Watercolour splashiness

I don't often do watercolours. Apart from sketchbooks, I only do one, for Hesket Show, every year - so it was slap some paint down and see what happens...to be fair I really enjoyed the afternoon sploshing paint around and may well do more! These were based on South Uist, a misty moisty day! The bottom one was my Hesket Show entry ...and it did get a first...although it was rather close run with Tom's technically brilliant painting of a 'Reconstruction of the early paravian dinosaur Microraptor on Ginko from early Cretaceous China, in the compostion of a Audobon's Bird's of America plate', gaining second. To be fair, it came down to the judges taste...I may be forgiven at some stage! 

Tom's watercolour.

Dark Red Helleborine Textile

Following making my Dark Red Helleborine book click here to see it, I have finally finished the textile piece it inspired. The fabric was coloured using gelli plates with hand-made stencils, watercolour was added and then it was patched and sewn/quilted. It took a while to make! 

Dark Red Helleborine and habitat.

Sample pages from my design book...

Printing and colouring the base fabric....

The finished piece and details below....

What to do next? 

Fungal flushes

It's been a while since I blogged, as life has been rather hectic, in the run up to our local Agricultural Show. Entries have been completed and exhibited and the garden has had a complete overhaul. It isn't often we get a prolonged dry spell in Cumbria, so we've gardened and gardened - mainly with an axe and fork! But we have had a couple of trips out to our local wood in search of fungi. 

We had an early flush of activity, with lots of edibles, click here, on August the second, but things kind of began to 'dry up' with the summer heat. Our visit on the sixth August saw a wide variety of fungi including a new one for me: Phellodon niger, more commonly known as the Black Tooth Fungus - a good find for Cumbria! Our visit on the 18th August was memorable for a gorgeous Elephant Hawk Moth caterpillar and some beautiful light, but no fungi to mention!

Chanterelles.

Hedgehog Fungi.

Horn of Plenty.

Black Tooth Fungus...

The 'teeth' on the Black Tooth Fungus.

A random selection of other species...

Elephant Hawk Moth caterpillar...bimbling - we moved him off the road. 

..and woodland light.