Catching Light and Colours - Spring in Devon 2019

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I write my blog for my own pleasure and in the hope that one day my grandchildren will be able to learn a bit more about who their grandmother is. This sentiment also applies to my children who have not as yet read it as I suspect they think that they already know me.

Down here in Devon where I live, we have had days and days of very strong winds and endless lashing icy rain. It is March and as the saying goes - 

The North Wind doth blow and we shall have snow,

And what will poor Robin do then, poor thing?

He'll sit in a barn and keep himself warm

And hide his head under his wing poor thing.

Not today - today - Sunday - we had a reminder of the beauty of a Spring day. So I gave myself an day off and took my little car out for a jaunt.

First I stopped of at Waitrose in Teignmouth to gather the ingredients for a little picnic - baguette, goats cheese, grapes and where I am suddenly stopped in my tracks by the sudden beauty of supermarket flowers - white orchids. 

Two very elderly ladies are chatting away over cups of tea as they sit in front of this magic moment. I hesitate to disturb them but it's simply too good to miss so I lean towards them and say 'Excuse me, do you mind if I quickly take a photograph of the flowers in front of you?' But they are completely oblivious to my presence or my voice. Sometimes I think that perhaps I am invisible after all - a figment of my own imagination. 

Well, I am delighted - a moment caught in time for ever - a moment to share with people I've never met. I may be a figment of other people's imagination but the image isn't. I get back into my by now quite hot car. Its sudden warmth envelops me. I love that feeling. It always stops me in my tracks. I never drive off. I always sink into that atmosphere. It is another form of happiness - the number of which seem to be infinite. 

Waitrose work with a company called Crocus who supply a lot of their plants. I need to do a separate post for Crocus who are really inspiring - take a look at some of their work at Dorney Court. 

https://www.crocus.co.uk/dorney-court/ 

I drive on and over the bridge that crosses the River Teign at the mouth of the estuary connecting Teignmouth, (which was the last place in England that was invaded by a foreign power in 1690) with Shaldon, where if I could I would stop and wander along the beach for a spot of beach-combing. But I don't see a parking space - there are very few in Shaldon though there is an enormous car park at the other end of the village. There is a zoo here I believe. I have seen the sign. I do not like zoos so have never been but maybe I will visit it before I draw too many conclusions. 

There are some old details of Shaldon Bridge her that shows an engraving of the bridge and rather strangely of three men casually sitting on the roof of a house looking across the river. Three Men on a Roof

There are all sorts of hidden places to explore here so I'll leave it for another day and get on my way.Onwards to Labrador Bay - to look for images for paintings - photo references 

- the horizontal lines that shift and blend into one another across the sky and the sea beyond - against that spiky Hawthorn Hedge that's only just beginning to show splashes of bright . In the foreground - hundreds of the self-seeded biennial Angelica Archangelica - commonly known as Wild Celery - now  at knee high - quietly growing through the grey days of a South-West Winter - already scenting the air with that fragrance. A certain fragrance that was so beloved of ancient poets who wore wreaths of it around their heads to bring them inspiration - quite literally. 

Next I head off towards towards Paignton or Peintone as it was known as in 1086 and specifically to Roundham Head - a place that I've grown rather fond of. And a place that was built into - actually into the rocky red sandstone cliff face to stop it eroding away in 1930. 

Now there is a network of weather worn narrow promenades that wind their way zig-zag fashion down to a row of painted wooden beach huts - this part of the bay has a certain faded elegance, it is peaceful - a step back in time. 

Most of the wooden seats have metal plaques on them remembering people who have loved this place and have since died. This one is set into the wall next to a fire hydrant.

I have always loved to choose a seat to sit on so that I can silently chat to the person named on the plaque. I bet I'm not alone. Mind you I am not a part of their family so maybe the numbers are not as high.

I looked up Peggy Denston - she is there to be found on the internet. I also found an interesting lead that has nothing to do with Peggy but that caught my interest. It's about archaeology in the 1920's and 30's and how it had once been a preserve of the wealthy and how it was now being pursued by people who didn't go to public schools. Contoversial in its day.

This Robin is not hiding away with his head tucked under his wing today though with English weather he may be back in his barn tomorrow. 

I believe that the Hairy Footed Flower Bees live here and when the winter is mild they are busy on most days. It is said that Robins like to eat them. 

Perhaps the one singing in the video has in fact already breakfasted on one or is waiting for some more to emerge from a late hibernation as today is so warm and sunny.

I almost stumbled across one as I walked up this path. A spider was trying to wrap it up in its thread. I intervened and set it free. Very hard not to.

I have heard that there are traces of an old Victorian walled garden round here. I shall come back another day and hunt for them. 

I carry on and walk along the paths. There are many people sitting quietly by themselves. This I can really appreciate. I also enjoy my own company. Being on your own gives you the space to muse and to discover. Other people have a habit of talking rather too much. I know do. 

I'm headed for Coleton Fishacre this morning to see the Magnolias and Camellias in flower before the clouds come back and the sunlight is lost behind the grey once more.

Sidelines 
whilst searching - I discovered this - snippets of interest that may lead who knows where.

Looking Forward to May and June

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No time to blog I have been taking advantage of early mornings and long evenings and for once - perfect weather - blue skies and scudding clouds. So much to catch up on.

