rosebay willow herb

From Pink to Pink – Wildflowers in the Valley

My walk this week follows on from one taken six weeks ago when the pink wildflowers in our local valley were rhododendrons – now the field of pink comes from rosebay willow herb.

rosebay willow herb

You could argue about the name of the colour either in the willow herbs, thistles or the rhododendrons and foxgloves, but they all sit within a narrow range of pinks/mauves/purples in Cwm Dulais. The rowan tree (also known as mountain ash) brings a touch of orangeContinue reading

new bracken

Rhododendrons Valley

Mauve and violet Rhododendrons used to almost fill one of our local valleys and although they were cut back significantly some years ago, my walk this week proves they are still there, and in much greater abundance than is shown in my photographs.

Rhododendron valley

The whole side of the valley used to be a mass of bright purple at this time of year and was a phenomenon to behold. I know rhododendrons are not native to Wales or the UK but, unlike Japanese Knotweed or Himalayan Balsam, I don’t generally have any issue with them, thoughContinue reading

Honeysuckle

Colour To Be Found and Hidden Reflections

It may be a wet late Autumn on my walk this week through this Dorset garden but there is still colour (other than greens) to be found as well as some hidden reflections. Red, purple, yellow, white – all natural colours compared to the bright plastics in my previous post.

hidden reflections

I love all the shades and tints of green as well, whether blurred in reflection or crisply in focus, the range is phenomenal. I have heard that we are more attuned, more perceptive of greens than any other colour – whether or not this is true, it is easy to believe.Continue reading

bracken detail

The Density of Bracken

The density of the bracken on the steep hillside down which I was climbing cautiously, is common on the open commons of the Welsh landscape. While bright green in the Spring and Summer, it changes the hills to bright red in the Autumn when the light is right.

Beneath the bracken

We are having August weather this year as if we were already in Autumn and the bracken is now beginning to change colour. However, it was still bright and thick on this walk back at the end of June. My poor knees were aching from the steep descent (I much prefer climbing) and I had to sit down to give them a break half way down the slope. Continue reading

The Concertina of Time

Time being what it is, i.e. flexible/fickle/short/relative, my walk this week will not be happening. I hope you miss the “walk” but still enjoy my posts through this week of Spring flowers. Most are from our garden and the images are a mixture of camera and iPhone photos.

First up – crocuses 🙂

crocuses

Fibre Connections – Metal and Weaving

Continuing with my textural link to StillWalks, these and other mini woven tapestries are available on my new Etsy Shop, ACMDesign – each one is unique. I have described them as “tapestry notes”, and in doing so, I was thinking back to when I started using wire in my work as an artist.

One of the first tapestries I wove that included barbed wire can be seen here. It and another are also on the Etsy shop. However, barbed wire is not the starting point for my work with wire and my interest in metal.

I originally started working with wire in a similar way to which I am now doing with these mini tapestries – as design notes. I think of them in the same way as I think of drawing in a sketch book, and as I work on them, I develop my feel for the wire and find out how it interacts with the soft fibre of the warp and weft. More on this tomorrow.

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