Something different for Val's birthday print.
It's a small wood engraving measuring
​74 x 75 mm. 

I started this wood engraving a while ago  based on part of a sketch I did years ago and finally finished it after lots of putting back in a drawer and bringing it out again because I wasn't sure how to complete it.  I might have another attempt and include the rest of the drawing but only once I've worked out how to engrave running water!  (126 x 66mm) 

My latest wood engraving. Based on a photo I took on the last trip out with my mother when we visited the Towner Gallery before  a slow drive home along the coast, stopping off to admire the views.  We laughed at the fact that neither of us wanted to trek up the steep hill to see the lighthouse so Joan told me to take a photo instead - and I did.   (116mm x 71mm)

Spring might be here in theory but it's been bloody cold and windy at the allotment! Lack of rain means the ground is rock hard but not a sign of any rain yet. Arctic weather has been forecast so I battled against the elements to cover the tender flowers on my blueberries and strawberries.
When my allotment neighbour, Dave, dons his helmet hat it's a sign that it really is cold and I'm not just being a wimp! 

​With the weather far too cold for me to venture far from a radiator I've been doing some more wood engravings.

This is the final print which is based on a view that caught my eye while out for a drive around the South Downs.

​It's so much easier to create tones on a sketch than on a wood block.. but I'm working on it. I've got a way to go but I liked parts of this print and it's getting easier to work on a darkened wood block too. 

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The Spring Equinox arrived today at precisely 10.28 am. Hooray! As the forsythia in my garden bursts into life with a splash of bright yellow, signalling that Spring is on its way, the winter blues can be pushed away for another year.  

Just waiting for the rain to stop...

Winter blues distractions
Last year I booked myself onto a wood engraving course in February at West Dean College to give myself something to look forward to and help get through winter. It was worth the wait! The college is great, the facilities were excellent and the grounds are lovely. Just a shame it was so cold, windy and grim (I didn't envy the outdoor landscape painting course participants!) but I will go back in better weather to explore the gardens properly. Our course tutor, Chris Daunt was patient, encouraging and really helpful. Watching him engrave with such ease and skill was a revelation. I learnt a lot and hopefully will see this reflected in my work as I continue to practice.  
Two prints to start off with. 
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Christmas card - done. 

September arrives all too quickly along with spiders everywhere (groan) and  unwanted "gifts".  (Doodled on my ipad using Tayasui Sketches).

​So it’s been a strange allotment year - weather wise.
Wet, dry, windy, cold, wet, windy, sunny, wet, windy… just a day! 
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I took my carefully nurtured young plants to the allotment and they all died.
I sowed more seed at home again before planting them out at the allotment again.
I replanted more beans in a different spot on the allotment - they also died.. so I grew even more and these finally took off,  a bit late but they're delicious..

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​The strawberries looked fantastic but then the rain got to them and they rotted.
Those that didn’t were eaten by slugs and snails before the wood lice got them. 

The birds loved the red currants and the raspberries weren’t as good as last year - but on the plus side I won’t have to make more jam this year! Yeah!

​Blight got most of the tomatoes and the ones that escaped  are still green so it looks like there will be some green tomato chutney.

I managed to finally grow some aubergines and a cucumber (just the one and slightly nibbled but who cares?). The crystal apple cucumbers (my favourites) and the mini cucumbers haven't grown at all this year but I do have some globe artichokes which is a result. 
So all in all a funny old growing year so far but there's still lots to do and of course I can start to plan for next year!

I've been busy with a few more wood engravings following an afternoon last month spent with Keith Pettit at his studio in East Sussex. I'd organised to have a half day of tuition with him in an effort to move my work on a bit. It was a very interesting afternoon - we didn't do any wood engraving which was a bit disappointing, but we did chat lots and discussed a variety of wood engravers' work and looked at numerous examples. I was very interested to learn how Keith starts on working on a new piece, how he prepares his drawings and how he works on the blocks and finally how he prints. I was surprised that he doesn't make proof prints and just goes for it!  It would be great to be that confident. I got to see close up a lot of  his work, much of which I really like, and I came away determined to keep going.  

Since then I've been working on small practice blocks with the idea of concentrating on specific things. So in the Beach Pebbles piece I wanted to work on stones and water. Some parts work ok and I liked the looseness of the marks I made on the pebbles - it's a start.

​This block worked out much better despite being really small. I'm having to work with a magnifying glass and strong light - dodgy eyesight! It's not a recommended way of working and I can definitely see why. It's hard to judge how deep or how close together the cutting marks are as they're magnified with the result that the blocks can print far too dark. However - it's something I'm slowly adapting to. 

​This block was an exercise in cutting leaves overlapping one another with clearly defined areas of white and black. I drew directly onto the block this time and didn't bother to ink the design either. I liked working this way.

I saw a feather on the lawn and immediate thought I'd have a go at engraving one to practice cutting regularly spaced lines - hit and miss on this but some of it worked out ok.

​I'll continue working on the block to try and add some pattern to the feather. I haven't worked how I'll do this yet and could end up ruining the the whole thing but if I won't know until unless I try. 

​Another small block where I just drew straight onto it with pencil and didn't bother to ink in. I like the looseness of it. The goal was to make marks to show the form of the tree as well as some clear light and shade. It worked better than I thought it would. Next step is to try some different bark textures and to work on achieving a variety of tones... back to practicing working dark to light.

​This tried to use the shape of this block to create a sense of movement and distance when I sketched out the initial idea. I like the tree but feel the sky needs clearing better and I might even take much of it out later. But all in all I was pleased with the overall image even if some of the mark making is decidedly iffy. 

 I was a bit surprised to see a young gull toddling around in the flat this afternoon! It took a while to gently persuade it to go back out into the garden.  The agitated parents squawked loudly and dive bombed me while the youngster furiously flapped it's wings until it finally made it over the wall. Phew!

​I put up with the foxes digging up the garden until one bit chunks out of my cat as she tried desperately to get in through the catflap.  There are holes in the lawn, flower beds and the crushed plants everywhere. The war is ongoing... I think I'm losing it though.

The rain and wind has kept me away from the allotment for the past few days so I’ve been doodling instead. I’m sure the bugs, slugs and snails are having a feast on my carefully nurtured seedlings as the sea of blue slug pellets will have all washed away by now. But hey ho it looks like I'll have a bumper crop of strawberries and watching the robin chicks nesting in my shed while an anxious parent swoops in and out is a delight.
​At the moment I seem to have more wildlife on the plot than green stuff but it’s early days…