Planet Sam

The little things...Inspirational old puzzles

2012-02-06T12:26:00.000Z

The little things in life that make the difference...

...Finding these the"Victory" Jigsaw puzzles in the market, became the perfect excuse to have a break from everything digital on a frosty February weekend.

Probably produced sometime between the 1930's - 1940's

Part way through - The little animals and other objects
are called whimseys.

...there was a rabbit and a cat, a fox, mouse, swallow,

an axe and two swords.

Ta da! 'Welcome Home' - Sea, Boats and People.

Sadly 3 pieces missing, but hoping I might find these

in the other puzzle!

Colour from the season - Mahonia yellow

2012-02-03T15:32:00.002Z

Banish the winter blues with the vibrant yellows of the Mahonia. Much of the year this spiky shrub looks
unattractive, but from November until February it has
lovely pure yellow flowers which are highly fragrant,
followed by dusty red and purple blue berries...

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colours of the month - January

2012-01-30T13:39:00.001Z

It's well over a year since I started my notebook on seasonal colour. Intending originally to document a single year of plant colours, I've been encouraged by the increasing numbers of visitors to my blog as well as the enjoyment and knowledge I've discovered in doing it.

It's developed organically as its gone along and inevitably this continues, so here for the first time is a selection of colours from the January notebook pages to become my Colours of the Month...

The colours of Mussel Shells (January 2011 was when I first posted them!), Catkins (from the Hazel) and Monterey Pine cone make up my January selection...

Thank you :) to the people who have given me plants and other specimens(!) or emailed/told me how much they enjoy my posts - Much appreciated!

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the season - Catkin green

2012-01-26T12:17:00.000Z

Catkins, I posted their colours last year and today just had to draw them.

"A unisexual inflorescence, consisting of rows of apetalous flowers ranged in circles along a slender stalk;" - Shorter Oxford English Dictionary.

That's what the dictionary says! I say, look out for the brightest green/yellow colour of their tails against a blue January sky and it will put a spring in your step - it did mine..!

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Sedum green

2012-01-21T14:01:00.007Z

Look closely at the tall Sedums at the moment and you might notice that shoots are sprouting up from the base. I noted a few of the colours of these last year on 24th January, so I know that the fresh growth this year isn't early despite the warm weather. The colours of the rusty old seed-heads and verdant young buds are looking good again together. Not much to say about them except they thrive in drought, do ok in the wet too and so undemanding they really do grow on you!

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - dead Horse Chestnut leaf brown

2012-01-13T14:43:00.005Z

While you might expect to see snowdrops, primroses
and even at a push the odd daff in a sheltered spot
this early in January, to see roses, campanula and cow parsley still flowering and celandine out and in flower
is surely not seasonal.

In spite of this burst of new colour, I find at the moment I'm attracted to the beauty of the partially decayed leaves of the Horse Chestnut. They retain rich autumnal red brown tones and while perhaps uninspiring in the wet woodland, bring them into the warm and they slowly furl into fascinating brittle sculptural forms. Alike in colour, each transforms in a unique way, some curl in on themselves sides hugging, others roll up at their tips, constraining the curl of the sides - they have a very wintry (and seasonal) look about them...

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Lichen greens

2012-01-09T17:38:00.006Z

Mixing up paints to add colour detail to this drawing, it occurred to me how easy I find it. It goes back to my degree at Camberwell when I didn't have a lot of money to buy paint so I mainly bought the three primary's. I usually got ultra marine, crimson red and lemon yellow, as well as (and essentially) black and white. If I could I would also get yellow ochre, burnt sienna and raw umber, but I could make do without these as you can mix every colour from the primary's plus black and white - it was just quicker to be able to add ochres and umbers to get olive greens etc.

Since I began this notebook, I've lost track of the number of plant colours that I've matched to printed CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key (Black)). I've now got detailed information with which to mix up hundreds of plant colours. For example Lichen green2 (below) has 10% Cyan, 0% Magenta, 55% Yellow and 30% Black. This knowledge makes mixing colours easier still and what's really great is they will print accurately as well.

I've sampled some of the colour I found in Oakmoss Lichen before but this is the first time I've tackled drawing it. It was as hard as it looks and I had to use a magnifying glass to look for the detail. Reminded me of a deer's antlers - its shadow is especially striking.

outlined in pencil.

inked in drawing - a few blots but nothing too serious.

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Monterey cone red

2012-01-06T19:40:00.003Z

Stormy weather here and the large Monterey Pine cones from the huge tree at Heddons Mouth are scattered on the ground - they can stay attached to the tree for over 30 years which is quite remarkable! The intricate overlapping spiral patterns in the cone (which follow the Fibonacci series) are difficult to count and tricky to draw, because it's just so easy to lose sight of where you are on the clockwise spiral and then having to continually cross check that you are still in line with the counter clockwise spiral. 1-1-2-3-5-8-13...Phew!

Here are the colours from these cones.

pencil sketch and wash...

first ink outlines...

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

the little things - not too wet to Woooo!

2012-01-05T13:19:00.000Z

the little things in life that make the difference...

...the first online shop madebyhandonline selling my new product range.

This year I've been developing a range of products, what with one thing and another going on it's taken longer to get this up and running than I had anticipated, partly because I decided that the range would be hand screen printed here in our North Devon studio and that involved quite a lot of setting up, but also well..because I'm quite a perfectionist, and I wanted the collection to be very special!

I decided to return to screen and digitally printing the products myself, they are therefore individual, exclusive and have the quirky differences of the handmade. All the materials are of the highest quality and sourced in the U.K. wherever possible. I also use unbleached materials wherever I can as a positive environmental choice.

I'm very excited that you can now see and buy these products at madebyhandonline. It's a fabulous online shop set up by Sarah James and Katie Honnor to promote and celebrate quality hand made products - a small step for me at the moment, but I'll be adding to it!

See the printing of the Owl cushion last week at our screen print blog Exposed
(Designed and printed by Josse and Sam Pickard).

Top image: Wood Panther Moth one of 4 prints bringing the 'Night and Day' series onto cushions.

The little things - New Year New Nibs!

2012-01-04T18:26:00.002Z

The little things in life that make the difference...

...finally getting around to buying some new nibs for my dip pens. I spotted these on ebay - described as vintage, they were from Hungary and there were 84 nibs in total.

I'd worn my old nibs down so badly from use, that they were looking like this - not good. The nib holders are worn out too - the top one is cork and wood under all that ink.

A new nib and a lovely old tin to store them all. (must get
a better nib holder than this bog standard plastic one).

No excuses not to draw - I may never need another nib -
Happy New Year!

Colour from the season - Mistletoe yellow

2011-12-22T22:32:00.003Z

In winter once the leaves have all fallen, you can see the Mistletoe hanging in ethereal almost perfectly circular balls from the branches. A partial parasite, it provides the host with energy (through photosynthesis) but it also takes food from the plant and eventually is destructive to it.

There are numerous and varied explanations where the custom of kissing underneath it came from on the internet. It has certainly long been a symbol of peace and also fertility, but if it's difficult to be absolutely sure when the custom started, its not hard to understand why its still going strong!

