Country Diary - Pay it Forward

A daily practice of sketching and painting gives you a chance to exercise the big three P's - practice, practice, practice!

Ink, wash and collage in my Moleskine 200gsm "Country Diary"

When we open ourselves to the natural world, we escape the fast-paced bustle of our daily lives. That experience, not only reduces our stress, it also grounds us, reaffirming our connection to the Earth and all its creatures.

We need the tonic of wildness… We can never have enough of nature… We need to witness our own limits transgressed, and some life pasturing freely where we never wander.
- Henry David Thoreau

This is the third in the series Country Diary, which consists of paintings, sketches and collages depicting nature, rural and farm life.

Country Diary - From the Forest

I know no subject more elevating, more amazing, more ready to the poetical enthusiasm, the philosophical reflection, and the moral sentiment than the works of nature. Where can we meet such variety, such beauty, such magnificence?
- James Thomson

A daily practice of sketching and painting gives you a chance to exercise the big three P's - practice, practice, practice!

Ink, wash and collage in my Moleskine 200gsm "Country Diary"

This is the second in the series Country Diary, which consists of paintings, sketches and collages depicting nature, rural and farm life.

A couple of months ago I collected some leaves and acorns from a friend's tree (unfortunately I don't have an Oak any more and I really miss him) and it's amazing how well they dry and stay preserved. I actually have them displayed on a wooden bowl and they absolutely last for ever. A bit difficult to dust! but well worth the effort!

Country Diary - Buyers' Corner

“Art is not a thing; it is a way.”
- Elbert Hubbard

Ink and wash and collage in my Moleskine 200gsm "Country Diary"

I started a Country Diary a while ago, which consists of paintings, sketches and collages depicting nature, rural and farm life. This is my first entry and I'll be posting a couple of them here, and it was a nice break from my regular landscapes and sketching. I'd forgotten how wonderful it feels to play again! This is one of my roosters, Artemis, and he actually makes quite a willing sketch subject, not minding standing quietly close-by as I sit and sketch in the garden.

I sometimes think I'd rather crow

And be a rooster than to roost

And be a crow. But I don't know.

A rooster he can roost also,

Which doesn't seem fair when crows can't crow.

Which may help some. But I don't know.

Crows should be glad of one thing, though;

Nobody thinks of eating crow,

While roosters they are good enough

For anyone unless they're tough.

There are lots of tough old roosters, though.

And anyway a crow can't crow,

So maybe roosters stand more show.

It looks that way. But I don't know.

~Unknown