Springing forward
It’s the weekend when the clocks go forward. The first tulips are out. In the nearly-three-years of this project, sketching plants has taught me a lot about time. But today, it shows me a parallel universe. This project started in the surreal stillness of lockdown, in an unseasonably-warm Spring. I … Read More
A visit to Mother Nature
Mother’s Day. Neither mother, nor with a mother to visit, I head instead for what’s newborn in the garden. The tulips are in bud. But what catches my eye first is a magnificent caterpillar. I should mind its nibblings – but look at it, an elaborately-plaited braid of a thing… so … Read More
Out of the old
There’s a dead shrub in the garden, undermined by the ivy, left standing for bird feeders. But wandering my urban plot for things to draw, I see that it’s hosting new life, green with lichen and this year for the first time, sporting rich red-brown fungus, waxy, gathered into its … Read More
As the rose goes
Stripes. Borders. Feathers of tightly-folded leaf unfurling. Wonderfully alien-looking serrated scrolls presenting new stems. Colour so vivid I have to start with highlighter. Never mind the chill wind – the roses are going for it. It takes a lot of colour (and a lot of looking) to show this new growth. … Read More
A closer look
It’s chilly, back to Winter after last week’s glimpse of Spring. So I pick a stem of narcissus and a fallen-over crocus for a closer look indoors. I’ve picked the crocus for its saffron – but as soon as it’s in water, it flings out its petals, demanding my attention for … Read More
Pop go the colours
The garden seems to have got the message… I’ve been sketching indoor flowers this week in a fragment of time between design tasks. Then, as I glance out on a slow Saturday morning, narcissi. The pop of colour draws me out into the garden and as I get my eye … Read More
Hearts and flowers
Loo rolls. Not the most glamorous things to write about in this week of hearts and flowers. But I save them for sowing sweet peas. Their delicate roots don’t like being moved so these, I can plant whole. Cardboard and compost aren’t the most glamorous things to draw either – I … Read More
Rebellious nature
It’s been a bruising week. But as I get my eye in to the hydrangea, I see that below the spent flower heads, dark and hunched, bright buds are popping open before my eyes. I add messy swirls of colour for some animation. The Forsythia has a flower out, leading … Read More
Hope sprouting
It’s hot lemon and ginger season, colds everywhere in my city. The garden seems to be in sympathy, the iris corms knobbly in the rich, dark earth, sprouting tough, bright leaves, yellow to green to blue-grey. The snowdrops are glowing like exquisite little lamps. As I draw, I notice spikes … Read More
Flotsam and jetsam
On a frozen day, I nip into the garden looking for flotsam and jetsam – stuff on the soil, leftovers, things blown in on the wind. Snails have left their shells, a chance to marvel at them. Each unique, all whirl and mark and ridge, drawing them I notice that they … Read More
How the garden grows
It’s hibernation weather. But from a window, I notice the garden’s rhythms as it works its way through midwinter. Waving, looping, bristling, springing – each plant is moving in its own way… What starts me off on this view is the three-cornered leeks. Big, soft loops of fresh green, these will … Read More
Pinks and clues
In late afternoon, I spot the first shocking pink cyclamen flowers and draw them quickly, in the last of the day’s light. Leave them overnight and they’ll have been snacked-on by a passing creature. I grab a highlighter. Watercolour alone isn’t up to the brightness of these flowers and even … Read More
’Tis the season
On Christmas Eve, I head out into the garden to see if I can find some merriment and there is is: bulbs peeking out, scraps of soil cast aside like Christmas wrapping. The snowdrop bulbs were a present, planted all over the garden for good cheer at the turn of … Read More
The thaw
Rain tomorrow. But today, there’s still snow. As it recedes, the hydrangea leaves hang, sodden and weary from the freeze. The conifer branches, released, ping back up. I want to catch it while I can, matt, sculptural snow against the dark gloss of the leaves. But first, I go outside, … Read More
Frosting and snow duvets
Frost and fog have tilted the garden’s colours to grey, just a hint of leaf here and there and a flash of flower pink. Everything looks iced – shaken over the roses, glittering on the spiders’ webs, so I draw with a muted palette and add dots of white with a … Read More