Its delicate structural form casts wonderful shadows. The berries not white at all but the palest green/grey, vibrant yellow buds blending down into the stems and leaves.

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the season - Hawthorn berry red

2011-12-18T22:36:00.000Z

Lining the lanes here in the Shire at the moment, I notice the red of the Hawthorn berries, starting to blacken with age not falling but desiccating on the branches. It's a rich subdued red, perfect for this time of year. I love the Hawthorn, I love its leaves, its berries, its folklore, perhaps this should be the red of Christmas rather than (to my mind) the more garish red of the Holly berry...

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Hydrangea petal red

2011-12-11T18:59:00.002Z

Hydrangeas (I believe) are at their most attractive as the flowers start to fade and become skeletal. I was in a very frazzled mood the day I drew this. It's captured in the drawing and it perhaps has more vigour and expression because of it. It may not appeal to everyone, I know that my mum wasn't overly keen(!x) but I rather like it. The faded colours reminiscent of the natural dyes, Brazilwood, Walnut and I'm pretty sure that Weld over-dyed in a weak Indigo vat will produce that green...

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Rose hip (Maigold) orange

2011-12-04T13:05:00.005Z

Recently I had a letter from a student asking me about my 'interpretation of details extracted from the landscape' and how I transfer them to textiles. I thought this was an interesting description and certainly beats the clichéd expression ..inspired by nature (which as a rule I try never to use).

Originally I began writing in this blog about seasonal colour because I was tired of the increasing influence of the global trend forecasting industry for colour and design. My designs have at times been in trend forecasting magazines and used for trend forecasts. Although these publications can be very inspirational, they are also self fulfilling. Designers follow the colour and trend predictions and therefore the predictions are fulfilled. I felt there was an alternative story to be told and I decided to research seasonal colour from plants, which I have been doing for the past 13 months.

As the notebook has developed it is increasingly a useful resource book of colour and imagery. I document all the colours directly from the plant and I record them in CMYK, RGB and NCS colours - which are the colour systems I use. It's meant I am continually drawing, developing creative ideas through drawing and 'extracting details from the landscape' to build a personal visual language for my creative work. If it also inspires other people then that's even better.

Here, the intense and fiery hip colours of the Maigold Rose outside my front door at the moment - it's the upside of not getting around to dead-heading..!

P.S. ..just posted on our silk screen blog (silkscreenexposed.blogspot.com) how to...coat a silk-screen!

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the season - New Zealand flax

2011-11-24T11:57:00.002Z

Not seasonal perhaps, but as the brighter colours in the garden are starting to fade - the simple muted palette and structural form of this New Zealand flax (Phormium) adds sophistication. Some people might find these muted colours too drab - to me they are reminiscent of Art Nouveau, of the poster illustrations of artists from that period such as Alphonse Mucha and Henri J. Detouche - subtle and organic. I find I respond to some subjects infinitely more than others and I really enjoyed drawing these...

Poster 1899 by Alphonse Mucha (1860-1939)

Poster 1896 by Henri J. Detouche (1854-1913)

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

The little things...exposed

2011-11-20T18:06:00.000Z

The little things in life that make the difference...

...something we always planned since we found our lovely old garage/workshop in North Devon ten years ago, is at last happening and we are opening it up as a print facility, where we plan to run workshops, ourselves as well as with guest practitioners, offer print services, hold exhibitions and discuss all things relating to print (and dye). The first blog post went up today showing the logo being printed - you can follow us and see what we're up to over the coming months at exposed.

Colour from the Season - Fatsia green

2011-11-20T17:58:00.002Z

Fatsia are strange plants - palmate leaves like outstretched hands which fall short of being attractive or so I always thought until last year in November, when almost everything else had started to fade and I noticed their flowers which had exploded like extra-ordinary pod forms with a sense of 1950's style about them, made me smile!

Fresh colours which aren't at all autumnal, and seem to fit the elegant forms of these odd umbrels...

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the season - Stinking Iris orange

2011-11-14T17:53:00.000Z

Stinking Irises (Iris Foetidissima) have very quirky looking seedpods. Drawing these yesterday, it was difficult to see how the berries were still attached to the pods - they were hanging on at the very edges for dear life! The leaves seemed almost to be waving to me as I was drawing (or perhaps I'm just a bit over tired lately!).
I documented the delicate colours of the flowers when I drew them in June, also the pod colours in January when I came across them in an salt air dried state on a wintery walk at the beach. These vintage looking November colours from this garden specimen are as sampled below.

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the season - Spindle pod pink

2011-11-10T19:41:00.000Z

Finally a spare moment in between printing to post the colours (again) of the Spindle tree. So named because its wood was traditionally used to make the spindles for spinning.
Spindly by nature as well as name, its a bit on the shabby side and not much to look at, until its structured four sided pods develop into a deeply vivid shade of pink, splitting wide open to reveal within shiny deep orange seeds - quite astonishing...

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the season - Acorn cup green

2011-10-31T09:28:00.001Z

"By viewing nature, nature's handmade art,
Makes mighty things from small beginnings grow:" - John Dryden. Annus Mirabilis (1667)

Yes it is Halloween today - but thought I'd steer away from pumpkins as I sampled their fabulous two-tone orange last year - and instead draw the acorn, the fruit of the Oak, symbol of strength and longevity.
The Oak trees (here) are laden with acorns this year - so perhaps their decline over the past few years will be redressed. I hope so.

These rustic low contrast colours not surprisingly reminiscent of heritage and the National Trust - who use an Oak branch with acorns for their logo...

Last but not least...happy 40th birthday Graf xx!

Colour from the season - Calendula Orange

2011-10-27T19:42:00.000+01:00

A notebook page for a special person. October's birth flower is the Calendula or Marigold. They flower all summer long and some are flowering in especially full force near the end of October! A flower with both beauty and medicinal value and forever a radiant face against any grey skies...

Great to draw - dip pen and ink - no pencil sketch here - it either works or it doesn't.

Happy 50th birthday to my big sis xx
(Calendula dresses !!)

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the season - Mussel shell blue

2011-10-23T15:53:00.001+01:00

As long as there is an R in the month - Mussels are in season. (from May to August they're breeding, and not only are they rattly i.e. losing a lot of meat, they also need to be left alone to reproduce.)

Mussels remind me of times spent in Brussels, of days sitting outside the cafés around Le Grand Place, eating steaming bowls of them with the best chips (frites) ever!

I'm going over a few of my early notebook pages to add a drawing or extend the colour range, either because I love the colours or because I want to draw the subject. Here it was for both these reasons. Their shell colours are saturated shades of blue and brown, echoing barnacle clad rocks and sandy seashores...

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the season - Cob Nut brown

2011-10-17T18:49:00.002+01:00

I posted a single colour for Hazel/Cob nuts last December, (my early colour posts were very simple!). Those were bought from the supermarket just before Christmas, these I gathered locally. The colour of the local nut is more subdued. Shown here alongside the other colours sampled from the husks and branch - gentle country colours (aggressive looking husks!)...

