I would rather spend one lifetime with you

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.

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Fleeting thought #2 {Sandcastles, poetry & childhood memories}

Hello friends, I hope you had a good week!

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.

Now for the grand reveal…

Ta-da!

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Magical cove {One frame}

Hello my Friends!

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 Thought or more art. 

Thank you so much for reading this post, and I wish you a prosperous week ahead!

Valentines World Turtles

Hello friends! 

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.

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All We Have to Decide

Hello my friends!

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.

**okay no more spoilers**

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Fleeting thought #1 {Hag stones, short stories, folklore & feelings}

Hello my friends, 

Bear with me, I thought I’d try something a little different this week!!

I kinda feel I should maybe do a few more ‘written’ posts, expressing my feelings/thoughts not just loads of pretty(-ish) photographs and my art. I used to keep a journal and I even wrote a few short stories…but on my blog I’ve never really felt confident enough to post that kinda thing.

So here goes…I’ve come up with Fleeting Thought which I’m hoping will become wordy posts, sometimes containing stories or poetry or maybe just getting my feelings out there (and hopefully someone will read it) but they might also be a place were I can put all different groups of photos that wouldn’t get a full post on there own.

Back at the beginning of the month I mentioned that I recently moved house – which in and of itself is probably one of the stressful things I’ve ever done in life! But that’s not the point of this post. I happened to move from a city landscape to a picturesque one which is awesome, and in my new garden I found a Hag Stone! It’s small enough to sit on the palm of my hand, and is such an amazing shape…I think its made of flint.

Now, I’ve written a 200 word super short story (I think they call it a double drabble) about my hag stone! I haven’t written a story for ages!

But first a little bit of folklore,

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Magnificent Swan {One frame}

Hello my friends!

I hope life has treated you well this week.

Last year I that I realised that I had taken quite a lot of of photographs of wild birds – particularly mute swans (I even did a long post on them) but I’ve recently been through all the images on my camera in an attempt to clear some space on my memory card and found this one. 

Mute swans are actually very friendly and the wild ones I’ve photographed always seem so chilled out about the camera. I always assumed this was because I normally fed them, but I liked the idea of being a swan whisperer!

There’s something truly magical about swans and this one is almost looking directly into the camera. I love the way its sort of quizzically leaning, as if its sizing me up! Unfortunately the pristine whiteness of the swan shows just how dirty the river water is, but somehow that makes the swan all the more beautiful.

It’s a shame that as a country we’ve let our waterways become so polluted.

Well that’s it for this week, one lovely swan photographed for this post. I hope you like it. Do you have a favourite wild bird? They are wonderful creatures and I love watching them – and always try to keep the bird feeders full at home…I might even do a few posts on them this year. As always thanks for reading and have a wonderful week!

ps. Next week I’m thinking of trying something a little bit different!!

Pretty Winter Textures

Hello my friends!

Nature is magical isn’t it?!

There are so many different textures to be found. So this week I wanted to share some snaps I’ve taken recently. I wanted these photos to have a slightly ‘silver’ theme, seeing as its winter and there aren’t loads of brightly coloured daisies and the like. I wanted to take you with me into a wintery world of texture.

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150 Subscribers Celebration!!! (& a Winter Sunset)

Hello Friends!

Who-hoo! We’re at 150 followers, everyone!!!

Can you believe it?!

*cue bang-free fireworks and hand cut eco confetti*

Okay, actually, its 153 to be exact! I hit 150 just before the festive week, but decided to wait until afterward to share the exciting news!

Anyway, A SUPERSIZED THANK YOU to everyone who’s subscribed and liked my posts! I wouldn’t be where I’m at without you and I truly appreciate it more than you can possibly imagine!

Also, I’ve got a new landscape shot to share this week as I’ve had some major things happen in life.

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Photography Recap 2022

Hello my friends, 

I hope you had a good Christmas!

This week as it’s the last Friday of the year I thought that I’d create a little recap post with some of my favourite photographs taken in 2022.

So enjoy some black and white photography including ladybirds, butterflies and bumble bees.

In June I actually got some decent shots of a Holly Blue butterfly – I’d never seen one of these before – it had such stripy antennae! 

Letting the garden re-wild in the summer for #nomowmay was fun and it didn’t take long for insects to move in, there were so many ladybird beetles, I especially loved photographing them in the early morning.

I even grew my own wildflower ‘mini-meadow’ to encourage bees and really enjoyed watching them in the summer.

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