I don't know where July went to! I had no idea it's been a whole month since I last posted here.
So, here's the new painting - if you follow me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram (Rachellen333) then you will have seen it already in various guises or snippets of detail in progress. It doesn't have a title, but someone asked me if she is a flower fairy - I guess she is! I love her.
We've been on holiday to the beautiful Northumberland coast to recharge batteries. The weather was mixed which is usual in the UK, but the gorgeous coastline and sea air more than made up for it. It's one of my favourite places to be and my (not so) secret dream is to have a view like this from my window all the time...
Last weekend I visited Emma Stothard's exhibition of willow sculptures at Rievaulx Terrace, North Yorkshire; this was a real visual treat. Rievaulx Terrace is a picturesque 18th century landscape garden which now belongs to the National Trust. It is the perfect site for Emma's wonderful, life size willow sculptures of deer (below), truffle hunting pigs, foxes, hares and the most beautiful mare constructed of wire.
There are also mares and foals made from willow at nearby Nunnington Hall; these are my personal favouite. They look so natural in the long grass, beautifully thought out. I would really recommend going to see either or both of these exhibitions if you live in Yorkshire (or even if you don't!). If you're a National Trust member, entry is free to see Emma's sculptures. If not, your entry fee gains you entry to the rest of the grounds too - well worth it!!
Last but not least - other news from July - I was Louise Gale's first Friday Feature for the Creative Colour Challenge Very proud and pleased to be featured on this, so thank you Louise for the opportunity, and thank you for your inspiration!! If you flip over to the feature here, you'll see my 'flower fairy' painting in one of her previous guises plus some of my sketch book pages which I have which I have submitted in the Creative Colour Challenge. The challenge for August is a rainbow of colours - maybe I will submit my flower fairy...
What else does August have in store? More painting, teaching Angelic Reiki to two lovely ladies and taking some time out to recharge. Hope you find time to do the same...
From my heart to yours
Rachel