The Orchard in its fullness, as the year reaches its peak at the Sacred Solstice, summer presents its definate arrival. Like at the turn of the tide, there is a stillness in Nature. The rush, build up and anticipation of Spring is over and I feel myself slowing down to take a breath.
In the morning, as I emerge from my humble cabin and see the sun cast its gold on the lush trees below the Orchard, I drink in the scent of earth and sun and draw a sigh of pleasure.
The humble grasses in the Orchard are flowing and tint the meadow mauve in a sea of shades.
I listen to the sounds of the wind through the apple trees and sense the intense umming of life energy beneath the peaceful murmur.
Shades of green of trees and grass has been dressed in a chalky coating, past is the intense, luminous greeness of May.
In the shadown at he bottom of the Orchard something unknown is resting. It is a presence adding depth and mystery to the womb like warmth of the motherly apple trees.
At night an Owl sits waiting for its prey, then gliding silently through the trees, just above the high grass uncut and in flower. Summer is here in earnest.

After my Degree in Fine Art Printmaking I battled with the challenge of how to achieve the printmaking expression I love without the print workshop presses.
I was already hooked on the process of Monotype (one-off print which is not reproducible) and therefor set about experimenting in my studio.
The main thing to get right and which needed adjusting was the consistency of the ink as without a press (less pressure) the ink needed to be looser than the normal etching ink I had been using with printmaking with a press.
I found etching ink extender did the trick. It also adds transparency to the ink, which means I can layer up colours one top of each other and achieve lovely colour tones where they mix. I now use ordinary oil colours for painting with the extender to monoprint without a press.

Below are instructions of the first technique I teach in my workshops, which I run mainly during Open Studios in my studio.
Do have a go at Monoprinting with Stencils, it's ever so much fun.

Materials required;
Oil paint
Table knife
Etching ink extender
Piece of glass/acrylic sheet/perspex
Roller
(gloves)
paper (smooth)

Peel back the result, which in this case is very much a simple starting point. Do another layer ontop in a different colour now.

Do get in touch if you want any advice or pointers! Always lovely to hear from new monoprinters!

For me, Zen is very much an experience, the gaze following the flight of a passing butterfly. A pausing in front of grasses being caressed by the soft summer breeze whilst gently bending at its touch.

This week I have at last put together a card (see below) for the Garden Portraits project I have embarked on this summer. Here I want to offer to portray YOUR garden, aiming to capture its essence, spirit and atmosphere. Very much in the sprit of Japanese Haiku poems, where a few lines, conveys so much depth to the spectator.
I offer to produce work in your garden for a day portraying its gems of Zen using drawing, painting and monotypes. At the end of the day you are able to choose your favorites.
To find out more contact me on 01736 740696 or email sara@thenaturalhome.co.uk
Look forward to seeing you garden!

Let me introduce you to my latest acuaintance in my studio. A bit shy still, as you can see, but characterful all the same. Very much work in progress, in the sense that I am still with this character, not necessarily that these pieces arn't finished, because they might be, but simply that I havn't quite finished relating to it.

I first saw this new character in the shape of a log, as often happends when I coonect with wood in all its shapes I find new creatures I want to portray. In Japanese Shinto, which I've been reading about lately, they believe in spirits dwelling in natural materials, such as trees, boulders, lakes etc. a sort of Nature worship, with which I can connect.

Gardens are special places. Personally I always find it's a place where I can regain a sense of peace and serenity, when all the doing in life has my head spinning.
My newest creative project has hence quite naturally been to draw and portray gardens, not just in a representational way but in a similar way to how Haiku poets of Japan strove to catch an experience of a moment in a few lines, my drawings are often simple brush pen drawings, with words to connotate. This way my act of drawing is about connecting to all the senses in order to feel and translate onto paper the energy or essence of the moment, right there, right then.
These garden portraits are also possible to commission. Allow me to share some examples of them below.

'Chickens under Medlar, Bleak Spring sun, The sound of the Flowing Stream'

'Rain drops from Cherry Trees, Stone Gatway, A still rain falling'

'Sun heat on my back, the Wind through the Bamboo, Bird song up above'

Just wanted to share some of my Tao Pines which are inspired by the pines in the Yellow mountains in China. Now off to Devon and Torrington where the next 'Drawing Down the Feminine' exhibition will take place. Do come along to the opening on Wednesday evening at the Plough Arts Centre if you're in the vicinity.
Would be lovely to see you there!

Below are some of the creatures I'm working on at moment. These are monprints of an old stick I found outside with the knot and end forming something looking like an eye and a mouth.
I do like finding old bits of wood with creature like faces on them. I also prefer keeping them as 'creatures' rather than pinning them down to a specific animal, this leaves more space for imagination. Reminds me of something Virginia Wolf wrote in a letter to Roger Fry '...directly when I'm told what a thing means, it becomes hateful to me'.
Of course I can't say for sure if she was onto the same thing here but it clarified feelings I'd had about explaining in words what my work is about. I could say my work is mainly mythical creatures, trees and lanscapes in a Zen-palette on paper, but I would prefer people to experience it for themselves as it does somehow loose the synergy when pinned down into words. Sometimes things are unboxable!

Just though I'd share a photo of a piece I'm working on at the moment, which I thought I had completly abandoned, but which I'm now back playing with. I say 'playing' as I find this keeps me in a more of an open and creative mind.
When I work on a painting I find it incredibly useful to photograph it as I go as a way of standing back from it and get an idea of what to do to it next. Looking at the photograph rather than the real thing somehow flattens it and mergers it for me so I can see it better as a whole.
This images are of two creatures (maybe hares) watching the heavens with their backs to a pine tree, on one side there is a comet in the sky and on the other the full moon. Not sure of the meaning, but somehow I'm reluctant to dig too much into putting words on meaning as this can make an image loose its sense of mystery. For me images and art can be appreciated on a more intuitive level of our consciousness and are all the more powerful sensed rather than understood.

At the moment I'm busy preparing for our next Drawing Down the Feminine group exhibition at Torrington Art Centre in Devon. After a very exciting show at the Newlyn Art Gallery in March being part of the Transition weeks, mainly showing work in progress, this show will have a more finished traditional approach. Hence I'm waiting for a call from the framers (very exciting!).
Do come and see us in Torrington next week, for details see http://www.theploughartscentre.org.uk/