December (fully ripened?) Hazel nut brown.

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the season - Conker brown

2011-10-11T18:51:00.002+01:00

Conkers - take me back to my junior school days in Bath. Lots of magnificent Horse Chestnut trees there and in September to October, the parks are strewn with conkers. Here, there's hardly a conker to be seen and when I realised that they must be in season, I had to search high and low for them. I nostalgically remember throwing the biggest sticks I could find into the trees to knock the conkers off their branches and the moment of the shell splitting open to reveal a shiny red brown conker against the white inner case set off against the mostly spiky and sometimes smooth protective cases...theres nothing quite like them.

On a more technical level - there's an art to selecting the best conkers to fight with. As I recollect - rounder ones are the best and the bigger the better. The tactile flat sided ones look like they might be lethal - but in fact aren't so strong. Carefully skewer the chosen champions through the middle and lastly thread through a shoelace or piece of string, and the conker is ready for play.

The scoring (as we played it) was that you added the score of the conker you beat, to your own conker's score, so it was quite normal if you had a good conker to have say, a two hundred and 50-er if the conker that you just smashed to bits had been a two hundred and 49-er ...and your conker could achieve that kind of score from just one fight! (how realistic it was no-one cared). Some people pickled and baked them to make them stronger - but I always thought that simply finding really big conkers was the key to success...

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the season - Cotoneaster Yellow

2011-10-06T15:52:00.006+01:00

The berries of this Cotoneaster tree (Cotoneaster Salicifolius Exburyensis) are similar to the shape and colour of miniature golden delicious apples. We happened to stop under this tree on our way back from the beach last weekend. Though it was dark, I could see that the leaves were glossy and elegant and the berries an unusual colour, and when I got it home (the cutting not the tree!) I wasn't disappointed...

Last week I broke my palette which I was sorry about.
It's not that its such a special palette but I've had it a long time and it was a present.
So - sentimental - as a palette can be.

I remembered that I had some packets of Sugru.
So... I "hacked it better" !

(I used blue as a nod to traditional blue and white china)
Great stuff !

Lastly I came across this wonderful track/video today by Ben Howard called Keep Your Head Up and thought I'd re-post it - thanks to Sammy of Pachadesign for flagging it up on their blog or I wouldn't have seen it! How living in Devon can feel at its best - good to be reminded of it!

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the season - Chrysanthemum burnt orange

2011-09-29T17:13:00.004+01:00

I love Chrysanthemums and it seemed to me when I visited 100%Design last week, that the rich slightly burnt deep orange I sampled from these locally grown ones, happens to be pretty much spot on trend at the moment.

I particularly like them alongside the acid yellow/green from their inner petals and the much gentler muted pink petals and green and brown of their stems. Couldn't leave any colours out when they were looking this good together. So here they are, squeezed in, all seven colours..!

...some stills from the fab light show projected at the entrance to 100%Design this year.

mesmerising colour...

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Beech nut brown

2011-09-22T15:21:00.002+01:00

In May the colours of this Purple Beech were deep purple black, greys and pinks. Now the September colours of these large beautiful trees which I walk beneath on my daily outings with Chip are turning every shade of rich red to orange, darkest brown blacks, and ochre greens.

Each nut form is a clever three sided triangle, and within each hairy case, two nuts fit together snugly. From a purely design perspective they are technically very interesting! Beech nuts are edible - I loved them a lot as a child and I ate these after I'd drawn them, the first time for quite a few years! The flavour is sweet and nutty, but because they're small and mostly shell - they're mainly left for the squirrels...

May colours of Purple and Common Beech (together).

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - blackberry black

2011-09-18T21:59:00.001+01:00

In London over a month ago I noticed that the brambles were already laden with ripe blackberries. Here in Devon, they've been set back by the weather this year, are small in comparison and are still ripening. The blackberries at Woolacombe dunes at the moment are these very intense shades of vivid red and green next to black, have a sharp sweetness to them and are the most vicious bramble thorns I think I've ever come across...

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Tree Peony pod green

2011-09-16T12:53:00.000+01:00

Wow - lovely pods! A friend brought an enormous branch of this tree peony round the other day, which she described as the bog standard yellow flowering one!

When they arrived the leaves were spikily alive, the pods tightly closed. The following day the pods had split open to reveal highly glossy (olive like) seeds, shining out in sharp contrast against the matt white inner pod and bright acid colours of the exterior shell and stems. Pretty fantastic for something bog standard..!

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Hydrangea blue

2011-09-14T12:34:00.003+01:00

Love the rain? Hydrangeas do and its been a great year for them! We visited Clovelly the other day, it was a fabulously sunny morning, but as we set off in the early afternoon the clouds were gathering and it started to rain pretty much on cue as we arrived. On a positive note, at least there was room at the inn when we reached the harbour!

This lace-wing hydrangea had a cloudless palette of blue and blue/greens - unlike the sky...

'Doom Bar' in the Red Lion Hotel
(the great names of British beer!)

what comes down must go back up along..!

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Dahlia & Chrysanthemum white

2011-09-09T13:00:00.004+01:00

"...white is a colour. It is not a mere absence of colour; it is a shining and affirmative thing, as fierce as red, as definite as black. When, so to speak your pencil grows red-hot, it draws roses; when it grows white hot, it draws stars." - extract from 'A Piece of Chalk' - Chesterton, G.K. (1909

Yesterday I was wondering about white. How flowers that we consider to be white are hardly that at all. These white Dahlias and Chrysanth's have a range of fresh yellows, set against red/browns in the stems of the Chrysanth's and acid greens of their sepals and leaves.

G.K. Chesterton's short essay which the extract above was taken from - about colour, (and other philosophical thoughts)...is worth a read. You can find the whole essay here...

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Sloe berry blue

2011-09-05T19:32:00.002+01:00

A few days ago I read a poignant blog post by Rob Ryan - he's started a new blog separate from the one he writes about his (brilliant) work. This one is called 'You can still do a lot with a small brain'. His post 'Not even September yet blues' voices how I've been feeling since my son Josse left home to study graphics in London last September. He captures the feeling perfectly.

There's also been other things that just piled up on top and which meant that my usual ability to self motivate and bounce back seemed to have abandoned me.

When I started this section of my blog on seasonal colour, my first post was sloe berries. It consisted of just two colours and a photo. Eleven months on and I'm up-dating and refining it to include more of the colours found in the whole branch, adding a sketch and also below the drawing as it developed. It somehow seems fitting to be posting something sloe and something blue to mark this time of change.

Documenting these seasonal colours, out and about gathering the occasional cutting from here and there(!) with the lovely Chip has been a kind of therapy. Always intended just to be for it's own sake, this colour notebook has in fact been amazing for a multitude of reasons and on many levels. It's developed my knowledge of plants, I now know a lot about poisons, recipes, feathers, and all sorts of other odd things. I notice colours that I once would have passed by and I spot colour in the bleakest of places. My drawing and creativity has developed by default as I've progressed and it's (mostly) kept me sane this year, with a little help from my friends...

