Madder

Sunday evening, nine-thirty, and though it's only mid-August, I'm acutely aware that the light fades from the sky ever earlier as Autumn approaches. But we've had such an amazing summer and the good weather continues... Tonight is the one of the nights for looking out for the Perseids, but it has clouded over here in Dublin. Damn! Maybe it'll be clearer tomorrow.

This evening, the honeysuckle I brought in from the garden fills the room with its scent and I look at its blooms and see combinations of madder and magenta and yellow ochre because the whole coloured pencil thing is so on my mind these days:

Pencil heaven, honeysuckle scent (some black elder and some Knautia in there too)

My coloured pencil collection was augmented nicely last Friday when a friend brought me back some great colours from Egypt. Yes, I know, but there were still art shops open... (Many thanks SD!) She also provided some great feedback on composition as I had started to try out some ideas for the yew tree and the letter I for the ISBA Alphabet project. This is a (very) unfinished sketch of how the final thing won't look ... it's based on the drawing I did a couple of weeks ago, but applying colour.

Crumpled and sketchy, a start at compostion: this is what won't work

The letter will have to be grey in the final piece and I didn't think a graphite drawing would look too appealing behind a grey letter so I am trying colour... There's loads more to do obviously, I will try a different way to arrange the sprigs of yew, for example, and of course there'll be berries in there too. I hope to head back to Crom Estate tomorrow to visit the ancient yews there again. We didn't have a chance on the journey home from Donegal as a detour wasn't in the revised plans on the early trip home.

It was a week for colour! When I wasn't messing about with pencils, I was revelling in the colours of June Blake's garden in Co. Wicklow. I visit June's garden at least once each summer, if not more, and on each visit I think I'm there at the best time, but honestly, this time was astonishing ... and June herself says that her garden shines in late summer. Just look at these colours. At least some of this blog is supposed to be about words but honestly words fail as I try to capture the delight of June's work (and play) with colour and plants and structure and rhythm and time. Those of you who can, just go!

Lilies and friends in June Blake's garden

Reflecting pool cools down the hot beds in June Blake's garden

Cool colours, hot schnauzer, June Blake's Garden

 

Crocosmia, Cotinus and Lilies, June Blake's Garden

June's garden was thrumming with bees and the air was dancing with butterflies, including this lovely Peacock

One of the reasons we were there is that B will be running three photography workshops there this September and he wanted to take some time to do some work there (if you follow that link, you'll see some beautiful images of the garden and its plant associations). It was no hardship for me to immerse myself in the garden (there are strategically placed benches and seats at various places throughout the garden) and I even did a couple of sketches:

Sketches of Ligularia, Inula and Primula in June's garden

Back in the humdrum setting of my own patch, I tried to practise some good husbandry and I cut back all this year's raspberry canes and most of the loganberry ones too (one of the many signs that seasonal change is imminent); I then got into a bit of a tidying frenzy and dragged B in to help. So: ivy hedges trimmed, neighbouring trees that were overhanging too much have been lopped back, the ivy down behind the greenhouse has had some manners put on it, as has the black elder. And the birches in the front garden have had some lower branches cut off too so that passers-by who are taller than me (just about everyone, in other words) will no longer have to stoop as they walk by...

All of that activity and an occasional walk in the woods and hills helped to keep my mind off (some of the time) how my sick son was doing far away in Montréal - the good news is he's on the mend, helped along in no small measure by his brother and dad. (Happy news DM!).

Deputy's Pass, Co. Wicklow

Young oak wood in Deputy's Pass

Have a good week all.