Hello, I’m Rachel. I write about nature and creativity to encourage connection and wellbeing. In these regular Create with Nature posts, I write about what I’ve noticed, what I’ve created, and what I’m reading (and watching), all in tune with nature’s seasons.
Hello! How are you? Depending on which part of the world you are in, I think we are all firmly in the current season, no “Is it still winter/summer”. In the UK Mother Nature has been in full tantrum mode and ensured that all areas have fully felt her wet and windy wrath. I hope everyone reading is safe, dry and warm.
But my learning from all this weather is exactly what I nudge you to do. Nature’s glimmers are still to be found and we need to (safely) embrace the weather, our instinct to hibernate, and whatever else is going on and to get outside.
Noticings
The fungi cities in my parent’s garden, the red clover still providing colour amongst the seedheads, the simple beauty of an autumnal bramble leaf next to the pavement, the first stirrings of starling mumurations.
I was flicking through the introduction to ‘Light rain sometimes falls’ [Lev Parikian] earlier this week and was reminded that the Japanese, famed for their special visits to see Cherry blossom, also have a word for going to visit autumnal colour - momijigan. Why doesn’t English have words like this!?
And we did exactly this - to the garden at Sheffield Park which was originally designed for autumn colour. It was a wonderful rainbow of trees from all round the world dressed in shades of yellow,orange and red, perfectly mirrored by the lake.
But, as nice as it was, including spotting different seedpods and sitting amongst the towering trees, well, it all just felt a bit fake. I didn’t get the same sense of awe and connectedness that I do walking in a real forest. Maybe if we’d had the energy to go a bit further off the main route around it might have been different but I think I prefer a bit more random and messiness.
As I said, mostly it’s been quick trips between downpours lately. A lesson in getting out, even when you don’t feel like it because you’ve noticed that the sun has unexpectedly come out. With reminders to always have all my senses open, to pause and let nature reveal itself.
One of these trips, up to the landfill site for a neccessary dog walk was exactly this. The weather was much nicer than I thought it was and I took advantage of Bridget the dog doing her usual standing protest at being removed from the sofa to stop and just listen. Stood in the dip, while only a couple of minutes from a busy road, you are surrounded by scrub and trees, the wind softening the traffic. I tuned into the birdsong, wondering what I’d hear. At first it was mostly unidentifiable (at least to me) alarm and contact calls. I got out the Merlin app to see if it could hear anything I couldn’t. It’s almost as if it acted as a wizard conjuring the birds into song. First robin, dunnock and wren and then, really? Cetti’s Warbler? Edging closer to the scrub, my ears certainly could pick out a specific unknown tune, but a Cetti’s? I didn’t know whether the app was just bored and so throwing random ideas out? But three separate recordings gave the same answer and it sort of sounded like the those on the internet. While not a rare bird, the only reason I know of it is from bird themed nature memoirs. Hidden in the scrub I didn’t have much chance of a sighting so I’m going with the app and adding Cetti’s warbler to my list of landfill site spottings.
It was Bridget that enabled in the next addition to the landfill list. This time is was because she was doing a very thorough sniffing of a clump of grass and so I stood enjoying the (rare) sun on my face. Then, my eyes noticed a fluttering on the ground ahead. A blackbird? What bird scurries? A mouse then? At which point it bounced across the path, definitely not a bird nor a mouse - long, thin and low. Stoat or weasel? With Bridget still sniffing, a quick google search revealed probably (due to size, didn’t clock tail colour) a weasel! I just can’t think what else it could be. The bit we were in is not actually the old landfill site, but a copse on the chalk downland next to the racecourse so perfect habitat.
Both of these sightings have made me reevaluate the richness of this spot. Yes, it’s in/on the edge of the South Downs National Park, yes, it’s environmentally important chalk grassland, but it’s proximity to the city and heavy usage for dog walking meant I didn’t really think it had much to offer in terms of creatures. I know it has wonderful diversity of wildflowers, but now I’m thinking about what other unseen species there are going about their lives in the undergrowth. I might even manage to get some photos of them!
It’s not just been land based though. A trip to the beach after a recent storm for a beach clean, turned into a wildlife rescue and art session. Amazingly there was little rubbish, but sadly there were lots of stranded but still alive sea creatures. While my friends scampered about returning starfish, shellfish and crabs back to the sea, they brought the deceased ones to me to turn into a creative memorial. It’s always wonderful to get the chance to look at these things close up, I’d never noticed that the centre of a crab’s underbelly is a heart shape (at least this species)!
