Incase you didn’t know March 25th was chosen by Tolkien as the date on which The One Ring was destroyed, defeating Sauron forever and finishing Frodo’s quest!
It’s known among fans of the author as Tolkien Reading Day. As I’ve mentioned before J.R.R Tolkien is one of my two favourite authors (the other being Terry Pratchett). Celebrating the 25th and Middle Earth can be as simple as picking up a book and reading or creating a piece of art, writing some poetry or just watching the movies…I know some of my fellow nerds who spend the day in their awesomely recreated costumes!
**This post was edited on 17/5/24 as I’ve remade the butterfly and updated the pictures**
I’ve got a new butterfly embroidery to share this week. I’m really happy with the Small tortoiseshell photograph (that I posted last week!) I particularly love this type of butterfly, they always seem so happy – don’t get me wrong all butterflies seem happy, I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who didn’t like/was scared of them (not that there’s anything wrong in that of course).
So now I’ve created a few practice versions of these I have decided to give myself a bit of a challenge…I’m gonna have a go at creating all 61 types of British butterflies…in scale with each other!
That’s right in scale!!
Yep I’ve gone and got cabin fever cos its been raining too long! I mean honestly it’s been persisting pretty much everyday since the middle of February.
Its been 4 or 5 weeks since my last One Frame and I’ve got a new one to share with you!
Recently I found a Small Tortoiseshell butterfly sunbathing on some really over grown stinging nettles and got a few really good photos of the wee beastie without disturbing it!! Doesn’t it just have the most fluffiest body ever!? And I love how much detail I managed to capture – its eyes are amazing.
The Small tortoiseshell is one of the most well-known butterflies we have in Britain, they are quite possibly my favourite and like a fairly wide range of nectar heavy flowers – this year I’m gonna start creating my own butterfly garden for all pollinators to try and do a little bit extra for nature. Hopefully I’ll find lots of other butterflies to photograph.
The natural light was so good that this image taken with my Nikon in macro mode, and only brightened a little in post prod.
Well that’s pretty much it, one photo of one butterfly, I hope you like it. Do you have a favourite bug? They are wonderful little creatures that run our world and make no fuss whatsoever. I’m thinking about creating an embroidered Small tortoiseshell similar to my others (hopefully you’ll come back to see it next week!)
As always thanks for reading and have a wonderful week!
This coming Sunday is Mothers Day (in the UK) and one of the things I’ve always done is make something for my mum, I decided a while back that I wanted to paint her something which evolved into a new World Turtle illustration, that I want to share with you.
This is the fifth World Turtle and my growing collection now contains Spring, Autumn, Winter and Valentines illustrations and now I can add a Mothers day one too!!!
So this painting features not one, but three World Turtles – a mummy and two hatchlings! As its a mothers day themed painting I wanted there to be a lot of pink and flowers – so its kinda incorporating all the colours you’d find in a bouquet. Foliage wise the trees and bushes are in bright shades of green.
My inner elf just wants to be set free and run through the trees barefoot. I’ve taken a break from decorating this week and given myself a little chance to explore my new surround – a brilliant mix of woodland and fields (filled with sheep!) I can even hear them baa-ing from my bedroom which is amazing!!
The village I’ve moved to is only a mile across and you can walk for miles before you see another human being.
There’s even a 400 year old church and the bell still tolls the hour, which is rather quaint.
The woods are filled with some of the prettiest snowdrops and foliage ever, its so relaxing to be out in the wild – something I wasn’t prepared for was how quiet it is, the bird song at dawn and dusk is incredible and I haven’t heard a plane since I moved!
I wanted to take you guys along with me so you could enjoy the relaxing and calming atmosphere too! I hope these photos bring as much peace to your day as much as they did mine.
Ready?
Let’s go!
Snowdrops are pretty much one of if not my favourite flower. The way they burst out in February showing winter that its time is over for the year while everything else hibernates.
Hello friends! Welcome back…unless this is first time you’ve read one of my posts, then, hey! How ya doing and most importantly welcome!!
