The beauty of nature

Sometimes, nature just makes me stop and stare and yesterday morning, it did just that.  We had had some rain and as I was heading off down the garden, I just needed to stop and look at this cobweb, coated with raindrops, like tiny jewels.  

It is stunning, isn't it?

It is good to take a breath and enjoy what nature offers.  It is moments like this that are so memorable.

My Camera and me

 

I am not a particularly tech-savvy person but I do usually try to read instructions for a new item/appliance.  Once I know how something works for me, such as the washing machine, I tend to keep using the same few settings.  I seldom explore menus/settings on things.  However, sometimes, this is not such a good thing.  (Photo above is Salvia Cherry Lips.) 

Recently my camera setting changed (due to me inadvertently pressing the wrong button - of course) and I was messing about with it, trying to put it back to the familiar. You may remember that I have said in the past that it is a good camera for daylight and it can take some lovely pictures; however, it is rubbish in low light, or with fireworks, or the moon etc. (Photo above is Salvia Peach Melba, bought earlier in the year as a plug plant).

Looking at the settings menu, I discovered that it has a multitude of settings for portraits, fireworks, low light conditions etc. that I have never seen or used.  (This is probably due to the fact that I am a 'point and shoot' photographer and also that I have not downloaded the (no doubt) big instruction manual... ) (Photo shows my agapanthus Navy Blue with the shorter Flower of Love below.)

So, no more maligning my camera until I have tried these settings.  I will report back in due course... (Photo is of Rose Olivia Rose Austin in her second flowering this summer). 

Butterflies and heatwaves

With the heatwaves we keep having (in the UK - these temperatures are 'hot' for us, but 'pleasant' for many other people), I have noticed many more butterflies this year, so that is one positive.  

I do not do well in the heat, so this summer is a struggle for me. I realise I am a lot more fortunate than many people, and indeed, the UK is not experiencing the horribly high temperatures that Europe is under at the moment.  A mix of the unpredictability of the menopause and warm temperatures at night mean I am not at my best. 

However, back to the butterflies.  I have seen the ubiquitous cabbage white butterfly, which seems to cope in any weather, and more Peacock butterflies and  Red Admirals (like the one in the photo, enjoying the buddleia).   I have also seen a little brown butterfly, but it flew off too quickly for me to identify it or to get a photo.

I am looking forward to the cooler days of Autumn - it's not good to wish the time away though!

Wanderlust 2025 - part two

I've completed the second part of the online art journaling course that is Wanderlust and the themes this time were Personality, Feelings, Senses.  I have picked my favourite pages or the pages I most enjoyed making to show you.  Above is a linocut printed face from my imagination (we could choose our own face, but I decided that wasn't something I wanted to include) together with some resist watercolour patterns, some stamping and some stitching.  I really liked the stitching and have used it in other pages.  I also would like to use it in some other mixed media pieces which are going round my head at the moment.

For this one, the teacher was focusing on the colours of lakes and streams, but as it was allium time in the garden, I focused on the colours I could see there.  The watercolour circles with different techniques - wet on wet, wet on dry etc. are strung together and make a hanging decoration, should you want to do that.

I enjoyed using the bright colours in this page which was fun to make.

You'll see more of the stitching here. The background technique was messy but really fun as it was all about adding different media to tissue paper, including gesso, watercolour, acrylic ink, colour burst/pixie powder/infusions (water soluble dye powders some with added mica or walnut ink), alcohol ink. They were left to dry and then scrunched up, smoothed out then wrinkled as pieces were glued down to provide some texture.  It was very freeing.  The pocket on the left includes a tag covered with the tissue paper really smoothed out and a colour swatch piece that was hanging about.

This page was made in the teacher's style (Dyan Reaveley).  Bold colours, big shapes.  It is quite a textured page as the strips on the trees are collaged on, the trunks are embossed, the flower centre is sticking up and has a button in the middle, and the blue heart is card embossed with ultra high embossing powder (several times) and then stamped into while still warm.  The two hearts in the trees are covered with 'Glossy Accents' which is a product that dries to a resin-like finish.

Finally, here is a portrait of someone.  In the lesson, she was described as a 'forager'.  We had to make leaves from gel printed tissue paper or tracing paper, or copy paper.  Before I collaged the leaves on, I showed Chris the watercoloured face and he said she had a look of a 'Svetlana', someone from Eastern Europe.  The face is created using layers of watercolour in a single shade, then a bit of coloured pencil. I turned 'Svetlana' into a forest goddess, with her leaf costume.  

I wonder what the next twelve weeks will bring.