All in it together
In this painting I have tried express how life on our planet is interconnected, like a tapestry or a beautiful knotted carpet. Remove one element and everything else is diminished. I wondered for ages how in a single painting I might show the richness and order of the nature, everything all tangled up together in [...]
Angels in St Giles
Last week my husband Moth and I finally achieved an ambition – to get a really good view of waxwings (Bombycilla garrulus). Thanks to the Oxford Bird Log and WaxwingsUK we were alerted to a small group of these gorgeous birds which had been sporadically hanging out in the churchyard at St Giles in Oxford. [...]
Autumn fox
I have been working towards a seasonal exhibition and have been observing this autumn more closely than ever before: the conkers, the pine cones, the birds arriving from Scandinavia, and of course, the unmissable change in the trees from green to red, yellow and orange and finally leafless. These observations, together with a few trips [...]
Two turtle doves
“On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me, Two turtle doves…” I stumbled across some photos of turtle doves and was immediately reminded of their gorgeous plumage and lovely colours. And thought – I’d like to paint that! In recent years the numbers of turtle doves in Europe have fallen by [...]
Happy Birthday Edward Lear
Today we visited the Happy Birthday Edward Lear exhibition at the Ashmolean in Oxford. Edward Lear is best known for his nonsense verse, (who hasn’t heard of the Owl and the Pussycat?) and although this is quite brilliantly original and what he’s best remembered for, I especially wanted to see his paintings of birds. Woo! [...]
Conkers
It’s conker time!I gathered these few from beneath the big horse chestnut tree in Eynsham churchyard last Friday. I had some trouble finding any – I think horse chestnuts must have been badly affectly by this year’s dreadful weather: first the drought, then the incessant summer rains. Anyway I thought I’d make a little painting [...]
The extinction of the Great Auk – 3 July 1844
The Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis) was once a common and magnificent sight in the sparkling waters of the North Atlantic. About 30 inches (80cm) tall and weighing in at a whopping 11lbs (5kgs), this handsome bird was the northern equivalent of the penguin. Its closest living relative is the razorbill which has a similar range [...]
Inspired by British wildlife
Since the end of my Artweeks exhibition, I have only managed to paint two canvases, both inspired by the glories of English nature in May. In my ideal world it would always be May; I love the air heavy with the sweet scent of blossoms and grasses and foliage rushing to full leaf, and the [...]
Europeans discover Easter Island – 5 April 1722
This article also appears on Dorian Cope’s blog On This Deity. The rise and fall of Easter Island is a parable for our times; a warning from history of what happens when our selfish species doesn’t pay close attention to every detail of Planet Three’s precious natural resources. On Easter Sunday 1722 Dutch sailor Jacob Roggeveen [...]
In Birdland
Since I quit my paid job in December I’ve had the time not only to look for a better job but to concentrate harder than ever on my painting; especially useful in the run up to my exhibition in May. I was pretty sure it would take months to find another paid job (it has) [...]
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