Sloe development...

The morning was sunny - not a bad start - bit shaky...

A nice rabbity looking sloe, but nearly gave up on the drawing at this point because the berries were too heavily outlined and yes still pretty shaky - but it was also very sunny ..so

the ink was drying on the nib quickly in the sun - had to work fast (the music on my ipod by Little Dragon was slow)...

colour (acrylic) focus on the berries - a splash of colour to the leaves and branch...

always adding colour - Chip x

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Snapdragon yellow

2011-08-31T18:30:00.003+01:00

I've been looking at these Snapdragon's in the garden all (questionable?) summer long - they seem to go on and on. Their season has lasted all through August and though the seedpods are now spilling seeds everywhere, they are still flowering madly. Drawing them felt full of nostalgic fondness, outlining their dragon like heads and mouths in red ink for a change which was all I had to hand...

Hard to resist doing this, see below, (very) short clip featuring a rather beautiful multi - coloured Snapdragon to the music of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic zero's - 'Up from Below' !

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Crab apple red

2011-08-24T22:57:00.002+01:00

Just as I'd sampled the Rowan berries (last post) with a link to Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's crab apple and rowan berry jelly recipe, a friend came around with a shoe full(!) of crab apples - which of course would surely be in season at the same time. So here they are - sharp citrus colours...

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Rowan berry orange

2011-08-23T14:31:00.000+01:00

Berries are ripe and in season, these vivid orange/red ones are Rowan or Mountain Ash berries. Uncooked the berries are slightly poisonous, but they're good for making jelly and wine - just found these Guardian blog recipes for rowanberry wine and also Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's crab apple and rowan jelly...perfect!

My notebook records the colours of a moment in time, one branch, one flower, one designer's selection and perception. Another week on and the orange berries may have all turned red. At first glance the colours of the Rowan could appear to be only the flaming red berries and bright yellow/green leaves. Look closer and the less ripe berries are still orange or even warm yellow, the branch and stem are a dusky soft red, the leaves are spattered with brown. Documenting sets of between three to six colours for each subject, giving these (for the moment) equal importance, and telling a fuller if perhaps not the complete colour story.

...from my seasonal colour notebook.

Colour from the Season - Begonia red

2011-08-17T20:01:00.004+01:00

I never used to care much for Begonias - always thought that they were a bit on the brash side. Now that I'm on the alert for interesting plant colours it's hard not to notice them as their petals are (as my dad pointed out) pure pigment colour. The more I studied them the more interesting they seemed and their colour intensity is spectacular. Two completely different flower forms, a male and a female on the same stem - that's a very close relationship !

Third attempt to capture them and I finally thought I had something of their personality - Yesterday was one of those days - upset the bottle of ink, washed out the paint brush in my tea etc...

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Honesty seed pod cream

2011-08-13T18:20:00.000+01:00

Honesty seed pods are ripening, they've turned from their unripe shade of green to multi colour deep purples, reds, green yellows and gradating tints of of cream. Soon they will become the parchment thin, transparent discs for which the plants are mainly grown - though it seems to me that this in-between stage is especially attractive...

(the flowering colours of Honesty can be seen on my April blog posting here)

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Rosa Rugosa hip red

2011-08-08T13:15:00.001+01:00

In May I documented the colour of the Rosa Rugosa when the bushes were covered in roses. They still have a few flowers on the dense bushes but now the hips have taken over as the dominant feature. The tomato like fruits have what are called long persistent sepals - these strange leafy protrusions coming out of the bottom of the fruit are visually extra-ordinary and great to draw!

Although the red and green are strong and contrasting, the less saturated orange and brown shades soften the overall intensity of the palette...

I tasted them to see what they were like (very rich in vitamin C but remove the seeds first!). They're a bit like a soft apple or pear but with slightly more citrus, not bad!

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Petunia phantom black

2011-08-03T11:53:00.001+01:00

Adding an touch of drama to the Petunia market. The complementary contrasts of deepest purple/black, green and a very unusual shade of yellow. Loved by hummingbirds apparently, but as their habitat's a few thousand miles away, sadly I don't think that they'll make it as far as my garden..!

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Broad bean green

2011-07-29T14:35:00.001+01:00

Broad beans are in season. These have got chocolate spot, which adds an extra colour and interesting splatter pattern to the pods! The tactile pods open up to reveal the downy palest green cocoon protecting the smooth beans held in line with a vibrant yellow hinge..!

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Crows garlic yellow

2011-07-26T22:11:00.004+01:00

These are the summer colours of a wild garlic named Crow's garlic (Allium Vineale). I came across it at a friends house a few nights ago, and agreed in a mad moment to give up the drawing in exchange for the specimen. It wasn't so much the colour I was after (for a change) - but the head of it was so comical - I just fancied drawing it. I grow garlic every year so I'm also interested in it. Found in roadsides and field edges, every part of this wild garlic is edible I believe..!

first pencil and wash sketch

black ink drawing before it parted from my sketchbook!

my garlic crop this year!

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Sweet Pea garden

2011-07-23T09:39:00.000+01:00

In the language of flowers, Sweet Peas mean farewell. The name is believed to have been first used by the poet John Keats who wrote:

"Here are sweet peas, on tip-toe for a flight,
With wings of gentle flush o'er delicate white,
And taper fingers catching at all things,
To bind them all about with tiny rings"- 'I stood tip-toe upon a little hill' c.1817

These are the wonderful colours I sampled from them
for C, S, T, H & P with love xxxxx

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Firecracker Yellow

2011-07-22T11:24:00.000+01:00

Yellow is such a cheerful colour - I love it! and this Firecracker yellow set against it's deep red/brown leaves is a particularly vibrant combination. Also known as Hairy Loosestrife, unlike its cousin Purple loosestrife, it's vigorous but not invasive and sweetly fragrant. Here are the full set of the colours I sampled from it..!

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Sea Holly blue

2011-07-20T17:21:00.001+01:00

Keeping up with this colour notebook, I find myself looking at things more intently than I used to and have to restrain myself from delving into borders to sample colours that I like the look of (though I will admit I've found it impossible to resist a couple!). My intention was to document at least a years (four seasons) worth, but I've a feeling this colour relationship might go on even longer.

Well, it rained on St Swithin's day last week! - but I happen to know that Sea Holly is flowering at the coast at the moment and it likes sun, so, optimistically, maybe it's a good time to highlight it's hazy summer colours...

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Collaboration- Bucks Mills Cabin - A Modern Take

2011-07-18T18:07:00.000+01:00

Collaborating with three other designers in the visually interesting and inspirational setting of Bucks Mills Cabin (owned by The National Trust), was a challenging incentive to develop new site specific work. This needed to be sympathetic to the interior of the cabin and each other. So it was gratifying when it looked fantastic at the opening last Thursday, subtly transforming and enhancing the interior with nothing out of balance with either the original artefacts, nor the other designers' pieces.

