Specimens

For my lovely Mum’s birthday, I decided to paint some watercolour butterflies. I had painted backgrounds but decided that I liked the idea of suspending them in glass so they looked like specimens.

I don’t think I’ll ever get bored of butterflies. I think they are so elegant and beautiful. I have become a slight butterfly addict and unlike drug addiction, or an over zealous attitude to booze, my friends and family completely support it. I would go as far to say that they encourage it entirely by buying me anything butterfly related they see.

Below: I bought these hand painted butterflies from the history museum in Birmingham. £1 each! Absolute bargain.

Circumference, Width and Length

I have gathered most of my cardboard tube collection and decided to order them. I’m still not entirely sure what I find so attractive about cardboard tubes but I really do like them.

Circumference

Width

Length

My house is my new studio space and it is working a treat so far. Just in the process of sorting out the spare room too.

Roadside

The fence round the corner from my parents house has various interesting features.

Riverside

Al and I went for a walk down the river Cole in the morning before breakfast. The light is incredible and creates great shadows. Every time I go back to Birmingham I visit ‘down by the ford’ as we call it in our household.

I like this one as it looks like a Pigeon without an audience.

Canalside

I find the ruin and decay in cities beautiful. Birmingham has some really amazing industrial looking areas. We walked from ladywood to Bindley place and the contrast from one to the other is extreme.

Beautifully taped

Rebecca Ward makes beautiful tape installations. My friend K sent me the link today and I cannot get over how long this must have taken, and the patience too. As someone who has worked with tape before, I know the furstrations it brings all too well. She uses a mixture of duct, electrical & vinyl tape. I think you’ll agree these are great!

A folder named random

I have a folder on my laptop that’s named ‘Random’ where a lot of photographs I take just because I like them as sights or images are kept. I think it’s about time I unleash the random upon you!

Birthday tea

For Caroline’s birthday (Hope you had a lovely birthday!) I painted a tea cup for her birthday card. I have got a long way to go before I am any good, but buying a thinner brush meant I could capture more detail.

Discarded electrical goods

I think there is something sad about seeing electrical goods outside in the cold, wet weather. Any life left in them is slowly being weathered away. I think it’s fair to say that the chances are that the items are already broken, past it, has beens, but surely there is something they could be used for? Katie and I have had many a conversation about this and I think there is part of us that just wants to give them more life and to recognise their worth.

TV Graveyard

A Hoover and a DVD player

A ruse

My brother Theo sent me this photo. Thanking you!

It is a chair from my family home that they did get rid of, but it only sat outside momentarily posing for the photo. It was all a ruse as it actually ended up at the tip.