cork oak morning

a cool spot on a morning walk

yellow ribbons

here in the forest yellow ribbons appeared on trees...all sorts of different trees

not actually officially part of the hoof campaign to save the forest from the effect of proposed legislation
but it became a wide spread symbol of peoples discontent and protest



here is a painting i painted at the time its one of three and part of my 'summerland' solo show (more paintings here)

yellow ribbon 72x24 inches
mixed media on canvas

the yellow ribbons became the wood pigeons i see so often...flocks of them eating the acorns in the winter months

all but a very few of the ribbons were removed on febuary 19th at a victory day celebrating a temporary reprieve

but these are still here



attached to one of the roadside memorials of which sadly there are more


i see it most days...it makes me think

spreading the word for our woods

readers of this little blog will know i live in the centre of an ancient forest...the forest of dean...a magical mysterious place between two rivers and two nations

more and more people are starting to hear about the forest of dean as the uk wakes up to the coalition government’s proposals to sell off the forests of england

on a cold and snowy day i and over 3000 others attended a rally to voice their protests...this is a video of the event made by talent film maker woody morris...it captures the spirit of the event and the love we all have for the forest

Hands Off our Forest from woodrow morris on Vimeo.

i was too shy to be interviewed but the people who were made an excellent job of expressing the feelings of all...this forest is not for sale...it already belongs to all of us

please please sign the petition here
because where ever in the world you live one day you may want to visit our beautiful forest
and we would be happy to see you enjoy it without restrictions

more info about the local hoof campaign here

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

living in the forest

through every window i see the forest....and it sees me
the house faces east and west...its in a valley that runs north to south...
how different that is...
how aware of the day passing i am...from the early first light that i see bringing the forest in front of the house alive as i make my tea...tea to be drunk in bed with the forest in front of me...then down to the table where i sit at the computer....more tea as the sun reaches the deck and the still beautiful meadow....
the stargazer becomes the sun worshiper