Blog

  • September in my Etsy Shop

    Find a range of handmade cards, art and crochet items, all perfect for gifting in my Etsy Shop now:

    Pack of three handmade blank cards.

    ..

    Set of three cotton lavender bags, boxed ready to gift.

    ..

    36 bead Mookatite and Adventurine Mala with bag.

    Just click on the photo or text link to go straight to item in my shop.

  • More August Birds


    Kestrel

    Heatwave ends today
    Morning rainstorm, break cover
    Brown graze of feathers

    ..

    Cattle Egret

    (Cattle egret from a distance.)

    Intricate weaving
    Across a loom of late grass
    Egrets thread cow herd

    Apricot hair comb
    White feather boa, black silks
    Fine for a field day

    A line of cattle
    Punctuated by white birds
    Full stop, comma, dash

    ..

    Sparrows

    From the hedgerow, flee!
    A flock of fast sparrows flaunt
    The field’s dry despair


  • August Birds

    Long-Tailed Tit

    Notes ring, raindrop song
    Through wet boughs ten long-tailed tits
    Sing sweet harmonies

    Grey Heron

    Three grey herons fly
    Grey flags over grey rooftop
    Fanfare for new life

    ..

    The Summer Seagulls

    This year, two gull chicks
    Speckled pebbles on the ground
    By factory door

    You sent me photos
    Each week, while seagulls watched them
    Turn to grey goblins

    Shrieking banshee birds
    Surviving the heat, the dry
    To fully fledge and fly

    Summer seagulls swoop
    Overhead. Their cold cry cuts
    Goodbye, goodbye, Bye!

  • Two Short Poems

    Drawing Parallels

    We draw parallels
    Emphasising the differences
    Between each other
    Better than or worse than
    Underlining our egos

    Draw only one line
    With all your heart
    Empty of comparison
    Then you will be
    Unparalleled

    Dusk, December 16th 2025

    Fae Morgana lifts her veil
    O’er the moor and river
    And the sunset’s golden crown
    Bejewelled with starlings, glitters
    Above the western hill
    Where the staff was planted
    As dusk creeps across the lawn
    And blackbirds call and answer

    Notes:
    The first poem was written as a reminder to myself that, in my creative practices, I need to be true to myself even if it brings in negative criticisms. It occurred to me it can also apply more widely to our humanity and our interactions with others.


    Fae Morgana: Fairy Queen of Avalon. Her veil is the mist rising from the local Glastonbury landscape.
    The planted staff in the poem refers to the local legend of Joseph of Arimathea and the Glastonbury Thorn.

  • Whelk Summer

    The sum of this year’s sunshine laid down in the weight of hedges
    A luxury of space for art from when the summer was younger
    The push-rich jump to the front of the queue for a penny treat
    Newly-minted linen and leather bound
    Shades throwing shade

    White butterflies over a palette of green while the whelk watches
    At the end of the garden, listening  to the ailing ladies
    All aches under endless, faultless blue skies
    The hatted salmon lattes,  breakfast eaten at the gallery

    Inside the sculptures are stopped
    The frozen grin of a deer skull
    Dead tree
    Old wheels unspun

    Where did you dance when the summer was younger?

    A wasp flying away from a bird bath after drinking, it's wings a blur in teh sunshine.

    Notes

    I wrote this poem in 2025, then mislaid it and then stumbled across it today. The feeling of summer heat seems pertinent this year, with heatwave after heatwave and having to retreat indoors to escape the sun.

    Whelk: Marine mollusc with a spiral shell (archaic: a boil)
    Welkin:The sky

  • New in my Etsy Shop now…

    Hello Summer Holidays!

    This cotton sunglasses bag, perfect for summer holidays, includes recycled cotton yarns and I ‘ve made it using zero waste principles for a pretty planet-kind bag. Also available in white cotton. (Glasses not included!)

    I’ve hand-knotted this cute, lightweight summer necklace, perfect for holidays or festivals with a magnetic clasp and supplied in a waterproof bag for easy packing.

    Click on the photos or the links to go straight to my Etsy Shop.

  • Summer Birds

    Red Kite

    The river, bridged by
    A road and a red kite, marks
    The confluence point

    Wood Pigeon

    Gathering twigs, you
    Build a willow tree house in
    View from my window

    Seagulls

    Three seagulls scull by
    One calling ‘Stroke!’ as they fly
    A blue summer sky

    Swallows

    Swallows turn sharply
    Sizing up the summer fields
    Wing spans set square now

    Swifts

    Above the house, there!
    The needle song of swift flight
    Threading through the sky

    Book cover of my birdwatching haiku paperback.
    A collection of my bird haiku is available as a paperback or a Kindle eBook in Amazon now.
    Click on book cover to visit site .
  • Summer Linocuts in my Etsy shop now…

    ‘Poppies’

    I ‘ve based this linocut on poppy seedheads from my garden to create a graphic water-based acrylic print, framed in pretty free standing wooden frame. Great for giving your interior decor a dash of summer!

    Theban Cat (Limited addition)’

    This linocut is based on an object I saw in a museum, an ancient toy cat, perhaps a leopard or lion or a barely domesticated mouser! I loved its simplicity of form and its essence of wildness, still vivid after a few thousand years. This linocut cat lives in the imagination so has only the bare minimum of detail, hunting its prey on an imaginary ancient riverbank.

    Water-based ink on paper, from a limited edition of 17
    Black on orange: print 5 of 17
    Orange on blue: print 12 of 17

    Shop now…

  • PAE Art for a Cause 2026

    Postcard Art Exhibit Art for a Cause 2026 shop now open!

    There is a fantastic selection of original postcards, created by artists all over the world in support of this year’s charity supporting people with Alzheimer’s, including this watercolour of mine.

    Click on this link to find out more or purchase a piece of original art for a good cause!

  • Greetings from my Etsy shop

    Card Motifs : cake and candles / cacti flower / arrow ! heart / vases and leaf

    These handy packs of four handmade greeting cards feature art collages made from paper I’ve hand-printed with a silver or gold coloured abstract effect. I’ve mounted them onto an ivory 225gsm card stock, sustainably made in the Lake District and I’ve signed each card on the back, making each card perfect to pop in a picture frame after use for a bit of instant art. Inside each card is a loose blank inner sheet for your personal messages.

    Each Pack supplied with matching envelopes.
    Card size: 5 inches x 7 inches.

    You can find them in my Etsy shop here.

    Card Motifs: bottles and glass / aquarium / butterflies / cake and candles.