It's been a long while since I have posted anything on this blog. The winter was harsh in the studio, which doesn't inspire, and I started a new job. The new job is in beautiful surroundings. A wildlife garden in the middle of Kennington. Now as spring approaches, it is coming into its own. It is full of giant
Echium pininana. (Tree echium or Tower of jewels). I have seen these growing in Cornwall and they are rather magnificent. They are native to the Canary Islands really. Anyone who has known me or my blog will know that I had a lovely summer drawing
Echium vulgaris, which is commonly known as Viper's Bugloss. They are related and deliciously blue. I am looking forward to the summer, when these great plants will shoot up to heights of 3-4m (in some cases) and are covered in hundreds of little blue flowers. The bees love them. Presumably butterflies will too.
Of course I am inspired by these plants. I am inspired by the garden, which has a pond with newts and frogs and now tadpoles, by the hives for the bees, the solitary bee homes and the many more flowers, which I am looking forward to seeing at the summer progresses. I have started some prints that I am hoping will turn into something I want to put in a frame at some point.
This Echium is further on. The stem is as thick as a forearm and the little flowers are beginning to form.
Below is an old book that my mother had. She had pressed flowers into it and I found this ghost of a pressed flower today. It would have been her birthday yesterday, so it felt particularly poignant.
This was an attempt to recreate them in monoprint. I wanted the image to be soft and almost translucent. I will be working on this idea too.
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