If you haven't been to see the exhibition it is open from Friday 22nd - Sunday 24th July (Location and details here) and here's a few images showing some of the transformations we made..!

ceramics by RAMP

Lamp by pachadesign, ceramics by RAMP

Textiles by Sam Pickard, ceramics by RAMP

mirror by pachadesign, textiles by Sam Pickard

curtain by Sam Pickard, Ceramics by RAMP

Table by pachadesign, chair by Sam Pickard.

Thanks again to Jago from Proof magazine for her great review of our exhibition, also to Selvedge and Crafts magazine for kindly advertising our exhibition on their blog!

Colour from the season - Sheep's-bit blue

2011-07-16T11:55:00.000+01:00

It's been a hectic few weeks. The opening of our exhibition (pachadesign, Ramp and myself) at Bucks Mills cabin was a perfect success and amazingly the sun shone all day! Here's the link to Proof Magazine's online blog description of the opening, which is far more beautifully described than anything I could say! Come and visit - It's open today, tomorrow and next weekend only. I'll be posting a few more images over the next couple of weeks.

Also thank you to Jago of Proof magazine for the additional Supermodern floral write up of my work on this exciting new arts diary blog. Subscribe to receive email updates here. (I have!)

Sheep's-bit, what a great name for a plant! It's flowering right now around the rugged cliffs over the North Devon coastline - so called (I believe) because sheep like to graze on it. It's wearing these coastal colours at the moment..!

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the season - Giant Scabious yellow

2011-07-11T14:50:00.001+01:00

This giant perennial is extremely attractive and smells slightly of aniseed in the summer. The colour of the yellow on one website I noticed was described as lemon, well it really isn't that! The delicately scruffy pale yellow flowers are tinged with green and not at all the strong yellow of a lemon. More a Scabious yellow I'd say! It's loved by bees and butterflies, mainly Peacocks and Red Admirals but here in the notebook featuring a Bath White...

special thanks to bec and pete for letting me borrow this cutting!

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

The little things - The President's Prize!

2011-07-08T21:38:00.003+01:00

Flying high last friday when my Moths and Butterflies exhibit won the President's Award at the Devon Guild of Craftsmen in Bovey Tracey! It was a real honour to receive this, and particularly as it's their Silver Jubilee celebration year. Fantastic also to finally see the finished design displayed in their (architecturally designed) gallery space and not just from a ladder above my print table!

later spotting my little leopard moth as a very large banner on the side of the building was exciting too!

Finally thank you to Ekta Kaul for the lovely posting on her blog about my work. A very talented textile designer herself. You can follow her blog here.

...the little things in life that make the difference!

The little things - Bucks Mills Cabin

2011-07-06T22:48:00.004+01:00

A big thank you to Sammy and Glenn of pachadesign for inviting me to be part of their exciting exhibition which opens next weekend at Bucks Mills Cabin in the charming village of Bucks Mills on the North Devon Coast!

This tiny house, 'The Cabin' was the summer home of artists Judith Ackland and Mary Stella Edwards from the 1920's to the 1970's, and it's still an evocative time capsule of their lives together. Left exactly as it was in the 1970's, today it is owned and preserved by the National Trust (read their blog post about the exhibition here )

"The project with pachadesign, Sam Pickard and Ramp is a great way to bring the cabin to life in 2011. Involving local artists who are also inspired by the same coastline as Judith and Mary, 'A Modern Take' exhibition is the perfect opportunity to open the doors of the cabin to the general public and get people talking about contemporary craft and design, in a setting which is lost in a different era." - Hannah Jefferson from The National Trust.

Each designer taking part will select a few of the objects from the cabin and replace them with pieces of their own work, pachadesign (furniture), Ramp (Ceramics) and Sam Pickard (textiles). Here's a few images from the interior and exterior of the cabin, (prior to any objects being replaced!)...

The cabin will be open 15-17 & 22-24 July from 11am - 3pm.

and the designers...

www.pachadesign.co.uk

www.rampceramics.com

and myself..!

Colour from the season - Meadow Grass green

2011-07-04T15:23:00.002+01:00

Out and about at the coast with Chip this weekend, the sun was shining, the meadow grasses were swaying in the wind, the sea was fabulous green/blue and it was just one of those near perfect English summer days.

These grass colours give exactly that uplifting sunshine feeling...

gorse and coast

foxglove and sea

Chip and grass

(& happy birthday to Josse!xx)

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the season - Stinking Iris purple

2011-06-29T21:54:00.002+01:00

Seasonal colours don't stay around for too many weeks, I'm concentrating on the plants I like the idea of drawing as well as the colour interest - well, theres such a blooming abundance at the moment!

Stinking Iris (Iris foetidissima)... I documented the berry pods in January in a preserved salt air dried state when I came upon them at the coast, now here's the flower. It's a quiet sort of flower, easy to miss, but absorbing to draw. We inherited them with our garden and usually I forget about them until the structured pods open up in the Autumn revealing loud shiny orange berries. Named so because of the smell of roast beef when its leaves are crushed..?!

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

The little things - night and day

2011-06-25T14:09:00.002+01:00

Earlier this year I drew about forty butterflies and moths as a starting point for my next fabric collection and also for a Silver Jubilee exhibition at the Devon Guild of Craftsmen who have a wonderful contemporary Crafts gallery in Bovey Tracey, Devon.

Some of the drawings ...

Chose twenty-five for the final exhibition piece, these were to be printed as individual small canvasses which would hang together as one wall piece. The first one that I sample printed was a little spotty Wood Leopard Moth...

One down 25 to go..!

All twenty-five eventually printed (phew) and twenty-one of these, selected for the final mounted pieces. These make up one large statement wall piece of twelve butterflies and nine moths (photographed on my print table before they went off last week).

Designed to fly together but every one an individual..!

The exhibition 'A Silver Thread' opens at the Devon Guild of Craftsmen in Bovey Tracey, Devon on 2nd July and will be on until 4th September.

Colour from the season Woody Nightshade purple

2011-06-21T23:43:00.002+01:00

Green highly glossy poisonous berries, purple and yellow flowers, these are the colours of the Woody Nightshade. Brother to the deadly, uncle to the potato and unlikely cousin to the tomato (amongst it's numerous family members). Beware..!

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Blackberry flower pink

2011-06-17T12:01:00.001+01:00

Blackberry's are starting to flower here in Devon. As a child, Blackberry picking was part of our late summer weekend outings and I still have memories of my scratched hands and arms and the purple stains on our hands and mouths which went along with this! Not only did my dad make Blackberry wine, but Blackberry jam, Various bramble jellies not to mention the stewed fruit puddings (which I loathed!). The slim thorns which are angled downwards to do the maximum damage are extremely vicious. Here are a few of the fruity colours I discovered in the stems yesterday..!

(I would think that it's going to be a very good year for them)

..from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Rose Warm Wishes Pink

2011-06-08T23:53:00.003+01:00

I drew this rose while watching Mission Impossible. Not the kind of multi-tasking that I normally do - drawing and watching films, but it came about because of a shortage of time. Quite tricky, but I had someone at hand to translate the more complex parts of the film and I pretty well got the gist of it! I wonder if my sketch picked up an essence of the film? It was an amazing rose - It had dropped all it's petals the following morning - possibly the after shock..!

some of the incredible colours sampled from it - really summery and uplifting. Blooming in my mum's garden and mine too.

