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| From "An Illustrated Address Book" |
My garden is looking more like a jungle at
the moment; every possible place is crammed with plants, many of which are
self-seeded varieties from the wild. I have Jacob's Ladder, Woodruff,
Buttercups, Grandmother’s Bonnets, Poppies, Cranesbill and Dandelions - weeds
to many but I like to think of them as welcome guests although I have to be a
little bit ruthless when they threaten to take over too much space.
Jacob's Ladder growing in my garden
another wild and weedy corner
I think I prefer our native woodland plants
to the highly cultivated specimens and have always enjoyed drawing them. I love learning about their common names and reading about their history, so when I saw a copy of
“Woodland Plants” for sale, of course I had to buy it!
I adore the art of Robin Tanner and the
writings of his wife Heather. Together they created several masterpieces;
“Woodland Plants” was the result of forty years of observation and drawing. It
is a celebration of the commonplace made remarkable by the design skills and
technical ability of the artist.
Each plant is reproduced to its actual life size, when you look at the illustrations you enter a timeless world. They never fail to inspire and delight, I particularly admire the many different tones he achieves with his pen and the detail he includes in the backgrounds.
Whilst I was shopping I saw this Country Alphabet too and I couldn't just leave it there could I?
I love that pattern too, don't you?
June is a month of gardens and flower
shows, on a recent visit to Manchester I was both delighted and pleasantly
surprised to find that my little “Herb Garden” book was included in an
exhibition called “Flower Show” at MMU. You can read a little about it here-
