Magpie
Four magpies fighting
In the road, oblivious
To me passing by
Magpie finds long stick
Jackdaw wants it, sky scuffle!
Fight, flight, Magpie wins
Robin
In the blackthorn boughs
Robin; red lantern on branch
Among the blossom
Goldfinch
Goldfinches riff free
Jazz. Syncopated beats on
Bare willow branches
Picks from my Etsy shop this month:
These cute little pin badges features my heart motif design on a multicolour background. The badges measure 25mm in diameter each. Packaged on a backing card and wrapped in tissue paper, this matching pair of badges, perfect for friends to brighten up bags, hats and jackets.
Whyllmoon
Nothing but rain? Join Wilva Cut-Hand and her three friends as they set out on a journey across Whyll to find Starhanda’s Rock at High Merlon. They need to take astronomical readings to present at the Annual Council Court in Whyllmouth. From their lives as apprentices at the Offering House in Whyllbow, they will travel to The Foundry at Dundook, then on to the mountains to try and find answers to the strange events happening in their lands, making new friends and encountering danger along the way.
Year of the Fire Horse
Celebrate the Lunar New Year with this set of three handmade Good Luck cards, two featuring a lucky coin and one featuring a lucky cat, each one is different. Perfect for wishing someone good luck, dressing your dinner table, or using as gift tags, they are white card left blank inside and on the reverse, ideal for writing messages. They are supplied with white envelopes. Please note: these are small cards!
You can find these small handmade gifts in my Etsy Shop now.
Marsh Harrier
Gold wings in late sun
Struck from Thor’s hammer, bright streak
Of talons and beak
Starling Murmuration
Front row gathering
We wait for the performance
A winter ballet
Sky whale! Sky whale! Swan!
Starlings flow shapes across sky
Nature’s movie show
Find more of my birdwatching haiku here:
Using the whole of an A4 sheet of paper for one basket(zero waste), I’ve created this simple paper basket for a great little craft project. Ideal for parties, egg hunts, Easter table decorations etc.
You can either draw out the grid on your sheet of A4 paper or lightweight card using the pattern as a template or print the pattern direct to your A4 sheet.
You can use pre-decorated or colour paper, draw your own patterns on it or add your own paper decorations or stickers to it (remember to pattern the reverse side of your sheet if printing pattern).
The heavier weight paper or card you use, the stronger the basket but the harder it will be to cut out!
You will need:
A4 paper, scissors or craft knife, ruler with finger guard, sticky tape, double-sided tape or paper glue. (I prefer to use sticky tape and double-sided tape.) Stapler for handle if necessary.
Directions:
Using pattern as a guide, mark or print out pattern onto A4 paper.
Cut along the solid lines, fold along the dashed lines using the edge of the ruler as guide.
Stick Tab A and Tab B to inside of Panel C.
Stick Tab D and Tab E to inside of Panel F.
Secure the corner edges of the basket with tape, if needed.
Fold two handle strips lengthways. Overlap ends and stick together securely with tape to make long handle. Attach to either the outside or inside of basket (where Tabs meet on panel to hide seam).
Staple handle in place for extra strength, if needed.
Warning: Please take care with sharp edges, scissors and glue with young children!
I am delighted to release this new omnibus of my lyric poems, pulled from fifty years of poetry writing, on subjects ranging from dreams and mediations to walks through local landscapes, art and nature.
‘Instead, I am reflected as I am in the silver puddles
Imperfectly reduced to wiggly lines and shifting shapes
Drenched full of light and singing with wild birdsong’
(poem excerpt from Freedom 2017)
Now available as a Kindle Edition eBook on Amazon here.
New Year picks from my Etsy shop this month:
Hand Stitched Paper Bookmark Cards: Winter is the perfect time to curl up with a good book and my hand-stitched paper bookmarks, sent with a blank card are perfect for booklovers. Pair it with a good book for a great gift idea.
Cotton Kitchen Set: Need a bit of post-Christmas kitchen clean up? Spring clean with this crochet cotton cloth, eco sponge and organise your bread bin with this cotton bread bag. Green and clean!
Silver Birch Abstract Collage: This little abstract collage of Silver Birch trees in woodland uses some of my watercolour test sheets to make the bark. These sheets are made when I paint with watercolour and test the colour before applying to the painting. I was struck by the way the paint, cut into strips reminded me of the trunks of Silver Birch. This collage has a textured gloss varnish to it which is hard to catch in the photos.
Three Mini Good Luck Cards: I’ve hand-made these good luck cards featuring lucky coins and a lucky cat. Perfect for wishing your family and friends a Happy Lunar New Year.
This morning the starling flock flew out at dawn in minus six degrees centigrade, as they flew overhead, due to the thousands of birds passing, I was able to notice a pattern within the larger grid of the flock.
Starling DRS haiku:
(You can find more of my birdwatching haiku in print and as a eBook on Amazon here.)
A look back at some of the art I’ve seen while out and about this year. (Stripes, lines, red, threads, waves, shadows, surface, time, stance.)
From top to bottom:
Myths & Machines exhibition, Niki de Saint Phalle
Myths & Machines exhibition, Jean Tinguely
The Madonna and Child with St John the Baptist, Giovanni Bellini
An Uncommon Thread exhibition, Max Boyla
Bronze Age Beaker, Broadmayne
Ship of Fools, Kehinde Wiley
Gromit Unleashed 3 Art Trail
Ton of Tea, Ai Weiwei
Street art, Mau Mau
Featured above:
Featured above:
Find more gift ideas at PatriciaRustArt on Etsy. Perfect for Secret Santa, stocking fillers and gifts for posting.
October sees the return of the huge flocks of starlings to Somerset and I am very lucky to be able to watch these extraordinary little birds locally. They are an endless source of entertainment and inspiration and they definitely brighten up those grey winter days with their rowdy antics.
I’ve posted before about my bird haiku book, available here, and during the year I keep writing about the birds I spot, an ongoing project for me. For the last few weeks the starlings have been gathering on the lines in our road, reminding me of that Hitchcock movie classic ‘The Birds’, very appropriate for this week!
Wishing you a Happy Diwali, Halloween, Samhain and Allhallowstide at this turning point of the year.
Starlings
This morning’s laundry
Already flapping in breeze
Starlings on a line
In the grey rain-light
A steady drizzle of wings
Storm clouds of starlings