Warm wishes!

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

The little things - studio opening

2011-06-06T21:10:00.040+01:00

I'm opening my studio this weekend and next, during the
North Devon Festival for Art Trek 2011. It was with some trepidation I decided to do this back in February, as my studio was in complete dis-array and my dad was very ill.
But… I decided that there's nothing more galvanising than
a deadline to work towards, and especially if it involves a commitment to other people. So… I asked a few friends who are very good designers and makers to join me…
and here I am, a few days before the deadline, painting and generally giving the studio a bit of a face lift, with new work (still) in the making!

If you happen to be in South Molton, North Devon either this weekend (Friday 10th - Sunday 12th or next ( Friday 17th - Sunday 19th) then please call in - you will be very welcome and we will be here..!

The Venue...in North Street, South Molton, EX36 3AN - on the North boundary of St Mary Magdalene Church.
The sky will be blue!

Sam Pickard - Textile/Surface designer maker...

below:Vibernum print with snail...

also...
David Cleverly celebrated sculptural ceramics.
below - Two dog's meet...

Paula Slater MA (RCA)- lighting design creative.
below: laser cut paper lights...

Glen Marsdon MA (RCA)- Print maker extraordinaire.
below St. Pauls. Cyanotype and copy transfer original print.

Colour from the Season - Foxglove purple

2011-06-03T18:02:00.009+01:00

Common (wild) foxgloves are invading the banks and hedgerows at the moment. This one was collected from an area of cleared woodland where I spotted masses of them, humming with bumblebees.
Digitalis is used to make medicines for the treatment of heart conditions but it is also a deadly poison. All parts of the plant are highly toxic. It's slightly unnerving to handle plants which are this poisonous, especially when (as usual) I only discover the full degree of their toxicity after I've already drawn and dissected the plant.

the bumblebee who came into the kitchen to gather pollen from the foxglove while I was drawing.

(off to wash my hands again!)

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Rose petal dessert!

2011-05-30T13:12:00.001+01:00

Although I knew that Rose petals were edible - until today I hadn't eaten them. I've drunk rose water in Morocco and used rose oil in India. Today, I decided to try eating a few of the different rose petals from my garden. The white (bitter) portion of the petals should be removed first and the roses must be chemical and pesticide free. I read that they tasted of apples and strawberries and they do have something of that about them - but it's a more unique taste, very fragrant, perfect with desserts and champagne..!

For more info on edible flowers this is quite a good page. Rose petal tea anyone ?
(happy birthday Anya x)

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Oak leaf green

2011-05-28T20:23:00.001+01:00

It's Royal Oak day tomorrow and I know this because it was on the Today programme this morning. Apparently it was made so over 350 years ago by an Act of Parliament (click here for the full story). Things to do on this day include eating Plum Pudding, enjoying a pint of Royal Oak Ale and if at all possible in a Royal Oak Inn. The leaves of the Oak are a fresh and verdant green at the moment - wear a few sprigs to mark the occasion..!

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

The little things - studio magic!

2011-05-26T11:46:00.005+01:00

The little things in life that make the difference...

...Last weekend I went away and when I returned, I discovered that the fairies had cleared the entire end of the studio!

I should explain...

In a couple of weeks time I'm opening the studio (with a few friends) for two weekends during the North Devon Festival for Art Trek ( June 10th, 11th 12th and 17th 18th and 19th). My first studio opening for 5 years and hopefully the start of many more!

I'm busy printing for this as well as other exhibitions, just making the work has been pretty full on.

The "gallery" space at the end of the studio has been full of building materials left over from the floor being re-laid, so many boxes and wood and rubbish, not to mention a table tennis table, which I've been mainly ignoring! Just had no idea what I was going to do with it all!

I came home and discovered that it had all gone - like magic! ..now all that's to be done is finish printing, paint a few plinths and hang the work. Amazing!

(so huge thank you to Pete (and Josse) for that fantastic surprise!)

...today ( at the other end) getting on with some printing!

Colour from the season - Purple Beech purple

2011-05-24T21:07:00.000+01:00

Arm in arm in the woodland are the Purple and the Common Beech. Right now the colours of the bright green leaves (Common) look amazing against the glossy dark leaves (Purple) - seemed a shame to separate their colours when they were looking so good together, so here they both are...

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the season - Rosa Rugosa Pink

2011-05-20T13:43:00.002+01:00

"Capturing the freedom and graciousness of nature. "

The wild Rosa Rugosa is a fabulous rose. Chip and I pass a number of them on our morning walk. They have a very strong perfume, amazing hips in the autumn, are seriously bushy and some are this shocking pink colour.

Colour is what this notebook is about, but lately I've drawn the plant as well. Here, for the first time, I documented the growth of the drawing. All the photos below show stages where I considered stopping as I liked the drawing enough. There's always the thought that any more might just over do it and it could lose the vitality that I'm hoping to capture. Usually those stages are lost. By photographing them, I was able to re- visit these points in the progression and consider with hindsight whether I should have stopped there or not...?!

rough sketched outline and first ink marks - I liked this very unfinished effect.

outlining the leaves and detailing of the stamens, maybe I should have stopped here?

bringing depth into the centre of the flower, tonal wash added to the leaves.

All the outline pen work finished - a line too far?

tea break while the ink dried, then the first splash of colour.

(inspired!)
...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the season - Ribwort Plantain yellow

2011-05-13T18:16:00.005+01:00

Ribwort Plantain...to some people it's only a weed...actually its a wild flower. Well...I like the name, I like the structure and I like the colours, but most of all it's the nostalgic memories of firing the flower heads that I really love about this wild flower. In case there's anyone out there who hasn't enjoyed this simple pleasure - below you can see how to do it..!

(very noisy birds !)

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the season - Poppy Pink

2011-05-08T18:14:00.004+01:00

Crepe pleated Poppies and little stripy snails are invasive in the front garden at this time of the year. I used to fill buckets with snails and re - locate them a few miles down the road. There's no point flinging them into your neighbour's garden because they have an in built sat-nav (BBC's Homing snails experiment) and they really do come back..!

I love them - (poppies and snails!)

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the season - Clematis Montana Pink

2011-05-03T18:52:00.000+01:00

This Clematis Montana is in the garden, sprawling along a fence. When fully in flower and on a sunny day the whole garden smells of vanilla. A sensitive colour combination of chalky pink flowers, vibrant green to yellow stamens and the deepest red/purple wildly rampant stems. Need I say more..?

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the season - Rosa Maigold

2011-05-01T14:54:00.005+01:00

Masses of blowsy flowers at the moment from this very old thorny rose outside the front door. It never fails to be amazing and you can smell it halfway down the street. I've drawn it quite a lot as you see below! - it was the inspiration for my design - Rosetta Glory...

works in progress...

Rosetta Glory design for fabric and trays - shown here in the Indigo colourway...

May - my favourite month!

