Autumn Garlands

Garlands, or necklaces, which I made from berries and dried flowers.

 Rowan berries, Birdsfoot Trefoil and Columbine.

Late Summer Picnic and Picking Blackberries

 Some of the grandchildren sitting on the black bags where we had our picnic while picking blackberries.
It was a few days before the boys returned to school and they certainly made the most of it. We are lucky enough to have a neighbour who allows us to freely wander his fields and here we were a short distance from home.

Playing with the picnic snacks.

I got the boys to run while I took panoramic shots so that they would appear in the same photo three times. Interestingly they were actually going from left to right, but it looks as though they ran from right to left.

Another panorama, but this time aproaching the house, after a really lovely afternoon. The boys had already reached home at this point with me and the three year old granddaughter slowly wending our way back.

Work in France

I have sent work to France for an exhibition at La Porte Peinte art centre in the beautiful medieval village of Noyers sur Serein in Burgandy. The joint exhibition is entitled Bee. The piece which I have sent consists of 100 sheets of tea stained paper from old duplicate reciept books. They are arranged into groups of five pages, with pressed flowers and a stitched circle on the cover pages. The four following pages in each 'book' have a circle stitched in gold thread.

Each group of five pages is pinned to the wall with entomology pins, reflecting concerns about the fast declining bee populations. Will they be concined to the boards of rare entomological collections?
All of the twenty pressed wild flowers are ones which attract bees and other insects.

Staining the paper with a mixture of teas, including chai, gives a lovely colour but also adds texture and fragrance.