, we visited the York Railway Museum. I enjoyed looking at all the shapes and designs and was particularly impressed by the interiors of the royal carriages.

Queen Victoria's carriage ~ love the blue!

I enjoy looking at all the workings too. I think there's something very beautiful about machinery.

It's a big time of changes in my family this week. Here's the first one I'd like to share with you. Eldest Daughter and her family are leaving London so her lovely friends organised a special leaving message in their honour. (Top row of writing in pic. below)

Not just any old cinema, it's this one. (See below.)

So big changes are afoot.

I'll be back again soon to tell of  other new beginnings.

See you then.xx

Holding Onto Sunshine

I've been making some crocheted bunting. It's great for using up bits and bobs of leftover wool that have lurked in the bottom of my bag for years! I've been wanting to try making crocheted triangles for ages and now that I'm between woolly projects I'd thought I'd give it a go...

 and here it is ~yay!

Meanwhile on my painting table there have been a few new pieces taking form..

I'm enjoying working with inks at the moment, they're so adaptable. You can use them diluted like a watercolour wash, or with a pen to make lines. I love how the FW inks are so opaque that the light colours sit really well on top of the dark ones as you can see here.

This one I've called 'My Blue Cat'. Please click here to see it in my shop!

 This next one is painted on wood panel. I've used collage papers as well as ink and the wood was so light in colour that I didn't even need to prime it before I started. Can you see my favourite iridescent pale blue ink on her dress?

'Claramay' can be found on Etsy if you just click here.

I love working on wood panel. It's like a frame so that it's easy to hang on the wall when it's finished. The panel is about 2cm deep.

I enjoyed it so much that I made another painting...

 This one's called 'Holding Onto Sunshine'. It's also a mixed media piece using collage papers, inks, Posca pens and acrylic paint. 

I love the shiny chocolate papers that you get at christmas and I always keep some. You never know when they might come in handy! Below you can see the tiny twinkles of light as they shine through.

Holding Onto Sunshine is available in my Etsy shop. Please click here to see!

I hope you enjoyed seeing my new work. Have a great week! xx

Beautiful Trees

My latest new paintings have definitely been inspired by the lovely spring trees that are around at the moment.

I've been having fun playing with inks on paper making beautiful textures.♥♥♥

I love the colours but I wasn't happy with the composition. It somehow didn't seem right....

....so I turned the painting upside down!

 and drew a lady wearing a beautiful dress of branches.

I call her 'Blossom in the Wind'. 

She's searching for a new home so if you think you might be able to help her, please click here.😊

I love how the little twinkles of light picks up the leaves of the trees and flowers.

This new painting that I've recently finished twinkles in the light too! I've used gold paint on the bird and the fern leaves. It's a mixed media painting on cradled wood panel. The leaves are dimensional, giving the surface extra interest.

I've called it 'Pink Flower in my Hair'. You can see more of this piece in my Etsy shop if you click here.😊

This is one that I'm currently working on using beautiful green inks and it's soon to be listed in my shop. Please message me if you'd like a chance to buy it before it goes live.

Thankyou so much for visiting today, I hope you have a fantastic week ahead.xx

New Paintings and a Visit to Tintinhull

I've been busy making daily paintings and here are a few of my most recent ones. I also have some finished paintings for sale listed in my Etsy shop but more of that later.

Sometimes it's nice to have a break and a few days ago we visited Tintinhull in Somerset. The house is very beautiful and because of its smaller scale than most National trust properties, very homely too.

 The view from the house into the garden is very pretty.

It's lovely to wander around the garden, arranged like little rooms that link one to another.

 A feast for the eyes from the beautiful and delicately coloured pale lemon tulips and hyacinths ♥ ♥

and the Heuchera Plum Royale. (I had to Google that!) 😉

How very perfect don't you think? A very pretty house and garden.

So now I'd like to show you my newest paintings. This one above is called Marina and is painted on 300gsm (140lb) watercolour paper with inks. I've listed it in my Etsy shop if you'd like to see more details.

I love mermaids and this next one is called Viridia.

I've used iridescent ink an the background, lovely and shimmery. Please click here if you'd like to see more of her.

There's something magical to me about the woods, like a deep memory that I can't quite recall. This painting above is called Wood Spirit. I've painted this on cradled wood panel and the surface has some lovely texture. She's looking for a new place to live. Could you be the one to give her a new place to dwell?

Thankyou for visiting! I hope you've enjoyed looking at my pics. I'm still very busy producing new work and will return soon to show you. 

If you can't wait that long and would like to see my works in progress and new work fresh from my paint brush, I update my Instagram and Facebook on an almost daily basis so do come and see me there, it'll be lovely to see you. Have a great week. xx