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the season - Mountain Cornflower blue

2011-04-29T09:32:00.001+01:00

This looks like a thistle but it's a perennial Mountain Cornflower. In parts of Europe it's been used by herbalists to make an eyewash for tired (blue) eyes. The form and colour of this flower are a bit special, forked blue petals sheltering pink centres and black lashes on the buds...

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

the little things - Ladybird landing

2011-04-27T09:17:00.001+01:00

The little things in life that make the difference...

...Just as I finished my notebook drawing (in the garden) of the Arum for my last colour post

the tiniest 2 spotted ladybird landed on it to check it out.

(no Aphids here!)

Colour from the season - willy lily red

2011-04-24T14:22:00.003+01:00

Arum maculatum is known as Cuckoo-Pint, Lords and Ladies, Starchwort and Willy Lily amongst it's other numerous names, it's also one of our more toxic wild plants - luckily I guessed that about it (looks poisonous doesn't it?), and so was quite careful with it.

At one time it was grown in Britain on an industrial scale for starch production, not only to stiffen cuffs and collars and (earlier) Elizabethan ruffs, but it's also very similar to Cassava flour for culinary uses. In which case it might very well make a good flour paste for resist printing before indigo dyeing.

Countrylovers website tells you how to prepare the flour from the root - experiment at your own risk!
It has quite a strange smell and these colours...

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the season - Fern brown

2011-04-22T21:40:00.004+01:00

Occasionally drawing is more difficult. Hard to know why - whether it's the British weather (erratic!) or just my mood (erratic?). If I don't rate a drawing, then I don't like looking at it - so I just rip it up and start again. I haven't yet given up on a plant. Six rhododendron leaf drawings bit the dust before I finally arrived at the one on my (March) post, and today this hairy unfurling fern gave me a lot of trouble. So, while not the best drawing I've ever done - it's the first which survived the re-cycling bin. Luckily this doesn't happen too often, just after I drew a Clematis which was no trouble at all...

?

(a Good Friday in the garden).

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the season - Tulip orange

2011-04-19T20:58:00.000+01:00

These tulips were a surprise discovery - I do love tulips, sometimes outrageous and always spectacular. Happily I was able to liberate this one for my notebook..!

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Rosemary Russet (apple blossom) pink

2011-04-17T22:02:00.002+01:00

I've had a notion that the blossom is paler this year. First I noticed it on the cherry tree next door, white this year - but I'm convinced it's normally pale pink blossom. Now the apple blossom is also white fully opened. I painted it pink in 2006, (when I designed Rosemary Russet fabric shortlisted for the British Design awards, 2007), as you see below in one of my original drawings added to this notebook page...but I can't be certain!

Josef Albers states "First it is hard, if not impossible, to remember distinct colors. This underscores the important fact that the visual memory is very poor in comparison with our auditory memory"... "Second, the nomenclature of color is most inadequate. Though there are innumerable colors – shades and tones – in daily vocabulary, there are only about 30 color names." Interaction of Color - Yale University Press (2006).

Perhaps Rosemary Russet pink will make no. 31!

(These were most of its colours on Sunday - it also had deep red buds and white petals).

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Elm green

2011-04-16T13:29:00.001+01:00

Many people still remember the Elm when it was one of the most dominant trees in the landscape before around 25 million were wiped out by Dutch Elm disease in the 70's and 80's. I just came across a project called The Great British Elm Experiment by The Conservation Foundation. If you're an organisation or individual who would like to plant a tree from a cutting taken from trees resistant to Dutch Elm disease for over 60 years, please contact them and help to re-populate the Elm into Britain!

Wafer thin papery seed pods and these fresh colours...

Snowdonia earlier this week.

Chip at Aber falls.

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - bluebell blue

2011-04-14T22:38:00.001+01:00

Enchanted fairy flowers, bluebells are two weeks early this year and the woodlands here are already scattered with their shades of blue. These are our native wild variety, delicate long tubular bells with curling petals...

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Tulip blue

2011-04-09T17:50:00.002+01:00

Loud and in your face red tulips. It's not often I don't like what I'm doing for this colour research, but I did find it hard severing the heads of these two tulips to draw, photograph and then dissect. I 've been looking for greeny blues for months... there's been nothing (except firmly attached to a peacock at the Hunters Inn), so I was ecstatic to find this blue in the centre of a red tulip, what a brilliant combination! - and a smudge of deep purple in it's anthers to boot...

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Euphorbia green

2011-04-07T13:00:00.004+01:00

More and more Euphorbia, I can't get enough of it - feathery fronds and bright green bracts. This unusual one has the tiniest vivid pink flowers. Black ink line (dip pen), no pencil sketching, just putting my trust in the pen (and the hand) - its a great way to draw, very immediate and satisfying. A touch of digital colour added to my sketch for my (slightly busy?) notebook page...

It's the sunniest Spring day today - and I'm feeling a bit euphorbic!

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook

Colour from the season - Japanese Rose yellow

2011-04-06T08:51:00.001+01:00

Raggedy pompoms of golden flowers and leaves which are zigzagged with almost concertina'd folding. This study combines a scan of the leaves with drawn flowers, I love the sunshine glow of the yellow...

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Viccy park Cherry blossom pink

2011-04-03T17:29:00.006+01:00

This Cherry blossom is a bit special to me. The branch was broken off on the ground (looking dead), a while ago when I was in Victoria park in Bath. We grew up 2 minutes from the park and to my sister and me, it was our garden...in fact we thought we owned it. Today is mother's day, and I sketched the blossom (which miraculously - magically even, came into flower kept outside in a jug of water) for my mum...

...to thank her for yanking me out of the duck pond when I was drowning, holding our hands tight and keeping us safe, turning a blind eye when she saw me smoking on the dodgems and my name sprayed on the back of the shelter, and loving us whatever. Perfect colours for her...

the day I found that branch - not a blossom in sight.

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Honesty pink

2011-04-02T10:17:00.001+01:00

Honesty - best known for it's papery flat seed pods, I just discovered this is what it looks like in flower. The name refers to the frankness of the plant showing it's seeds through the transparent pods. Saturated magenta and purple in the petals and heart shaped leaves - butterflies love it...

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Buzzard feather brown

2011-04-01T15:53:00.003+01:00

Buzzard feathers! So many of these beautiful birds circling in the sky around here - this is the first time that I've ever seen their feathers up close. This exquisite primary or wing feather is 17" long (small quill pen?) was interesting to draw. Here are the sampled colours from all the feathers. If you want to learn how to make a quill pen, this English Heritage video gives a simple and informative description...

no birds were harmed in the collecting of these feathers - thanks Trev

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the season - Rooks feather black

2011-03-31T09:04:00.003+01:00

These feathers were in my path when walking through the woodland a couple of weeks ago. All the quills had been cut off, which seemed a bit brutal. So I asked some experts in their fields(!) and both said probably rook or crow and most likely a Peregrine(falcon)capture, in which case it died quickly. These are the blacks and greys in the feathers...

"It crow'kt"- (TJ)!

