I have seen Red Kites a number of times around here, but mainly over the South Downs; I remember pulling over in to a lay-by on the A27 so I could watch a pair enjoying the air currents as I was driving back from Lewes. Like with the Peregrines, I see them too infrequently here … Continue reading A Visiting Red Kite
Stock Doves & Wood Pigeons
The fields behind my house are currently still stubble, although they have been sprayed so the weed seeds are much reduced; I'm not sure what the birds and deer are eating but they are foraging on something! I love Stock Doves, but I only discovered what they were a few months ago, as I had … Continue reading Stock Doves & Wood Pigeons
Blackbird Nature Notebook
We went for a trip to our local biodynamic farm shops here in Sussex and a walk on Ashdown Forest, which is one of our favourite ways to spend the afternoon, and there were a number of Blackbirds both on the heathland as well as at the farms. The winter light was so cool and … Continue reading Blackbird Nature Notebook
New Sketchbooks; New Projects
I had some wonderful sketchbooks for Christmas, and a clutch pencil with sepia leads which is a joy to use. My mum also posted me her copy of Sketching Wild Birds by Trevor Smith. My aim this year is to improve and prioritise my sketching. When I did my foundation course I was drawing every … Continue reading New Sketchbooks; New Projects
Silver Birds
Do you hang your own artwork on your walls? It never occurred to me to do so but I had a bunch of frames and a friend suggested I could use my wall as a personal gallery of my work, so, that I did. I sell paintings both framed and as they are so I … Continue reading Silver Birds
New Birds, and More Field Sketching
The weather on Sunday was cool and a little cloudy, and I decided to Carpe the Diem and head over to Rye Harbour and try out my new-found field sketching information on some real birds. It was pleasantly busy and I got myself a coffee and a flapjack, dug out my bins and sketchbook, and … Continue reading New Birds, and More Field Sketching
New Peregrine Falcon painting
Peregrines feature quite a lot in my Birdwatching Logbooks and I love the previous gouache and oil paintings I have done. They are my son's favourite bird, and they live in the chalk cliffs and over the South Downs near Lewes, so they occasionally visit the fields behind my house to prey on the pigeons … Continue reading New Peregrine Falcon painting
Process: putting the books together
One of the exciting things to develop from the publishing of my birdwatching logbooks is the chance to work with other birdy venues to create a logbook of their area. I am currently working with Dr Barry Yates at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve to make sure I have the correct information for the Birds of … Continue reading Process: putting the books together
More illustrations
Oooooh I am getting in to the final stretches of the first set (you can reserve a first run on my dedicated webpage) and it is so exciting. I will then be able to approach bookshops which of course is a whole other aspect of publishing a book and one I am looking forward to … Continue reading More illustrations
New birds
I have finally sent my PDFs off to Newman Thomson and they will hopefully be printed at the beginning of next week. We had a bit of a sporty day yesterday as I had to get my ISBNs and barcodes from Nielsen, for which I needed to register my publishing name. I had thought of … Continue reading New birds