Thursday 23 December 2010

flourishing imperfectly

solstice was beautiful here in the forest and now its nearly christmas

i wish you all the joy of the season

like many i have been thinking of the past year and the future one

one of the new skills i want to learn is video making ...here’s my first effort...
very far from perfect

like many i don’t do the new year resolution thing...

but do choose a word for the year for 2011 its

flourish







so here’s to flourishing imperfectly!


music by dragonsfly - a musical landscape across world traditions, with distinctive celtic and eastern flavours groove-driven, passionate, entrancing...

yes indeed!

Monday 20 December 2010

Sunday 5 December 2010

tree of life




we have a very welcome visitor from australia
he has brought the sun and also a gift i was given in papua new guinea earlier this year
australian customs took the carving away to be sprayed for insect life

but now its here with me in the forest and i love it!



i was told the myth that the carving portrayed...
something about the smallest getting to the top of the tree on the backs of the other animals

but to me it is so much a tree of life

Friday 3 December 2010

success on the internet

december's issue of artists and illustrators magazine has an article about artist's websites and blogs

quite out of the blue i was asked to if i would mind being interviewed as part of the feature...of course not!

so here i am...




thank you so much to writer sam phillips and to artists and illustrators magazine!


and of course thanks to ian for the portrait

Sunday 28 November 2010

any guesses as to where i was?


this is the most photographed statue






















did you know?
....its the amazing vigeland park in oslo, norway
work of one man gustav vigeland...
all 758 figures were modelled in full size by him...no assistants...no students...
just him

showing what it is to be human...


a place i have wanted to see for many many years
and finally went with my lovely daughter


there were also my favourite trees



...lots of places to sit outside in the snow and relax!!


and of course ....shops!




Sunday 7 November 2010

samhain




i so loved painting the autumn roses in the previous post that i have continued the themes

in addition i was thinking about the celtic year...
the turning of the wheel
about the letting go of the past and welcoming the new



samhain 100x120cms

more about the celtic year in my other shared blog

Wednesday 3 November 2010

autumn inspiration

the sun has been shining and the forest is amazing
really the best autumn i have ever seen..and i will post some photos

i have been inspired by a wonderful gift i received from india
much much better photos of her eco dyed textiles on her own lovely website




also inspired by some roses i painted when fresh but much prefer now



not that have got around to much textile work yet...but am certainly thinking about it...

and this is what happened






autumn roses
30x30 inches




Wednesday 13 October 2010

autumn soul in a northern forest




memories of youth and happy nights in the amazing wigan casino


a glimpse of the autumn forest of dean


more love ...that's what we need!

painting workshop



recently i sent out an email to people on my list about a painting workshop i'm holding at my studio in the forest of dean

it had a wonderful response...and is now full....thank you

i am going to do a second one on tuesday 16th november

if you are interested please click here for more details
it would be lovely to see you

sally x

ps here is a video of me painting so you know what to expect

Tuesday 28 September 2010

armona island

i sort of knew i was going to like the formosa natural park
as we flew over it into faro for a short visit to portugal



a brief taxi ride from the airport to alhao port....
a ferry ride
and you're there...the island of armona


there's Carlos bar on the beach at the jetty

and a walk through the picturesque holiday cottages brought us to to our destination

casa bougainvillea




beside the lagoon...that filled and emptied with the tide..
especially high with the full harvest moon



the samphire glowed as the sun set





and the wise dog from carlos bar
came to visit





he knew i would come back

Friday 10 September 2010

lavender fields



last month i visited snowshill lavender fields

once again it was harvest time...
in fact the very last field was being harvested....

luckily the test planting area was still uncut




and there was an added bonus this year


i was looking at the photos and my sketches because i wanted to paint lavender today...

but maybe i want to paint sunflowers...
oh decisions decisions...
i'll go to the studio and see what happens

...or maybe roses...
i am listening to this