I’ve got a new piece of hand lettering art to share with you this week. I would rather spend one lifetime with you, than face all the ages of this world alone is a quote from Peter Jackson’s adaptation of J.R.R Tolkien’s Lord of The Rings. Tolkien’s works are filled with many a wonderful quote…although I’m pretty sure this isn’t one of them.
**I did check the books but couldn’t find it so I assume it was made up for the movies.**
Something I’m trying to improve with my hand lettering is allowing the words to flow together and get in each others space as opposed to just being in straight lines. Although I like the cleanness of using straight lines if its quite a long quote for these shorter ones letting the words nestle into one another looks way more interesting…but it takes a little practice.
Today I wanted to share my second Fleeting Thought with you. If you’re reading one of my blog posts for the first time (hi/friendly wave) and if your back and happy to read more of my ramblings (massive hug and a beaming smile!!).
For the uninitiated Fleeting Thought is something I’ve come up with while trying to post more of my feelings and be a bit more blog-ish, these wordy posts might sometimes include stories or poetry or maybe be a place were I can put photos/doodles that are a bit random and wouldn’t get a full post.
Now, I’ve also written a haiku – you’ve been warned!
Ready here we go!
Have you ever watched someone create something and thought Yeah, I’ll take a whack at that, it doesn’t look too hard!
Well, I came across sand sculpting online when I discovered that Cornwall hold a few sandcastle competitions in the summer and couldn’t resist having a go on a recent trip to the beach…even though its February and at the very most 13 degrees!
Was I the only lunatic playing in the sand, whilst wearing a wooly jumper…absolutely.
I haven’t built a sandcastle since I was little – one of my favourite childhood memories is my mum, sister and I used to build a boat when on the beach that had a bucket steering wheel, and we’d sail it on various adventures. I thought sand sculpting might be fun to try…it is very much enjoyable, but is much harder than it looks! So on that note I thought I’d share my first (and only) sand sculpting effort.
Also, while I personally love the idea that the human fascination with sandcastles began when mankind first stepped on a beach, there’s an eternal mystery in not knowing who built the first one.
Can you believe it, we’re already halfway through February?! Winter has been so cold and wet this year that it feels like spring is taking an age to get here, so I’ve been taking advantage of every moment of nice weather I can get.
Anyway, its been about a month since I posted my last One Frame and I’ve got a new landscape shot to share this week. The coast of Cornwall is magical and this photo was taken on Perranporth beach where there are some amazing caves/coves, this one is one of my favourites, its not so much a cave but an archway and has so many colours and textures in its stones.
In a weird way it reminds me of a Hag Stone, just on a much bigger scale.
The water that has been trapped until the tide comes back to claim it is super clear but Freezing cold and so much deeper than it looks!
I kinda feel this particular spot might be a portal to Narnia or some other fairytale realm, with how the sun is shining on the cliff behind the arch. One day I might even be brave enough to swim through it…
That’s it for this week, I hope you like the little slice of beachy paradise. How is the weather where you are? Next weeks post is either gonna be the second Fleeting Thoughtor more art.
Thank you so much for reading this post, and I wish you a prosperous week ahead!
This coming Tuesday is Valentines day and I decided a while back that I wanted to create some love themed art so this week I wanted to share a new illustration with you. My growing collection of World Turtles now contains Spring, Autumn and Winter illustrations and I thought why not create a Valentines day one too!!!
So this painting features two World Turtles – As its a love themed I wanted the colours to reflect the theme of love – using lots of reds and pinks. Foliage wise the trees in vibrant shades of green and help to create a heart in the negative space between the turtles.
This week I thought I’d share my first hand lettering post of 2023. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us is a quote from J.R.R Tolkien’s Fellowship of the Ring. Professor Tolkien’s books are an endless supply of wise and beautiful phrases, that I really love turning into art.
**spoilers ahead**
This particular line is said by Gandalf the Grey while the fellowship are in Moria in the movies, but actually it takes place in Chapter 2 of FOTR: The Shadows of the past in a conversation between the wizard and Frodo Baggins before Sam gets caught eavesdropping and the hobbits leave the Shire.
ArtyMissK 
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