'Whispers of Albion'

Here's a newly completed small drawing which I'm adding to my 'Albion' series. 

  Created using watercolours, pen and ink and gouache, in my usual style,  'Whispers of Albion' joins 'Echoes of Albion' and 'Dreams of Albion'. As with much of my artwork,

the three drawings feature animals,  trees and background patterning and colour arranged to express my intuition of a 'shamanic' world hidden behind the world we usually experience. 

Pyrography on Tagua Nut

Tagua nuts are actually the seeds of certain palm- type trees growing in South America. They are extremely hard and can be carved into highly detailed and decorative items, sliced, dyed, drilled and polished to a satin smooth finish. The natural colour is an ivory white, and the colour and texture are almost identical to ivory, which has resulted in the common term 'vegetable ivory'. Dyed slices are now widely used in contemporary jewellery making as an ethical and sustainable alternative to plastic . The nuts/seeds fall to the ground naturally and are gathered sustainably. 

    My own interest in Tagua is as a pyrography jewellery maker. I've been creating wooden pendants for years, using hard light coloured woods like Buxus, Birch and Hazel. Crucial for me is to work on a hard,  smooth and fine surface, required in order to attain the very fine detail I strive for when creating jewellery. 

    Tagua certainly meets these requirements for a hard, smooth light coloured surface..however, it is by no means an easy process to create pyrography drawings on Tagua. The nut burns differently to wood, and requires different techniques.

  The most notable difference is the way the surface reacts to the application of the hot tip compared with wood. Tagua has the slightly disconcerting habit of 'melting' as heat is applied and then immediately hardening again..so that one is almost working on a finely shifting surface. Only very low heat can be used, which means extremely slow progress. This strange 'melting' effect can be exploited in creating certain effects - animal fur or feathers work well for example,  but clean straight lines are difficult to achieve and shading is much harder than it is on wood. It is almost impossible to achieve a dark background as the heat required simply melts the surface. Nevertheless,  if the design is adapted to utilise the best properties of the tagua, quite pleasing results may be achieved. Once burned, the jewellery is extremely tough and durable with a unique appeal.

  Here are some of my own designs,  hand drawn, using Tagua slices..

Pyrography Keepsakes

Here's a small selection of recent Wood Art Keepsakes created using mainly Boxwood,  Hornbeam and Yew, and featuring wrap around or double sided designs..

Catching up!

It's been far too long since I posted some artwork on here, and that's largely due to my latest house move..and all the disruption that comes with that. I've certainly not stopped creating artwork, but it's been hard to find time to post across social media. I'm determined to change that though! 

  Before I add a few posts showcasing my latest work, a few photos of my new garden space! I purchased this house, situated in a large town in the East Midlands, especially due to the space at the back. Although not large it backs on to a lovely open meadow,  with grasses, wildflowers and trees..

I moved in, in February,  to a completely overgrown wilderness of grass and concrete, and not a single plant! The place had been left for years, giving me a blank canvas ( and a lot of Bindweed) to work with. So this is my long term project ( and other passion besides art) to create a beautiful wildlife and nature garden.

Every day has so far been a delight, watching bees and butterflies and all sorts of birds, visiting from the meadow beyond, where I also have the joy of watching the rising sun, as the garden faces west..