Biding Time...

After the wettest January on record, and what looks like the wettest February too, it was good to be able to get out in the garden for a bit of a tidy up yesterday.  There are hundreds of bulbs poking their noses out of the ground and one lone daffodil open already.  I also found this pretty bloom on my small potted camelia.

Spring is just around the corner!

As I currently have no yarn projects on the go, I have been playing around with some amigurumi  - this tiny crochet baby took my fancy - how cute is that?  He is about 2 inches tall.  Not sure what to do with all the little creatures and people that I make - perhaps I had better do one of those Little Acts of Kindness and leave them for people to find...

After a rubbish year for sales and commissions last year, this year has started off well - two painting sales and a commission for a dog portrait that I shall be starting this week - long may it continue!
 

Biggie...

This little painting is of a bear cub known as 'Biggie' who lives in Katmai National Park.  She is the daughter of Grazer, an infamously fierce bear who will attack any other bear that even looks at her cubs!  Biggie was one of two cubs, the other unfortunately got killed in it's first few months of life by one of the other male bears.  Biggie however has survivied and thrived.

This was painted in acrylics on canvas and is only about A3 size.  It will be in my Etsy shop soon.

 

Next up - I found a lovely wooden treasure chest box in a shop a couple of weeks ago that I will be painting... 

Shawl...

 

I knitted this before Christmas and have been waiting for a decent day weatherwise to photograph it outside.  The colours have been bleached out in the photo for some reason - same with photos taken on my phone, which is a shame as the colours are very vibrant.

The shawl has been knitted an a cotton yarn consisting of 5 strands which gradually change from deep teal to bright orange.  Nice to look at, a nightmare to knit!

This will be in my Etsy shop soon - when I can get a decent picture or two!

On the easel - a bear cub - cuteness overload coming!
 

Rookery Nook...

 Before Christmas I was walking in our local park and saw a scene I really wanted to paint - rooks in a silver birch tree against a cloudy winter sky. So I took a reference photo and this is the end result, painted in watercolour on paper.

 I improvised the smaller branches (there were far too many on the actual trees, it would have looked messy) and arranged the rooks in a better formation  with the addition of a few flying ones.  I'm happy with it, it made a change from my usual subjects.

 This will be on sale in my Etsy shop soon - bit busy at the moment tending to my daughter who has a stinking cold...whcic I think I have caught as well! 

Misty Morning...

 Happy New Year!   

With all the hoopla of preparing for Christmas, having Christmas and recovering from Christmas, I totally forgot to post this one.  This is the river at Brooks Falls, Alaska, on a misty morning with a gentle lemon light shining through the trees.  Painted with watercolour on paper.  It was a welcome respite from all the Christmas stress - for some reason I had left getting sorted until far too late and then it was a couple of weeks of dashing around like a headless chicken.

This one already has a home, but now the festivities are over I am free for commission!  Let's hope 2026 will be a better year for commissioned work, as 2025 was abysmal!

Christmas Ready...

 Just leaving this here...

Postbox...

 I was asked to knit one of these...it is about 4.5 inches tall.  It was quite fun!