A while back I posted that I was inspired by the colours and textures of the RSPB's Loch Druidibeg NNR on South Uist - Click here for photos.
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| Colours and textures .... |
I began by enjoying some gelli printing and dying to create the base fabrics based on the colours and texture of the reserve, which were then patchworked, quilted and embroidered to create the finished piece.
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| Royal Fern gelli printing. |
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| Hand coloured and embroidered. |
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| The finished piece.... |
When I was a child, we lived in Somerset by the river Tone. We were lucky to have the river at the bottom of the garden (not so lucky when it rained heavily!) and I enjoyed summer days rowing a very small boat up and down. The fringing vegetation included Branched Bur Reed and it has always been a favourite of mine and not something I often see in Cumbria. So, when we parked up to go to Saligo Bay on Islay and there was a clump in the roadside ditch there were plenty of photos taken. Immediately after Islay I had a fused glass session booked, so there was my inspiration....it is a trial piece for a larger piece. The larger piece will also include a Beautiful Demoiselle - a type of Damselfly made including lovely reflective dichroic glass. In the meantime here is the trial piece:
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| The trial piece and inspiration. |
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| Detail. |
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| In situ... |
The sheer variety of habitats on Ardnave Point gives rise to a rich and varied flora:
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| The Yellow Flag Iris was spectacular. |
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| Foxgloves too. |
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| One of the less common plants is the Mountain Everlasting. This year we were a bit late to see it at its best and most of the flowers had been grazed off by sheep. |
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| The orchids were spectacular and there will be an exciting (if you are into orchids) blog on these later following a second visit with Tom, who knows his stuff in regard to orchids and their hybrids. The stunning deep red colour of this Early Marsh-orchid (Dactylorhiza incarnata) makes it subsp. Coccinea. |
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| The commoner colour of the Early Marsh-orchid. |
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| Northern Marsh-orchids but they may have a bit of the Heath Spotted-orchid in them. |
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| One of the last flowering Bog Bean - my favourite. |
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| Heath Spotted-orchids. |
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| Pyramidal Orchid - they are just coming out. |
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| And another stand of Yellow Flag Iris with the Paps of Jura in the distance. |
The first of last weekend's walks out, whilst in Northern Ireland, with Tom and Natalie, was to Sheskinmore, in Co Donegal This large area was very reminiscent of Islay and included beach, dunes, dune slacks, craggy 'lumps' and machair. Unsurprisingly this is the first of several blogs for the day, as not only was the flora stunning, the light was too. We keep saying 'you don't get the light without the rain' and my did it rain! So this blog gives an introduction to the day - before it rained!
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| Primroses in the dunes. |
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| There were lots of Early Purple Orchids... |
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| ...and the rare and hard to find, Dense-flowered Orchid. |
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| Dune slacks... |
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| One of the hilly 'lumps'. |
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| It was nice to see so much Juniper. |
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| ...and Mountain Everlasting. |
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| The Willow was certainly pollen-laden! |
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| Dramatic scenery along the coast. |
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| A summit of sorts. |
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| Another area where there were several Dense-flowered Orchids. |
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| The aptly named Bog Bean was perfect. |
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| Then down to the beach... |
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| With rumbles of thunder.... |
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| A hasty lunch, keeping an eye on the weather.... Then it rained.... |
More on a grykes theme - this time a sample piece, which turned out to be a finished piece, based on Maiden Hair Spleenwort. The base is foam covered with hand dyed annd embellished felt. Framed in a box frame it hangs nicely.
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| Source inspiration. |
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| Before framing. |
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| Details and below... |
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| Finished! |
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| And hung. |
The Keen of Hamar NNR is home to a range of plants that have adapted to live, not only in hostile conditions, but on the thin 'soils' of the Serpentine rocks that make up this area. Here, the Serpentine has weathered to form some of the oldest and poorest soils in Britain. As the Serpentine weathers it forms angular lumps known as 'debris'. It is the large expanse of this debris that makes the site, together with it's flora, unique.
Edmondston's Chickweed, also known as Shetland Mouse-ear, only grows on Unst and was discovered by the 12 year old botanist Thomas Edmondston in 1837. Edmondston later became Professor of Botany at Glasgow University, but tragically died aged just 20, on a scientific expedition to South America; a year after publishing his flora of Shetland.
Fortunately we had a dry spell whilst plant hunting on this apparently barren and exposed site!
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| Edmondston's Chickweed...and below. |
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| The flowers are disproportionately large relative to the rest of the plant. |
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| The Mossy Campion was past its best - but I do like it as a plant! |
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| Norwegian Sandwort with Lesser Clubmoss. |
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| Frog Orchids ...and below. |
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| Early Purple Orchid and Heath Spotted-orchid. |
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| Thrift. |
