Happy vernal equinox!
What a relief it is to reach this point in the year, it's been a long winter and a tough one too, not just because of lockdown but on an emotional level I've found it hard to deal with the loss of my faithful old friend Brochan. Despite a full year passing since he left my side and the addition of a young and boisterous puppy by the name of Dylan to train up, nothing can fill the big Brochan shaped hole in my heart. My old friend alopecia has just decided to poke me in the eye too. I haven't given my alopecia a thought in a long time. Its been part of my life for 25 years and after an initial battle, I made friends with the demon and we have lived in harmony ever since. I have been a lucky alopecian though, as I have managed to keep my eyelashes all these years...until now. My old friend alopecia is playing its tricks and my eyelashes are falling like deciduous leaves! So it looks like I'm destined for a life of dust in my eyes to accompany the lack of guttering, which I now know eyebrows to be. But here we are, on the wheel of life, springing into yet another spring. Time to give myself a good slap and crack on!
The spring air has me inspired to get out birdwatching for longer periods now so my sketch pads might get an airing soon. There have been a number of Jack Snipe over the fields and on the Levels, they fly too fast for my camera but their wings and beaks make distinctive shapes in the air and I fancy trying to capture that in watercolour. Our fieldfare and Redwing flock are busy packing their little bags, they are gathering up for the flight back to Scandy-land, I will miss their gentle chatter but another month and the swallows will take their place in the field. Now that's a painting that will definitely be happening soon! I'm currently working on a series of British bird watercolour paintings, mostly of the garden variety. Luckily for me with a garden adjacent to farmland, the term 'garden birds' covers quite a flock! I may be some time!
New in the shop...drumroll...! 3 lovely new tea towel designs have just arrived and I'm very pleased with how they have turned out. There is now a resplendent peacock in a cool tail down pose. A purple chested hummingbird, my most popular hummingbird watercolour and another really popular painting, Bees in the Hyssop, which looks like lavender in the painting but still a very pretty purple flower. There will be some new tote bags and the aprons will be back in stock after a bit of a sell-out over Christmas. The new chopping boards and placemats are due any day and Bees will be featuring on them too so keep your eyes peeled for all things buzzy this spring.
Looking ahead...dare we? There's a glimmer of light on the showground horizon. Some of the smaller events are going ahead this year so I will be adding an events page to my website soon with details of those. The 2 that I'm most excited about are the New Forest Folk Festival in July and the New Forest Fairy Festival in August. I think we could all do with getting out and having some festival fun again so Bernard the tranny (my van) gets to wear his bunting and I get to wear my fairy wings! We certainly have a lot of catching up to do on the showground, I feel that the pre-show drinks will be flowing freely this year...good excuse! I promise to put links to the events when the new page goes live so you will be able to book your tickets and plan your trips.
So, with a little luck and all things being equal, I will look forward to seeing you on a showground sometime soon!
Stay safe and well!
Sandi