sunny allotment days

Currently growing at our allotment (unless they've been eaten by slugs/deer/pigeons/rabbits since we left today):

Peas ( a lot - can you overdose on peas in a pod?  We'll hopefully find out soon)
Mange tout
Borlotti beans
French beans (my faves)
Broad beans (no black fly yet)
Runner beans (from John, every year, they are a hundred years old these beans)
Onions
Shallots
Lettuces
Carrots (in three places, surely the rabbits aren't clever enough to find them all?)
Parsnips
Beetroot
Radishes (I always plant hundreds at once and most of them get too chewy - I've done it again this year)
Garlic
Potatoes
Salsify
Scorzonera
Raspberries
Gooseberries (these are getting eaten by small humans already - yuck and leave them alone, I want big ones)
Chard

and then there are the cucurbit family, fighting their way out of our bay window and soon to be planted if the weather stays good...

...today we also saw several frogs, a steam train and five hot air balloons, so all hobbies were catered for in full.

Arts Trail weekend

This weekend is our local Arts Trail - sorry for going on about it as you probably live miles and miles away, but I'm really excited!  If you are local, I'm going to be at the Southville Centre this year and would love to see you.

I've been getting lots of new things ready for it, framing up pictures, packing up tea towels and making pocket mirrors too and I'm looking forward to finding out what people think of the prints I've made in the last couple of months - there's nothing like watching the looks on peoples faces as they look at your work to tell you if you've got it right!!

new prints and old prints...

Spotters Guide

I had donned my summer plumage and decided to spend the next three months playing outside on my allotment, but I've changed my mind now.  I think I'll stay indoors with the stove burning and draw pictures of animals instead.

I've made lots of new prints in the last few weeks, and they are all off to my real life galleries this time - not website ones - although I might keep a few here for our local Arts Trail in South Bristol, which happens this weekend.

I'm also thinking about using images from old print editions and having some cards printed from them - partly because I just can't say goodbye to them.  How do painters who only have one image part with them??  I think printmaking feeds my hoarding instincts...

mousetrap

blue sky

I've been printing a lot recently - ready for our local Art Trail in a couple of weeks and also for a couple of new little projects I've been working on - but now that it is blue sky time of year I've thrown it all to one side and starting pottering about outdoors instead...and it feels so good!

I'll show you what I've been printing soon, but I can't stay talking to the computer any longer...

flap, flap, flap

The birds know Spring is on it's way and the plum tree in our garden is out in blossom, so it must be true... I'm still obstinately lighting the fire each evening though and my hands froze nicely as I caught the ferry across bristol docks this morning...

I've been cutting out more flocks of birds - this time an old friend of mine, scruffy crow and his friends.    He will be flapping off to a few of my stockists in the next week along with with the usual menagerie of animals that appear in my lino prints.

I've also re-listed my British Wildlife tea towel on Folksy and Etsy after a long time without it, so if you have been pinning for a tea towel with both an otter and a fox on now is your chance!

Nature in the home

I couldn't resist joining in with Lou this week because I not only had a plant in the house that had green leaves instead of brown but also a box filled with chicks that has moved into our lounge as it is far too cold to keep them outside at the moment and what could be more naturey than a beautiful table top tableaux combining the two?  Double nature in my home.

(I have edited out all the pictures showing chick poo on my table and very lop sided plants when four chicks have attacked the leaves and would also like to state that my house is very hygienic should you wish to call in for tea and cakes and that the smell of the hyacinths almost cancels out the small of chicks)

3 new prints in Folksy shop and an offer...

 I've just listed 3 new prints in my Folksy Shop if you fancy popping across to have a look,  Spring is in the air (honestly) so I have been making prints of Hares...above is 'Dancing Hare'...

...this is called 'Line of Hares'...

...and on a completely different track, here is 'Mini Bath'.  One of my fave UK cities for spending a day wandering around, taking in the beautiful buildings, parks, the river, amazing street entertainment and general people watching, I just love it, so here it is captured in mini form.

My Folksy Shop is teetering on 100 sales at the moment, so I have decided that the next 5 customers I have on Folksy (numbers 99, 100, 101, 102, 103) will get a free gift with their purchase.  How exciting, don't you think.  I'd love it if all 5 bought a Hare print because they are my newest babies, but there are lots of others to choose from and the bigger the purchase the bigger the free gift.  What an offer - it might even cheer you up an a gloomy nearly Spring day!!  I've got lots of printed goodies that aren't in my online shops, so you'll get a lovely suprise package...