Pink Bunnies and a Bearded Lady

I worked all day yesterday, and now have some new ACEOs listed on ebay. I'm also having a bit of a summer sale and studio clearout, in preparation for the beginning of term, and the prospect of LOTS of new projects! I am really looking forward to getting started on some huge pieces - quite an ambitious project with watercolours, but exciting too.

I took a couple of Work -in -Progress pictures yesterday. When working on ACEOs or other small format pieces, I tend to work on 2 or 3 at the same time. It's always good to have another piece to pick up while waiting for ink or paint to dry. And I like to have something to listen to - Radio 4 is a favourite when I dont want to keep getting up to change the CD.























I thought my readers might like to be introduced to my 'gang' too. This is 4 of the 5, lined up this morning waiting for Colette, the EP (Equine Podiatrist - they are all barefoot)
From left to right : Sandpiper, (Dartmoor x Highland yearling), Foggy, (15 year old gelding) Red,(18 year old ,15hh appaloosa gelding) and Marlene, (3 year old Dartmoor filly).

Macaws today, the Moor tomorrow

Parrots, parrots, and more parrots! It's really just an excuse to use my favourite colours. I LOVE turquoise, and the contrast with a really jewel like scarlet. These two little ones here are ACEOs, and they are all listed on etsy.

I'm now going to be away for a few days, as we are off on a camping trip in the morning, taking the ponies. The weather forecast is vile - torrential rain tomorrow, but it is our only opportunity to go. Both of the girls ponies, after slight lameness, are sound again, and so we ride out straight over the moor tomorrow morning.

I'll catch up with you all when we return!

A Goat Anecdote

The girls were out today - they have been taking part in 'Peerifool', a film that is being made by Chagford Filmmaking Group , a local band of enthusiastic filmmakers and lovers of folk tales, headed by the effervescent Elizabeth-Jane Baldry ,an extremely talented musician and Harpist.

This gave me the oppotunity to get busy painting today! I had a new delivery of watercolour board, and more Indian Ink -I sooo love Indian Ink - it makes me feel so liberated to use my dip pen, and work quickly! I very easily get bogged down in details as a rule, and find my style getting quite constricted, and the Indian Ink frees up my hands again.

Here is a new Falcon, and an animal I have a rather love/ hate relationship with - the pygmy goat. In my early teens, I worked weekends and holidays at a local tourist attraction, which had a flock of pygmy goats, which seemed to do nothing but escape. I spent most of my time wrestling goats by their horns off picnic tables, to an audience of screaming visitors.

A stubborn Nanny goat, that is determined to finish all the sandwiches and crisps, is very difficult to drag away. The bigger , far more elegant Anglo-Nubian goats, on the other hand, were much more interested in following the ancient Dumper Truck around the farm, noses to the exhaust as it belched out black smoke, apparently getting high on the fumes.

These are both listed on Etsy

I have also spent the day in email correspondence with the forestry commission, and various local government archeology departments, trying to find records about the Fernworthy sites. Everyone has been so helpful - I am really impressed. Anyway, most of it is in out of print books, or papers, but I now know where to find the records in their library in Exeter. I think a library session may need to wait until the school holidays are over, but I am looking forward to it!