Create with Nature

Peak Spring!

We really are in peak, high, full, all the superlatives, Spring! And all week I’ve felt I was in danger of not having celebrated it here, seeing as again, I’d got scared of the computer. It wasn’t that the words weren’t there, I’ve been scribbling them in my notebooks, just that I wasn’t opening the computer lid.

But, I’m here now, though while it was started on my computer, I'm now finishing it on my phone from a campsite. So excuse any editing, grammar, or spelling mistakes please!

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Noticing

I don’t know whether it’s because Spring was a little slow in getting started, whether it is because I have been in full noticing mode due to it now being my sole occupation, or simply whether Spring has been so floriforous (is that a word?) this year.

Everywhere I go, all the signs I have been so desperate for since January are in full swing. Spotting those first snowdrops seem so long ago, now my garden is in danger of running away from me and the footpaths are so overgrown I am constantly rubbing plantain leaves on stinging nettle stings and having to check Bridget the dog is still with she as she disappears under the foliage!

The world seems to have disappeared under icing, along hedges, and roadsides Hawthorn trees have been decorated with hefty dollops of icing and the verges appear gently dusted with icing sugar as the cow parsley takes over. This really is my highlight of spring (though I say that every time a new sign appears!) The way they take over is why they are seen by some as invasive and why councils get strimmer happy but the billowing, airy clouds fill my heart with calm and joy.

Meadows have turned a golden yellow under a blanket of buttercups waving their petals to the sky. So much nicer than the fields of rape plants, despite being the same colour.

But while these might dominate at first glance, slow down, look carefully and there’s plenty more to see, tiny white and blue speedwell flowers occupy the lower levels asking with clover, pink and white Campions gracefully hold their heads high. What might be dismissed as grass, is actually many different species, some with their seeds tightly packed, others with arching limbs swaying in the breeze.

All this flora means the animal life has also burst into the scene. I’ve spent time with my morning cup of tea watching gorgeous iridescent busy beetles scuttling around my garden path, usually too fast to get a photo, but this one nicely posed on a leaf for me, maybe it hadn’t woken up properly yet?

However I am a bit worried, my garden is usually full of buzzes by this point, especially now the foxgloves are starting to come out, with bee bums occupying each flower tube. I usually spend hours desperately trying to photograph bees, hoverflies and other insects in their visits to my garden. But this year, it’s all a bit quiet. Partly my garden is a bit lacking as I haven’t been able to do as much and for some reason many of things that usually self seed unfortunately haven’t. But I don’t think it’s just that. I have more foxgloves than a garden centre and they are empty. I fear it’s more about less insects, maybe the conditions haven’t been right? Maybe its a sign of the insect collapse? I really hope it picks up, the only thing that seems to in good numbers are the Holly blue butterflies adding a flash of blue as they flutter through (they also lay their eggs on ivy of which I have a wall full).

These were taken during the lockdowns in 2020

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Creating

All this inspiration, and to be honest, the panic ensuing from the looming deadline of the Henfield Open Garden and Studios, has meant I am spending a lot of time covered in ink. My dining room, which hosts my art table, is now a full art studio, with the living room floor also commandeered into action as a drying space.

After months of trying to get the abstract landscapes in my head onto paper, time spent doodling in nature reminded me that actually I really like and am good at drawing flowers. Last year some of my favourite pieces were simple ink silhouettes of wild flowers, so at the moment, I’m mostly concentrating on this. My art table has vases of wildflowers and my camera roll is full of photos detailing the intricate details of our wonderful native flowers.

I find the process of close noticing really calming, observing how each species has it’s own repeating features, the number of petals, number of stems leading up to the flowers, the way the buds are wrapped in protective sepals or how these curl underneath once the flower is open. Yet each flower is still unique. We may think every buttercup is identical, but the way the individual petals are arranged, the exact shape of each petal is different. And noticing these and translating it onto the paper is what makes the drawing more interesting and realistic.

Welsh Poppies

The buttercups have been particularly fascinating, and a little frustrating as they also change shape depending on the time of day! A flower I started drawing in late afternoon, will then have closed an hour later! I’m hoping to do a set of these, so you can have your own butterfly meadow in ink form!

I’ve also been painting wooden slices. There are a pair of majestic beech trees in my parent’s front garden, but they unfortunately have the main electricity supply cables for the road going through them so they had to be carefully trimmed. But, waste not, want not, my Dad sliced the branches into coaster size pieces and I’m now painting these up with wildflowers. I’m going to offer them either with a hanging hook, or plain. Which would you prefer?

I have also spent quite a lot of time, trying to do cow parsley justice. They are so intricate, yet giving the impression of the full yet airy umbellifers is hard! Hence I've given myself a break from them as it was beginning to turn from therapy into torture! I’ll report back, I will crack it, I’m determined to have a big drawing of them hung at the open studios!

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Reading

I’ve been reading a lot of Richard Mabey. His nature writing career has spanned … decades and his style is exactly what I like. A mix of excellent observation woven in with personal experiences. It is his voice that leads you through the natural world. I know some prefer plain information based non fiction, but I like reading how someone else is experiencing these amazing places and wildlife. It takes me there better than a plain description.

This is also one reason I am also enjoying Megan McCubbin's book, An Atlas of Endangered Species. You might know her from Springwatch and Animal Farm. And it is this voice that comes across, I have her voice in my head as I read which I love. I don't want a dry academic read, however important and scientific the information. And full of wonderful information it is. I have always soaked up facts and only two chapters in, there have been many. As I sat in the garden, I read this amazing fact.

Unfortunately, as I said earlier, there haven't been enough for me to carry out my own study of it, but I will report back when I do.

I was lucky enough to get this is my fabulous local library just as it came in the shelves, but you can buy here on UKbookshop (or any other bookshop)

I'll also drop in here that Springwatch (bbc2) returns on Monday for more wonderful doses of the wildlife on our doorstep.

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So, I hope you enjoy the rest of spring, do spend some time looking closely at some flowers, especially our wonderful native ones. Hopefully I'll be back next week, but as that will be June, it will be summer!