Tuesday 29 June 2021

ICAD Roundup Three

Hello Friends!

Just my recent ICAD cards.  I hope you enjoy browsing as much as I enjoyed making.  I know they're not everyone's cup of tea, and I do appreciate so very much those of you who take the time to comment and encourage my endeavours.  It's fun to be drawing what I grow as it gives a different perspective again to the garden.  Previously, it was all about somewhere to sit, subjects to photograph, and things to eat.   Now it includes things to draw and paint.  I guess you're never to old to broaden your horizons!

19/61

A mono print style of leaves using micron pen


 20/61

Lily of the Valley in mixed media inks, paint, and mica


21/61

Scarlet Pimpernel in paint pens


22/61

Wheat in micron pen


23/61

Field poppy in watercolour {Koi Sakura}  This one is my favourite so far.


24/61

Clematis in Marvey le Plume brush pens with Posca pen


I have fallen slightly behind, but invariably this happens to a lot of us taking part, so I'll have to catch up or be late finishing!  

Do you have a favourite?  I'd love to know, and is it one today or from my previous few weeks of work?

Until next time
Stay safe, stay well

Thursday 24 June 2021

Then It Rained, Then It Stopped

Hello Friends!

A few days before the Summer Solstice, and after days of such changeable weather, from hot to mild, with sea fog followed by blue, sunny skies, one morning we woke up to an unexpected rainfall overnight which carried on well into the day before finally moving on.  So, we had raindrops on roses to bring Spring to an end for this year.


A rainy day wasn't the best day for my Betty's Smile rose to open, but open she did and looked rather more Hollywood glamour than west Wales cottage garden as she shimmered with a cloak of sparkling raindrops.


By mid afternoon the rain had passed over and, once again, the sky was blue.  It doesn't take long for everything to look refreshed and restored.

My climbing  clematis {which never seems to thrive as a plant, but does put out lovely blooms} became twisted and bent over in one of our earlier storms.  It never straightened up, now all the flowers are opening up from underneath, so I have to route around to find them.




Do you remember the incident of the badly damaged dwarf clematis a few weeks ago?  It looked like this


Well, a lot of those flower buds survived, tightly closed.  They've started to open, but things are very wrong indeed.  The flowers are half their normal size, and they are completely the wrong colour.  However, I'm relieved to see a few green shoots appearing.



Here's how it should look in photos taken in previous years.






This has got to be my favourite spot in the garden right now


It's such a happy space, sitting in the warm westering sunshine of an evening which heralds the arrival of Summer.

Mind, on the first official day of Summer, I think it has decided to have a lie in, just like Spring did!  Should we give them their cards?  You're Fired!  So, this little baby Blackbird was confused, didn't know whether or not you can sit on the sun lounger if the sun isn't shining.



Flowers continue to delight, and I was delighted to find this wild Field Poppy sprung up in a wild corner.  One of the joys of wilding your garden spaces!




The Orientals continue to delight


and you know I can't resist a macro shot!


or two, this is the clematis


This wasn't easy, the Verbena Bonariensis is a whippy, bouncy stem in the wind!


The bronze fern is growing well, and I'm now reluctant to move it





The yellow roses just go from strength to strength this time of year.  This plant was from B&Q and is now fourteen years old.  All the expensive David Austin yellow roses given for the same occasion didn't last a year.  It just goes to show that cost and name don't always equal the best value.

Personally, I'm not a fan of all these celebratory roses.  Mum and Dad got given six ruby wedding ones followed by eight golden wedding ones and where do you find room for them all?  Everyone thinks they've given you a great gift, when all you have is a headache finding room!


Until next time
Stay safe, stay well

ICAD Roundup

Hello Friends! 

Happy Summer Solstice! 

Spring stayed in bed, and so far it looks as if Summer is having a lie in too.  Sighs.

The current cards were a bit of an effort as I ran out of steam for some reason.  Lack of sleep and trying to do day to day chores when you are in pain is not conducive with connecting to your muse, especially with a plumbing emergency thrown in for good measure.  Do you know how difficult an emergency plumber is to find when you need one?

So, here's this week's efforts.

13/61

A highly stylised copy of an old toothbrush mug that I now use for paint brushes.  It makes me think of a weird mythological bird, but is more likely to be styled on a dahlia or something exotic.   Marvey Le Plume pens.

14/61

Sunflowers!  Always my standby, if in doubt, draw a happy, friendly sunflower.  Alcohol markers.


15/61

Loosely styled on a chicory flower {from memory} as I had one accidentally go to seed in my potager.  Watercolour pencils, Posca, and Derwent paint pens.

16/61

Dandelion clocks in the wind.  Ink and fine liner.


17/61

Stylised drawing inspired by a photograph I took of a herb fennel seed head. Derwent paint pens.


18/61

A daffodil.  This was a huge challenge for me.  Inktense and fine liner.


Until next time
Stay safe, stay well.

Wednesday 16 June 2021

An Early Morning Bimble About the Borders

Hello Friends!

Thank you for all your kind comments about my drawing. 

Will you join me on an early morning bimble around the borders?  It hasn't been a great week, with emergency plumbing repairs, and my back has had another spasm, so I shall be hobbling about slowly and very carefully using a sturdy stick. The garden is a mess, but thankfully there are spots of delight amongst the wilderness of joy.

The grass is still damp with dew, so do wear something waterproof on your feet, unless you would like to go barefoot and wiggle your toes in the soft, dewy grass.

Let's begin outside the front door where I just adore this old slate trough.  I filled it with some soil topped with pebbles and now some terracotta pots rest on the stones.  I've let tiny things self seed in the trough too.  It looks so pretty right now!  

The old fashioned pinks are full of spicy rich clove fragrance.  They are so special, for they came from a dear friend's garden, and she died suddenly last month so they are now precious indeed.  She was one of my oldest and dearest friends of many years and we shared a passion for gardening that allowed the wild things pride of place.

The Oriental poppies are finally getting some dry days and the flowers are beautiful as ever.







Yellow roses and Rambling roses are opening in profusion now



And geraniums spring up, surprising me, in many places with their eagerness to do well!  I call them the doers.  They fill in gaps, help supress some weeds with ground cover, and send up delicate blooms in a wide variety of colours, for they are promiscuous cross pollinators indeed!  The flowers seem to hover, like tiny stars, often popping up in unexpected places.






The bronze leaf fern is looking good too, and there's a native Hart's Tongue growing alongside it!  I do so enjoy ferns in a shady spot.  
As so often happens, the label is lost.  Sighs.



I couldn't resist a little post edit play on this one!  I don't do it often, only resizing.  What do you think?


Until next time
Stay Safe, Stay Well