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Tree leaf bud 2

2011-03-28T09:20:00.005+01:00

Thank's to the friends who've collected things for me to sample this month - Bec's dog's mercury, Trevor's feathers (not quite finished) and here below Ali's tree bud - don't know what it is yet? but I expect I'll find out before long.

March has been a bit of a mad month, starting new projects and finishing with old ones - An abundance of colours now that Spring's here, watch this space..!

Wearing blinkers

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Magnolia blossom white

2011-03-23T22:44:00.002Z

This was the most amazing magnolia tree, really old, and in a secret walled garden(!) I've sampled another magnolia - also lovely, but it flowered before I was able to draw it. (I'll add it's colours later). This one was less colourful - but had an almost reptilian quality to it, which I think I've caught. Definitely my favourite notebook drawing so far...

as mentioned above - following up with this delicate pink Magnolia. Raggedy petals and soft colours...

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Euphorbia green

2011-03-22T21:26:00.001Z

There are hundreds of varieties of Euphorbia, I have no idea which this one is, but it does have very nice bracts.

Most of my freehand drawing is done using a dip pen. It's more difficult to control and the pen can splat ink all over the place or just dry up half way through a line. In spite of this - or probably because of it, I much prefer it...

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Dogs Mercury Green

2011-03-22T15:39:00.004Z

The 'annua' species of this plant was used in the past as a purgative, diuretic and anti syphilitic. Although named after the messenger of the gods, this species (which is around everywhere at the moment), doesn't have quite so much going for it. It's a fresh green colour and a bit poisonous...

(thanks for this Bec!)
...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the season - Hellebore green

2011-03-20T23:04:00.002Z

The leaves and stem of this Hellebore I first documented in January. Now it's just started to flower - a stunning pale green and dusky red flower. Colours separated here as I really couldn't get them working together...

(for anyone missing the daffodils this year - I've added a couple of photos to my (March) daffodil posting).

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook

Colour from the season - Damson blossom

2011-03-18T20:26:00.002Z

This beautiful and very old Damson tree was in London and covered with lichen - quite a stunted sort of lichen compared to those I've sampled in North Devon, but it's probably good news that there's any lichen in London at all - as it doesn't usually survive well in urban air quality.
After I 'd drawn it and noted the colours - all the flowers came out! - first time I've had to add an extra row on a sample page - but decided that the yellow in those stamens was worth the effort...

(thanks Graf and Serena!)

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

The little things - In Vogue...

2011-03-16T14:04:00.000Z

"...Bring strong florals into the house through accessories such as trays printed with dahlias and chrysanths for cocktails..."

Fantastic to see my 'Dahlia & Chrysanths' tray is featured in this months Vogue magazine!! One of a series of botanical and geometric trays I designed for Swedish company Ary Trays last year.

for more info please visit their website at www.arytrays.com

"...There is little that can replace the joy of rushing out every day to find another petal unfolding and the heady scent of new blossoms..."

...my thoughts exactly!

Colour from the Season - Cherry blossom pink

2011-03-16T11:01:00.001Z

It's well into into the fifth month of noting down colours in my surrounding world, so far I've documented 235 colours from 87 different plants (well mainly plants).

Now there's so much colour around its getting hard to keep up with it. Suddenly blossom is coming out everywhere. Love these warm colours (when put together like this) which I found in this Cherry blossom growing near Victoria Park in Bath...

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

The little things...The English Home magazine

2011-03-13T16:59:00.000Z

The little things in life that make the difference...

...having my fabrics spotlighted in this months issue of The English Home magazine (April), alongside those of Emily Bond, Louise Body and Helen Amy Murray.

Colour from the Season - Hyacinth blues

2011-03-13T13:15:00.001Z

This hyacinth drawing is part of a botanical series which I designed last year. Lovely to draw as long as you like the intense smell of them close up - I have these in the garden amongst the masses of little grape hyacinths because I like the combined scale (and scent) that they achieve together. These were their colours last week...

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Black Pussy Willow

2011-03-10T15:46:00.002Z

An uncommon Willow - easier to draw than to describe. However I did stumble upon these incredible microscopic photos by Brian Johnston (the furry not the black variety) while I was researching it...

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Rhododendron leaves

2011-03-07T23:00:00.004Z

These leaves were all collected from the ground, under a gigantic leaved Rhododendron. The leaf I've drawn was twelve inches long, glossy green with furry underside in the darker of these shades of brown green and orange. I'm not a fan of Rhododendrons - but was completely captivated by the architectural and (colour) variations of the leaves of this one...

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Daffodil yellow

2011-03-06T18:52:00.005Z

Daffs are coming out in force right now and being outdoors is just so much more cheerful because of it. Here in Devon they are blooming everywhere - wild ones, miniature ones, fragrant ones, frilly ones - I chose these because they are a classic daffodil yellow...

A late addition - but for anyone who might be missing daffodils, here are a few from Hartland Abbey at the weekend.

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Leaf bud 1 (Wayfaring Tree)

2011-03-04T10:48:00.005Z

At the moment I've only been able to identify what tree this isn't! I'll have to fill in this small detail when there's a bit more on it to identify it by. I love this time of year - all the trees coming into leaf and the leaf buds are the most sculptural forms - they always remind me of the photographs of Karl Blossfeldt.

pen, ink, pastel, varnish...

(...its a Vibernum! - thanks Pete)

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Crocus (2nd time!)

2011-03-01T07:54:00.001Z

Loud colours aren't they these croci ?! - really clashing.
Month of hares, winds and jonquils - Hello March..!

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Forsythia yellows etc.

2011-02-26T21:10:00.002Z

Forsythia - one of those flowering shrubs that feels like an old acquaintance - maybe because there's been one in almost every garden I've ever lived in. This drawing was one of the details within my Rosemary Russet fabric design (shortlisted for the British design awards in 2007), very bright SPRING colours..!

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

The little things - Screen Printing

2011-02-26T18:50:00.001Z

The little things in life that make the difference...

screen coating and wash off room.

first test - screen emulsion, coating trough. sample screen.

small acetate (moth) test.

successful exposure (2nd attempt!).

1st print test.

to reveal printed moth on linen.

...screen printing in the studio again after 2 (frustrating) years -

Colour from the season - Hair moss green & brown

2011-02-25T18:23:00.001Z

Last Sunday was a bit overcast as February days can be. Walked up onto the cliff at Heddon's Mouth towards Woody Bay - where the view is amazing and always uplifting, even on the worst of days.

Hair moss, likes damp conditions - perfect for it then in North Devon. The (top) brown is the exact colour of a lovely old 70's Saab I used to own which sadly I had to part with when the engine started cutting out every time I turned right - not ideal in London.

the view

even Chip felt a bit chilly...

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.

Colour from the Season - Spiketail yellow

2011-02-23T23:00:00.005Z

An interesting plant that I came across by chance a few days ago while I was actually looking for Crocuses. It's origins are in woodlands in Japan and the Himalayas. I liked the colours - the green/yellow of the tiny flower bells against the rich red/brown of the branch - simple...

...from my seasonal colour sample notebook.