Weholme Wanderings

 A sunny, if not chilly afternoon on the moss. Time spent observing and sketching - limited in length by the temerature when sat down! The highlight was the large skeins of Pink- feet. The most memorable moment - being unexpectedly landed on by a very friendly and excitable Spaniel. 

I have begun a Fibre Arts Take Two course lead by Debbie Lyddon. I have long admired Debbie's work as she is based in Norfolk, not far from where we stay and her work beautifully encapsulated what the area is like. ....Hence when I saw her 'Sensing Place - a material response' course - It was a must. Now it would have been tempting to go with the familiar and focus on a parallel habitat/place, like the Solway coast, but I wanted to push myself and being as Wedholme is close-by and a regular walk, I have decided to concentrate on this area. 

Hence the afternoon sketching and writing....

..and very rarely for me....some writing: 

A chill breeze sweeps down from frozen fell.

Straws of rush ironed flat by storms, float in the flood.

A piercing cacophony of 'winking' Pink-feet' skein across the skyheading to roost.

Rain slinks, in a sinuous thread, off the sodden peat.

Molinia loops and snakes, entwined, coiled -set - wind dried and brittle.

The crusty peat horizon crumbles in winter sun. Revealed as the winter wind disturbs the remnants of summer's vegetative wealth.

A mauve mirror reflects the sky, stitched with long hay-like blades.

 #fibreartstaketwo #debbielyddon #sensingplace

Lichen Tapestry Weaving and Sandstone Post

Yesterday I came across this delightful piece of tapestry weaving. It's a collaborative piece and this link goes to the site to tell you more. I love it!  It was exhibited at an American Tapestry Alliance exhibition. 

Margaret Bennett, Mary Exelby, Leslie Fox, Jean Hall, Gill Lightfoot, Sarah Lowe, Sally Reckert, Becky Sunter, Jane Riley, Jane Walkley, Julia Wilkins, Lichens, 10” x 10” x 2”

Then this morning I was walking the dog and this sandstone post - that I have walked past many times, caught my eye....I can feel a weaving coming on..... but when you read the description of the piece there is clearly a lot of work, different media and skill involved ..so maybe not! 

Gowbarrow Park and a veteran Elm

 ... and the first Wainwright of the year: Gowbarrow Fell (number 77 on the second round). A beautiful fresh and sunny day with some classic views. Good to see lots of people out and about. We parked at Aira Force, walked up the river and took the traditional route to the top, before returning on the really nice path that traverses, above the lake, and back down through Gowbarrow Park, to the carpark. We also came across the Veteran Elm that I had read about - an important tree for lichens, that came down in Storm Agnes.

Aira Force...and below...

Dipper.

Snow on the tops - Gowbarrow Fell was low ...

Looking up the lake from our picnic spot...

Zooming in....

The remains of the Elm....

Some nice lichens...if I'd have known we were going to pass the Elm I would have researched what I should have been looking for! 

Skies, rushes and light

A walk out onto Wedholme Flow with some spectacular light....lovely colours and vast expanses of water where the ditch is still over topping. 

Hare's-tail Cotton Grass. 

Experimental Glass

A while back, I did some work based on the ice at Wedholme Flow...or more specifically the way the rushes interacted with the ice.

I ended up doing an abstract textile piece that I cut up and then dipped into wax click here for more details . The pieces I produced are below, and my final thoughts were - what do I do with these now... 

So I chose the one below ...

......and decided to try and interpret it in fused glass -  the textural relation between glass and ice seemed appropriate. I wanted to represent some of the textile textures in the glass including the woven fabric and the stitching. in the images below you can make out the woven aspect: acheived by seiving the glass powder and the zigzag stitching was represented by the wire coil. I also wanted to introduce a three dimensional aspect to the work by including rushes that stood out in the form of bent wire. 

The piece below is an experiment and I now have further ideas ..watch this space ....

..and this was prior to firing ......

Booming Bitterns!

A lovely spring-like day, well at least in North Lancashire!  A very pleasent walk around Leighton Moss, but first we popped in at a new little reserve that was about 10 minutes from Leighton Moss - Fell End. This is a relatively new reserve, with newly created scrapes and hides, but there were Teal, Lapwing, Curlew, Mallard, Wigeon and rather nicely a Green-winged Teal. Then onto Leighton Moss, where the light was gorgeous. The highlight though, had to be just the noise of booming Bitterns in the sunshine, along with displaying Golden-eye and 'performing' Marsh Harriers. It was nice to see two Great-crested Grebes too. 

Marsh Harriers.

Shoveller.

Gadwall.

Moorhen.

Cormorants.

The walk down to the Lower Hide is still distinctly damp - wellies recommended.

Grey Squirrels....

Scarlet Elf Cups.

Nuthatch.