Saturday 25 August 2012

Sparrowgirl


Well, who knows what we're up to today - I've written this in advance of posting it so you have something to look at while we're away (not that I think you can't live without my amazing words of wisdom - or incoherent babblings...)
This is the preliminary drawing for the painting below - Sparrowgirl. It was painted over Springtime, hence the Hawthorn leaves and flowers. I have a real soft spot for Hawthorn. Its gnarly but delicate bark, its tiny, pretty flowers, the berries (said to be good for the heart and for digestion - but don't go nibbling any old berries - I'm only going on what I've heard, not hard evidence!) and the history and folklore of the plant,also known as Mayblossom.
I remember a story that I heard a few years ago, when I was living in Lampeter,Wales. It involved the chopping down of an ancient Hawthorn tree to make room for a road. Not long after the road was built, and the tree disposed of, a huge crack opened up in the Earth in the area where the tree had stood. No matter how people attempted to fill in the hole and make the road useable again, the same thing kept on happening. Eventally, the road was abandoned and no more efforts to build one were made. They say it was because the faeries had been angered by the destruction of their sacred tree.
I love those stories!



Sparrowgirl will be for sale in the shop in September :)

Thank you for reading!

xxx

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