It is sad to see so many lives ended, but after being part of my salty sculpture they will continue in the cycle of life to be dinner for the gulls and other seabirds.
Mother Nature unfortunately didn’t give us long before the next rain shower came in, but just long enough to find this curious thing!
A sea anemone? A sea anemone that had eaten a scallop? Then, it took offence to being photographed and snapped itself shut! Still alive then! It was returned to the sea and we consulted our salty community and our resident marine specialist, who happened to be in a meeting with a marine biologist at that point revealed that it was actually a scallop with a sea sponge living on it! We never seen, or heard of such a thing, but the internet provided more information. It seems indeed that some sea sponges latch onto scallops as a place to grow, but the scallop can benefit from this relationship as it is thought it might protect it from predators trying to prize it open. Isn’t nature amazing? It shows it’s always worth looking closely while out, even in what seems a very unnatural landscape.
Creating
My experiments with mixed media have continued but I first I had to deal with a creative block, with green sketching saving the day. I’d known I didn’t really have any project or themes yet, nothing had particularly inspired me, only what medium to use. So after a grumpy couple of hours not achieving anything, I grabbed my sketchbook and fleece and sat in my parent’s garden drawing leaves. I wasn’t looking for anything in particularly, I just hate not having a successful art session and sketching outside usually cheers me up! I then retreated to the sofa to scroll Pinterest and Youtube for further inspiration. I’ve been particularly inspired lately by the mixed media collage of Claire Hankey and the atmospheric abstracts of Carolyn J Roberts . As I’ve discussed before, I find looking at other artist’s work often inspires me. It isn’t that I’m then copying their art, or style, but it nudges my creativity into action, or down paths I hadn’t thought of.
Then the next day, armed with my leaf sketches and flutterings of ideas, I set to, cutting, tearing and sticking, then dripping and swishing (yes - very technical art terms!) Soon, sketchbooks and pieces of paper lay drying across the table and I was feeling much happier than the day before. I still don’t quite know where I will go with it all, there was still a mix of landscape and botanical inspired pieces, but the point was that I am finding a way a using a mix of materials and methods to fulfill the ideas in my head. I haven’t yet mastered the watercolour technique for the soft expansive abstract landscapes I so covet, but this session started me down the path of the soft, evocative multi layered abstracts that have also been inspiring me and seem to offer more opportunity to say what I want to about the natural world.
So, watch this space! I’m armed with a pile of gelli prints and itching to get back to it once I’ve finished this post!
Reading
Unfortunately my brain has been a bit fuzzled this week so I haven’t done as much reading. I’ve started ‘Orchard’ by Benedict Macdonald and Nick Gates. I’ve had it in my to be read pile for a while and it’s actually proving perfect at the moment. A gentle but interesting and eye opening journey through a year in an ancient orchard. One full of life and biodiversity having been managed for nature just as much as fruit production. They too are wonderful nature noticers, knowing that it takes time to spot what is really around you. Their observations and surveys are proving, as many re/wilded sites are, that many of the boundaries we have assigned wildlife, that this bird only lives in this habitat etc is not necessarily true, that if we give them the space and a wider choice, they show their true preferences. To hack that familiar saying, if we leave it (to nature), they will come. Their descriptions of not just the history of planted orchards, but reminders of their original wild cousins show that fruit trees have always been a vital part of the landscape, playing important roles in the lives of many creatures at all point in the life cycle. I’m seeing this myself as two local community orchards are being overseen by the local Permaculture trust, being managed both for people and wildlife.
In terms of watching - I thoroughly enjoyed the alternative autumn nature programme 8 out of 10 bats that Chris Packham, Megan McCubbin and other wonderful naturey people put together on Youtube for the last 2 weeks. They broadcast from two locations - Dundreggan in Scotland and the British Wildlife Centre in Surrey, with lots of films from other locations around the country. A wonderful mix of excellent wildlife photography, interesting knowledge and reporting on important environmental and conservation issues, mixed in with jokes and poetry, carried along by the presenters boundless enthusiasum. It’s still available to watch so do check it out. It was all self funded and put together by a small team so it really shows what can be done. And their viewing figures show there is still a huge amount of interest in programmes like this so I hope they do more and that the BBC take notice.
Pheffhh, another long one! I always set out intending I’ll just do a short one, then find I have lots to say. So, thank you for reading, especially having made it all the way to the end. I’m still trying to get back into a routine of doing these regularly so it means a lot that people are reading, commenting and liking what I’m doing. See you next time.