Yesterday we had a visitor in the garden. I'd just gone upstairs to the work room and glancing out the window I spotted a large brown lump on the grass. I was without my spectaculars but could tell it was a bird. Knowing the 'run/fly away if you see anybody with a camera' rule strictly adhered to by all wildlife, I thought it was still faster to grab the nearest camera, whack a big lens on and have another look than it would be to run down and get my glasses.
Fortunately, this lady was so focused on the potential meals fluttering about our garden she gave me time to catch a few shots.
The images are a bit ropey as they were taken through an upstairs window but still, it's a sparrow hawk!
Santa Croce
well it is nearly Christmas!
boom and indeed boom.
After posting this image on redbubble someone suggested a crop and I agree, the tyre was distracting and although I liked the original balance of the image size, I do think this version is better.
A peek at my Florence in Colour 2010 beautifully printed by redbubble and yours for just £14.95. Above is the frontpage, and below shows December 2010 and the backpage with all twelve images. 
Ahhhh, Florence!
Some weeks just leave you feeling like this . . .
from the Boboli Gardens and as, yet, I still don't know what's going on! If you know please enlighten me!
Great coastal walk which brought us both the sandy shores and a rocky beach at Coldingham. Separated by a small grassy hill we enjoyed the contrasts and collected even more sea glass on the the rocky beach before venturing over a further path to lovely St. Abbs.
Our holiday adventures have taken us to Northumberland to stay with R's parents and we are having a splendid time. Lots of wandering along coasts and hills, sketching and photographing, reading and snoozing, eating and chatting and today a visit to see R's Dad's amazing paintings!
We visited Holy Island at the weekend and the skies were spectacular; broad expanses of rolling clouds against a bright blue kept catching my eye and I'm looking forward to playing with those photographs. I've been a bit frustrated with my own painting and drawing over the last few months as several pieces lie unfinished or discarded but I'm determined to work out more time for it and have ideas for paintings with big skies. Sketching has been great fun and enthusing me to paint again, even if my attempt at a rock looked like a potato, I've at least lifted a brush and it felt great. A lot of the not painting time has been spent on my jewellery and I'm pleased to say I've had a few sales through Projeto Gallery so I can't complain!
The cascading yellow roses from the Giardino dei Semplici, thousands of small but very full roses tumbled down a wall. I've put together this triptych just to give you a sense of the petite nature of these beautiful flowers.
Back to the Giardino dei Semplice today with a photograph full of lovely contrasts. The sun was out and it was a lovely warm morning as we walked around the gardens, however, the sky swiftly darkened, lightning flashed, thunder rumbled and we hid under a group of trees while the rain splashed for a while. It was difficult to capture the intensity of the dark thunder cloud against the still bright buildings and flowers.
I've now got just Monday left at school before the glorious summer holidays begin! We're heading up to Northumberland next week and I can't wait! R gets to do the introductions and tour guiding this time!
Tomorrow we are heading to Ludlow to hopefully photograph St Laurence's Church and perhaps the castle. I still can't find my camera battery charger and am waiting until pay day before forking out for a new one. It is admittedly agonising not having my dSLR to hand, thank goodness R has let me use his, but I am looking forward to shooting on film tomorrow. Since leaving university and therefore leaving behind access to darkrooms I haven't used film much at all, however, we've finally found somewhere reasonably priced to develop black and white films so I'm going to give them a go and see how they come out. Then I will inevitably drift off into a reverie haunted by dark room fumes and start planning where we can create a dark room, under the stairs perhaps?! Although I'm still convinced there is a basement down there somewhere and must have a look under the carpet!
So, in anticipation of more images of sacred buildings I bring you an image of my clear favourite from Florence, the beautiful, quiet Santo Spirito.
I'm still working through my photographs from both trips to Florence and I think there is more to come from the Santo Spirito folder, as it is I've only processed one! I didn't get quite the image I wanted but I know a man who did. It is simply beautiful. The graffiti on the Duomo walls is right: Brunelleschi is a genius.
Last year one of the highlights for both of us was climbing Filippo Brunelleschi's Duomo, an incredible experience as you find yourself inbetween the 'skins' of the dome itself, emerging into the dome to see the spectacular ceiling paintings by Giorgio Vasari and Federico Zuccari and then finally out onto the top ot the Dome itself. The views over the city are wonderful and this year we climbed Giotto's Campanile to see views of comparable wonder! Click on the picture for a scroll along view.
On our last full day in Florence this year we started the day with a visit to the Giardino dei Semplice, a botanical garden maintained by the University of Florence. Containing over 9000 plant specimens the compact gardens were enchanting, even more so due to the thunder storm rumbling overhead!I've added some new prints to my Artfire studio including two ttv images taken in the gardens. There is space for one more image in my studio and I 'm going to work on a photograph of the tumbling yellow roses as they were so beautiful and I still love Ellen Olenska - but not the blonde Michelle
Pfeiffer version!
Having confessed my resemblance to our dog, I feel I should restore a little dignity to my blog and talk about the wonders of Florence again. The diptych of said dog and me features a photograph of me taken moments after spotting our first coypu along the River Arno, hence the somewhat exaggerated, toothy grin. I do not always look quite so, well, puppy like!
Our night wanders through Florence were fully splendid and I'm so glad we kept a journal as well as taking photographs. I've been flicking through it, in all it's lovely pen and snapshotto glory and couldn't help but laugh at one of R's briefer entries:
"Carousel in the Piazza della Republica, much to Laura's joy. All illuminated and horsey."
And it was!
I love this image swiftly snapped while walking across the Piazza del Duomo, especially the group enjoying the balcony! A few weeks ago I started creating a mixed media piece inspired by this photograph using four small (roughly 7x5") canvases and treating each in a different way. The upper left is still blank, the upper right and lower left so far has a black and white version of the image collaged on and acrylic paint applied and the lower right has been painted in acrylics. It is a sample piece, all part of continuing to develop my painting techniques and I'm really enjoying it! It is on hold at the moment while I work on my jewellery for our first fair at the end of the month, which deserves a quick plug . . .
Starting tomorrow Creative Open Workshops based in the Custard Factory in Birmingham will be hosting handmade fairs every Saturday in June, we'll be there on Saturday 27th June and hope to see you there! If you are handy to Birmingham and haven't visited the Custard Factory before you really should, it's fab! On Saturdays there is also the Vintage Flea Markets and with the Handmade Fairs for this month you simply must go!
The Cheviots from Goatscrag; taken straight into the sun so do excuse the big sun spots in the sky. We went down to Roughting Linn last week on what turned out to be the last day of the lovely sunny weather. A bit of striding in the great outdoors was spirit liftingly splendid.
I didn't take any pictures of the markings in the rock as there was a man there informing us about the supposed connections with lady parts ('you'd know more about that than me, eh?') but you can see a variety of images here. Interesting to note the erosion in just the last thirty years and to wonder whether they are in any way protected?
Having a sit down and a drink at the top of Goatscrag and watching R taking photos I did think to myself that this beats the arse of being in school on a Wednesday morning. 
