Tag: still life photography

Raising Painted lady Butterflies

On By ArtyMissKIn Conservation, Photography6 Comments

Creepy crawly caterpillars, creep crawl creep. Creepy crawly caterpillars hear them creep. Crawly crawly creep. Creepy creepy crawl. I’ve got caterpillars to share with you all!!

Hello friends!

Firstly, d’ya like my song?

Secondly, ever bought a plant at a garden centre and ended up bringing aphids/bugs home?

Seeing as today kicks off Butterfly Conservations Butterfly Count I thought I’d share a look at the new peeps I’ve been caring for! (Warning its kinda a long post!)

Well, as intoned in the above verse I’ve had caterpillars!!! I’ve actually set up and built my own butterfly house so that I can raise and release butterflies I find in the garden. Although I didn’t actually find these chaps in the garden (I found them in the kitchen), I decided I wanted to add a couple more thistles to my growing collection of plants because I love them, especially the pink ones! (there’s something punky about them) and while I was trying to find a moment to plant them I realised something was eating them…well it turned out to be caterpillars – Painted ladies to be precise! One of my favourites!!

Setting up and creating my own butterfly house to give them their best chance in life has been awesome – we have a lot of bird life here and apparently a blue tit chick can eat 100 caterpillars each day, butterflies are already quickly declining – if by doing my bit for conservation and getting nine out of ten pupae to emerge can help bolster the species numbers then I’ll do it. Plus, everyone needs a hobby and watching them complete their life cycle brings me such an extreme amount of joy I can’t really put it into words.

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A golden summer afternoon & 200 subscribers!!!

On By ArtyMissKIn Photography3 Comments

Good afternoon friends!

Who-hoo! We’re at 200 followers, everyone!!!

I’m kinda a little bit giddy?!

*cue the hand cut eco confetti made from pressed flowers*

Okay, actually, its 202 to be exact! 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!

So on to this weeks post, since the weather has been so gloriously filled with sunshine I thought I’d go on a little wander through a golden summer afternoon to try and find some brightly coloured wildflowers, and I wanted to take you guys along with me so you can enjoy the relaxing atmosphere and pretty plants too! I hope these photos bring as much joy to your day as much as they did mine.

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Raising Small tortoiseshell Butterflies

On By ArtyMissKIn Conservation, Photography5 Comments

Happy second Friday in June my friends,  

Here’s a little butterfly centred post fluttering its way to you. You might remember that a couple of months ago I posted about rescuing some orange tip butterfly pupae? 

Well recently I’ve been caring for 9 Small tortoiseshell caterpillars, which pupated about ten days ago! It was so exciting. I’ve raised these butterflies before, my newly improved butterfly house involves serval pop-up mesh enclosures and many different types of butterfly friendly plants to simulate the outside world – in an attempt to give them a better start in life.

Butterflies in the UK are declining so quickly that I want to be able to save as many of them as I can to help boost the local populations.

I love it when they ‘colour up’ and you can see the suggestion of wing patterns through the shell.

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A Sycamore in Spring {One frame}

On By ArtyMissKIn Photography2 Comments

Hello my Friends!

Can you believe it, we’re already sneaking up on the end of May?! Its finally stopped raining long enough to get some proper gardening done and I’m totally loving being outdoors!

Anyway, its been about a month since I posted my last One Frame and I’ve got a new shot of some beautiful green leaves to share with you this week. When I moved into my home in I totally fell in love with the huge tree at the bottom of the garden and have had to wait for months to identify it.

I did try guessing, but was way off!

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Amongst the Spring Wildflowers

On By ArtyMissKIn Photography2 Comments

Hello friends!

Aren’t flowers just one of life’s loveliest things? 

My inner fairy just wants to be set free and sit amongst them. I recently went on a nature hike and the woods are filled with some of the prettiest wildflowers I’ve ever seen. A thing I love about hiking in the wilds here is that although its hours before you see another human being, the most amazing birdsong fills the air.

I wanted to take you guys along with me so you can enjoy the relaxing atmosphere and pretty flowers too! I hope these photos bring as much joy to your day as much as they did mine.

Ready?

Let’s go!

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Raising Orange Tip Butterflies

On By ArtyMissKIn Conservation, Photography2 Comments

Hello my friends!

Nature is magical isn’t it?!

This weeks post is a butterfly centred photography collection. 

I recently had to have a bit of a clear out in my new garden, for many reasons but mainly that (1) it was full of some seriously dead plants and (B)  there was a little section of fencing that connected to the dry stone wall (I mean its literally one of my life goals to have a garden with a dry stone wall) that meant my dog could get out. I felt so bad for having to take away some of the dead plants but needed to make it safe for my pooch.

While I was having this clear out I found four Orange tip butterfly pupae! Being a towny I’ve never really seen these before and the pupae themselves were tiny, but being the bug freak that I am I brought them inside and created an environment for them to finish their transformation and wanted to share the photos with you.

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A Woodland Walk

On By ArtyMissKIn Photography4 Comments

Hello friends!

Who doesn’t feel at home in a woodland? 

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.

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

On By ArtyMissKIn Fleeting thoughts, Photography

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}

On By ArtyMissKIn Photography6 Comments

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!

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

On By ArtyMissKIn Fleeting thoughts, Photography4 Comments

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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