Beachcombing

Walking along the beach, collecting things is one of my pleasures. Even picking up rubbish on a #2minutebeachclean is enjoyable for me! Here is my collection from the last beachcombing walk at Pagham beach - the inspiration too behind my latest illustration.

Winter

I don't love winter but I'm glad to live in a country with definite seasons. In nature colours, plants and light change dramatically to give a totally different atmosphere which means there's always something new to see and to inspire me.

Here is my mood board inspiration for the last illustration - woodland collection.

Woodland collection

Inspired by looking at the forest floor on my walks and collecting everything I see (which is becoming a bit of a problem in my house!) I've now drawn everything and put it together in a kind of pattern. 

Forest floor

All the walking I do with Finn gives me so much inspiration. Here's my first illustration of the year - inspired by seeing leaves on the forest floor during a walk in the Rewell Wood. I usually do a black and white ink drawing in my book and then colour it and play around with the layout later. Oh the wonders of computers!
© nicky linzey 2016

2 minute beach clean

A couple of weeks ago I saw pictures on instagram of #2minutebeachclean and Martin Dorey's brilliant idea of doing a 2 minute clean every time you visit a beach and now I've become mildly obsessed. On our last 3 visits to Pagham harbour, Chichester harbour and Pagham beach, Gra, Finn and I have collected up a tiny bit of the enormous amount of rubbish we saw. It is amazing how much is out there, we've found some interesting things too as you can see below. So does this inspire you to do one?

Jays

I've been fascinated by Jays since childhood and have found quite a lot of their blue stripey feathers over the years. To look down and see the bright blue feather on a muddy path is pretty exciting to me but as I've said before I don't think I get out enough! Lately several Jays have been landing in the tree outside our bedroom window and it has been my first sighting of the actual birds. I've always thought they kept away from people because they were very shy.

spindle berries

I haven't been drawing much lately - I go through phases like this but on Sunday I picked some spindle berries - the colour of these berries is amazing, bright pink with orange seeds. Seeing them on the mantlepiece each day I decided I must draw them before they died. I scanned in the finished drawing but it wasn't as free as I'd have liked, so I roughly drew in the shapes for colour and the result is below. A bit different from how I normally work.

May

May has gone and Summer is now here although no sign of nice weather yet. I am having a creative block with my drawing which always happens when I'm sad or anxious. Although I love taking photos and recording all the things that interest me, mainly dogs, nature and food - which does help.

Arundel florist's display, Petworth Park where there was much debate about whether this was a Magnolia or Gardenia - we decided on Magnolia Grandiflora - if anyone knows differently please let me know, wild foxgloves, homemade strawberry tart and grass silhouettes from an evening walk.

A visit to Lewes which I always love, a lot of the shops are independent which makes a nice change, woodland walking and cousin Gif who gave me a lovely cuddle.

April

The days are flying by - this is my favourite time of year when everything starts changing and there is an amazing amount of colour which seems to suddenly arrive from nowhere.

The bluebells this weekend were beautiful, no photo ever does them justice. The rapeseed is turning all the fields vivid yellow and the sky has been an intense blue - apart from the odd murky day of course when we could only just make out the shape of Bill. He has had adventures of his own - chewing up a toilet roll tube and getting his top and bottom teeth stuck together! We tried for ages to free them and had to take an emergency trip to the vets, where they tried everything but with no luck. He has a bad heart murmur and I thought this would be the end of him as he was becoming quite agitated and trying to pant. Suddenly it just came unstuck and he trotted out as right as rain - I on the other hand had to go and have a lie down to recover from the stress! My sister now calls him 'Billy the Eternal'.

We also all had a trip to Boxgrove Priory - the ruins of a 12th Century Monastery on the outskirts of Chichester. 

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and a very happy, healthy and creative 2014. Also a BIG THANK YOU for visiting throughout the year, especially to everyone who takes the time to leave comments - it means a lot.  

Olives

My olive trees have produced a lot of fruit this year and I always have the urge to harvest it. I tried this once, with the naive and romantic notion of picking the olives, putting them in some pretty jars and eating them when friends came round on a summer's evening .. I didn't know they had to be cured which is a laborious job of cutting a slit in each one, immersing them in water and changing the liquid every day for 6 days. After that they need to be stored in sterile jars in brine for 5 weeks, then drained and flavoured with lemon, garlic, herbs and stored in olive oil for two weeks. Then ... you can eat them. I threw the lot away after a few days as they looked foul, however I am tempted to have another go this year.. I'll let you know how I get on.
© 2013 nicky linzey

Smell

Sacred

Day 23 and the word for the August Break is sacred.  There are many places that feel sacred to me - they are always outside when I'm surrounded by nature and the elements. Even better if I'm with my JRT - Bill. The first pic is Pagham Harbour, the second is Start Point in Devon. 

Tree

The theme for illustration friday - a subject i love to draw and photograph.

© 2102 nicky linzey

sky

Sky is the theme for Illustration Friday this week. I always feel happy when I can see vast expanses of it.
© nicky linzey 2012

Identical

Nothing in nature is identical so I've resorted to duplicating a drawing! This is a pen and ink illustration - my collection of found items in a bowl - a nest of treasure.
© 2012 nicky linzey

Tall

For Illustration Friday this week a drawing of Arundinaria oleosa - a bamboo that can grow up to 30 metres! I have layered one of my foliage photos on top to give depth.
© 2012 nicky linzey

Freeze

FREEZE is the theme for Illustration Friday this week. Not a very topical subject at the moment even though the summer is non existent this year in the UK, however this is an illustration I did for a project that has sadly been frozen in time.

Grass

There are some beautiful colours in the grasses this year, probably because of the rain. Of course my faithful companion has to get his face in the picture!

Lonely

'I wandered lonely as a cloud' by William Wordsworth resonates with me, as nature is my inspiration and helps me in times of loneliness and uncertainty. The clouds this weekend were wonderful and reminded me of this poem (the only one I can remember from childhood!) which in turn gave me the idea for Illustration Friday.

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.


Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.


The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed---and gazed---but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:


For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.