This is the time of year when gardens are open via the National Garden Scheme - the N.G.S - so with the yellow book at hand I set off for Spitchwick Manor - nestled on the undulating edge of Dartmoor in wooded valleys. 

One of my ideas of heaven is a walled garden with greenhouses - Victorian greenhouses. I would happily live in a walled garden.

And at Spitchwick Manor the walled garden is tucked down into the landscape for protection from the elements of winter weather - strong prevailing tree bending winds and slashing, lashing, icy-cold rain. Consequently you will find the orchard is also tucked behind the granite walls - perfectly pruned old apple trees geometrically spaced within their own neat round islands of earth set in lawns of roughly mown, daisy strewn grass.

The walled garden in also a sunken garden on the side where the entrance is. From the outside you find the usual magical wooden door set within the wall and as you push it open are quite surprised to discover that stone steps descend. It makes perfect sense as it embeds itself into the ancient landscape once and for all time. As walled gardens go, this is on a miniature scale. Initially you look over the tops of the apple trees across the top of the walls towards the sea. And then you enter another world.

I love old gardens and all the things that go into the making of them. I don't know if this knife sharpener is still in use as most shears and spades are now stainless steel and as far as I know cannot be  sharpened. I may be wrong. This one is for sharpening plain steel tools, the kind that go rusty when left in the damp night air. All tools ought to be washed, dried, oiled and put in their own place - that is if you have a place to put them.

Storage - essential and also a place for returning swallows to nest. 

More storage - the potting shed - another essential for a well run garden and a place to wile away the hours. Robins also nest here.

I will make a bench like this for 'potting-on' on sunny days. I am planning my next garden, where-ever it may be, composing lists of reminders of details and aspects of things that I love to create. 
Once again a little heaven on earth.

 And Azaleas for perfect beauty and drifting evening fragrance.

Looking Forward and Back

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Some of the photos I have of my older pieces - images that in particular have proved so well liked by the people who buy my work - this is after all how I make my living - that I feel that I want to continue with them.

I used to make only one painting per idea - I am about to increase that to two - one for earrings and one for pendants and brooches. I need more pendants to send with orders to galleries to make their displays even though it is always earrings that seem to out sell everything. Personally I prefer brooches but I know that I am in a minority. That is how I began - making literally a fragment of a painting to wear.

No two pieces of jewellery ever have an identical image as I build up many layers and by doing so leave traces only that emerge or are softened into the background again and again as I add more colours or more shades and hues of one colour. It is a delicate and prolonged process - often 30 layers on a painting + silver, copper and gold leaf - or foils - they work very differently.

This brooch was an interpretation of a blend of impressions - the shifting turquoises of the sea - I am in Capri - and the horizon, a memory of a ceramic bowl of snowdrops from my childhood that evoke different things to different people - as in the universal power of abstract impressionism.

For me I see the silver columns of ancient Roman pillars catching sunlight fleetingly or perhaps moonlight in the present moment and their imprint as soft shadows from the past.

Immediately my mind takes off into a world of imagination. The snowdrops are no longer flowers, they are travellers by sea - Phoenician traders, refugees...

It is also an air of Japanese prints - anyway I love it and I will do a series of re-creations from the past and see where that takes me.

Also some larger wall pieces.

July and August 2016

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I have neglected my blog, thought about it often, planned entries in my mind and then life moves on and time flies by. Such is summer.

My new home feels like home at last and that is a wonderful and a long sought for feeling. There have been lots of temporary stops on the way, many adventures and all sorts of encounters. I've developed the ability, as we often have to do, of being able to cope with inordinate amounts of stress by continually calling on the extraordinary innate drive that we all have and then searching for the silver lining in every situation, discovering much happiness, peace, contentment and a certain joie de vivre in unexpected places. Sometimes those silver linings are pure gold.

Settling in initially also held an extended period of total physical exhaustion. The search and the long journey over led to an unexpected enforced hibernation. Everything slowed down and a deep recovery began. It seemed as if I had run out of adrenaline and all of my vim. I could nothing other than sleep and rise once a day to make leek and potato soup. Perhaps if I were Jewish it would have been chicken. I craved salt and absolutely no sugar. My body dictated the rules. I have a deep respect for the intelligence of the body. Some people say that the body is our slave, if this is so then I've given my slave its freedom and we are now very good friends.

Spring and I emerged at much the same time and I set about bringing the old walled garden back into life. It had been neglected as a garden and simply used as storage for canoes and bicycles. It looked grey and dismal and I sympathised and did what all gardeners are compelled to do - looked on the bright side. 

There is a wonderful tree in the corner - an Ilex - that spreads across the shed roof, hangs over the garden wall and casts dappled sunlight in the garden. Potential.

 There is already a supply of electricity and water.

Another tree - a tall and wavering holly - that has developed two tones - one dark green and one variegated. 

And - pièce de résistance - a delicious black grape and two old lobster pots. There is also a besom - a witches broom, that is the most perfect of all brushes for gardeners.

 First step - begin to repaint the walls.

 An instant transformation but a long way to go.

The gate is painted with chalk paint and it is water proof. 

One simply cannot choose neighbours.
New gravel, appropriately Thames gravel - mud-larking connection plus flowers in pots and vases = a perfect place to work in dappled sunlight. Also, a place to hang out the washing!

It also transforms into a place to eat under dappled sunlight. Perfect.

This scented clematis will form an arch across the path next spring and summer, twinning around the bunting.