“When we step outside and look up, we’re not little cogs in the capitalist machine. It’s the simplest act of resistance and renewal.” Kathleen JamieGaurdian Review April 7th 2012 Kathleen Jamie’s words are deceptively simple. They may even seem naive. But stay with them, act on them – they do subtle work. They have stayed... Read more »
First bees are humming in the garden this week – but news today of research from Stirling university into the devastating effect of one particular group of commonly used pesticides on the queens in particular, makes each one feel especially precious as it bumbles around in the delicate pink froth of the short-lived cherry blossom. Bizarrely I... Read more »
This is an experiment. A small drawing in charcoal and watercolour photographed every twenty minutes or so throughout the process of drawing. I’ve been reading a little book on Japanese aesthetics by Donald Richie and came across the term Hosomi – an emotional delicacy, a determination to slight not even the most trivial, to understand... Read more »
Snowdrops, and alder twigs in a Japanese tea cup. The finished drawing I began on Ash Wednesday, a day that for various reasons always has me meditating on death and renewal. It seemed more than appropriate – significant to work in pure charcoal; that simplest of materials derived from very slowly burning the small, otherwise... Read more »
After Frost It’s hard to tell what bird it isSinging in the misty wood,Or the reason for its songSo late after evening’s come. When all else has dropped its nameDown into the scented darkIts song grown cool and clear saysNothing much to anyone. Yet it catches hold a whisper in my brainThat only now is... Read more »