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Saturday, 25 June 2016

Some Lovely Bees

The only thing to do at the moment is to go out and commune with some bees.

Tiny tiny delicate white faced Hyleaus bees on the coriander flowers and the furry lamb’s ear. They are such a favourite of mine. No-one ever bought a print of this one ..too much like a wasp people said…..

The normal hover flies look enormous in comparison

Little male Bombus lapidarius sleeping away a rain shower.

and without its pollinating bee anymore, the self pollinating bee orchid from a grassy patch by the reservoir.

All that dressing up with no-one left to impress, except a few of us humans… The male longhorn bee is known to visit this beautiful thing,.. but they are very rare in the UK. It would be lovely to see one; it is the right sort of habitat with vetchling, clovers and trefoils. Maybe another day .

Labels: bees

Monday, 13 June 2016

Growing … can be a deadly business…

I like to get really up close and personal to my subjects, so am growing the herbs for the final MA project work.

Here is a wicked little set of Janus plants; Henbane, Deadly nightshade, Foxglove, Thornapple, Artemisia, Celandine… sure, in their various strengths and concoctions, to do you more harm than good.

Innocent little seedlings right now…

And then there are the plant dyes. Little bottles of colours …lovingly prepared with mordants and salts and minerals, macerated, ground and pulverised, boiled, extracted, slaked and reduced, drowned in alcohol and fattened with oils, relaxed with ox gall and waterproofed with saponified shellac. A little witchcraftery in the kitchen and and studio.

Some gorgeous avocado ink. Add a little gold here and there for true alchemy…

People ask me how Chris is doing? Well he’s just fine; at the moment. He just needs to watch his step.

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(BUT one final thing today.. it’s just a “get well soon wish” to Orlando. Why this beautiful, fun–loving city? Responsible for some of the very very happiest days of my life and some of the best people I have ever met. I am thinking of you all.)

Labels: dyes, Orlando, seedlings, seeds