Bright eyes and berries

The illustration below is taken from my Hedgerow Collection. The pattern around the central dormouse square was inspired by fungi.

Ted and I are making the most of the late afternoon daylight hours before the clocks change, it's so much nicer to walk in the sunshine!

The hedgerows are full of berries, I love the way that each shiny berry reflects the light, making the hedges glow.

Throughout my working life I have had to learn to store away reference material, it is inevitable that a Christmas commission has to be completed in mid summer and visa versa. How much more inspiring it would be to be able to paint in sync with the seasons. Now I have my digital camera it is possible to take hundreds of images and if I make a mistake, I can easily delete the image. I don't have to worry about wasting film anymore, so thank you to the brains behind the technology!

Hedgerow Collection

Some time ago I created a collection of Hedgerow inspired designs for Makower UK

The fabric collection is aimed at crafters and quilters and features images of owls, frogs, hedgehogs and mice alongside fruits, flowers and leaves.

It is always lovely to see how many different uses people make of these fabrics. Imagine my delight therefore, to receive a gift all the way from a crafter in Maine. TKR Designs make use of these three inch square "label" designs by sewing them into Balsam Sachets. They say that the Balsam Fir tree grows in Maine and the trimmings from the tree are used to make scented wreaths. They have a wonderful clean, fresh scent: I have hung mine on a drawer handle, as it is far too pretty to hide in a drawer! You can buy these hand made sachets from their on-line shop at Etsy.com