Round and round the garden

Back to Wildegoose Gardens, for one of the regular artist meetups which I've been part of, for over two years now. Thankfully, in a week of abnormally high temperatures, last Wednesday was a little cooler, (at 26C/78 max) and there was a decent breeze all day. We started the day in the little cabin café at the top, for coffee and catch-up, before scattering ourselves around the gardens to work.

Now we are coming out of Spring, and the first summer flowers are splashing the beds with bright colour. 

Wildegoose is a modestly sized garden compared to some, but it more than makes up for it in design and planting. Winding paths lead you into secret areas, and there are several seating areas where you can have a quiet moment and take in the scenery. Brown Clee Hill is just visible in the distance, long and brooding. 

It's a challenge to find just one thing to paint in this glorious exuberance; I always wander round for some time, taking it all in and soaking up the atmosphere. 

Today, I needed a shady spot and found a secluded archway cut into a hedge, where I sat for the rest of the morning, doing a scribbly study of light and shade. My work is normally pretty tight and controlled, so this was playtime.

Just as it was starting to get properly hot, it was lunchtime and we began emerging from our chosen spots and headed up to the cabin, like homing birds heading for the same nesting ground. At the top of the gardens is a long, Georgian greenhouse, which still has the original heating pipes installed. However, today was not the day for a greenhouse of any size, no matter how interesting. 

After we'd devoured our packed lunches, chatted and had a rest, it was back to the afternoon heat for round two. I picked the pretty little white bench under some trees, where one of my favourite views lay straight ahead. 

        

 As is the way, the afternoon flew by, and I produced another pleasing scribble. 

After a final wander, it was time to re-group and share our sketchbooks - one of the best parts of the day; seeing what everyone else has created and discussing the various techniques used.  

Apart from the pleasant social side of these days, I find that working loosely and from real life always teaches me something new, which I can then incorporate into my other work. I've begun painting properly again, with a view to getting things in galleries, and although my art is purely imaginative, it has to have element of realism, such as the light and shade, to make it believable.  

At the moment, I'm in the middle of 'Swallow's Return'. It's at the dreaded halfway stage, where it seems that it will never be finished or look as I imagined.  But like a winding garden path, which goes round and round, it will get there - in the end. 

Witney and the Magic Roundabout

Last weekend saw me back in Oxfordshire again, at the Witney Sewing and Knitting Centre. Witney is a bit of a 'home town' for me; I've known it most of my life, since I first moved to the area when I was 19. I haven't been back there since Andy and I upped sticks and moved to Shropshire, so I was ambivalent about seeing it again. However, I did the stiff upper lip thing and didn't have a meltdown, but concentrated on my workshop instead.

It is a  lovely space to work in with great all round lighting and people quickly started doing the pattern of the day, which was my old 'Doglets' pattern from 'Mollie Makes' (issue 13 2012). Another odd thing as I was moving away from the area when it was published and so much has happened in the ensuing four years.

However, lovely doglets were made, and amended in some cases. I'm not a stickler for people sticking to my patterns and if people want to go off piste, I actively encourage it.  My next workshop is down in Hampstead, London on Saturday October the 1st at the Village Haberdashery. It's limited to six spaces and there are a a couple of places left, so if anyone fancies it, the booking link is here.

I was away for a  couple of days and stayed with friends. There was decent beer.

 And fish. 

And a vintage 'Magic Roundabout' playground which was dragged out of the attic and played with. And photographed.

Back in Shropshire, I have been spending most of my time working on my new independent website, 'Lost Arcadia' where I am now selling my paintings and needle felt work. My latest small painting 'Country Church' is a nod to my old home of the Cotswolds and the myriad small, sweet churches buried within it's rolling landscape.

 

Little pond

This is how the so-called 'herb patch' looked a couple of weeks ago, still with the plug-ugly plastic coated washing line post firmly cemented into the earth. So as the weather had picked up, I did my scorched earth weeding and Joe got to work with Brian-next-door's sledge hammer.

After a long tussle and removing lots of rock debris, we tugged and pulled and shoved and eventually we dragged the monster out. We could just about manage it between us. 

Unfortunately, someone DID like the overgrown mess and we found this lovely toad nestling in a pile of bricks. We left her undisturbed, but she vanished overnight. We are hoping that she has found a nearby home.

By the end of the day we had almost cleared everything.

 

The garden originally came with two little old troughs which were destined to be made into miniature ponds. This is a fairly ordinary cement one, which had been upside down since I moved in over three years ago. I had assumed it was a block of stone until Joe turned it  over and discovered the secret.

The previous owner told me that this bigger one was an antique 'pony trough' which came from a nearby town, but then he told so many fibs about the property that I am inclined to take that with a pinch of salt. It is a nice old thing, anyway and had been languishing uselessly in the drive.

The fun part was putting the stones and pebbles in and filling it.

 

By now it was early evening and the cows had made their way up the field. They seemed curious, but I don't think they cared about our lovely little pond.

The ponds have provided a source of constant amusement. Despite having to empty them and paint them with concrete sealant. Because we didn't realise that the stone could leak. But since then the garden birds have been enjoying the novelty too. Joe has taken quite a few photos. At first the blue tit was the sole bather. 

But then a tribe of sparrows moved in and claimed both ponds for their own. 

Anyway, to cut this long pond-y story short (forgive the length, neither of us have ever had ponds before), this part of the garden is finally starting to be ours and looking like a proper place. Not a wilderness of weeds. 

Today however we have had rain and I went back to proper work, heralding autumn with this little painting, 'Acorn Cottage' which (naturally) is for sale in my other Etsy shop, 'Lost Arcadia'. *NOW SOLD*