Janet

The first sketch was from this afternoon at Conder Green on the Lune Estuary. It was really warm and hazy and everything looked monotone and slightly washed out as if it was in an old photo. The other sketches are from Sunday, at Martin Mere WWT reserve in West Lancashire. I loved sketching the flock of

I went down to the coast by Pilling yesterday evening. The swallows were swooping around me and the sun was low across the salt marsh and fields, lighting them up in gold, but hazy grey cloud was low over Clougha. The wire on the fences around the marsh are all strung with seaweed. Not sure how much

I spent the morning drawing dried seaweed with Sandgazer Jenny. Jenny has a real gift for opening people’s eyes to the wonderful things all around us that are normally overlooked. She collected the seaweed from the Kintyre peninsula in Argyll. Jenny is documenting grains of sand collected from all around the world in her photography and art,

Last Saturday I ran an acrylic painting workshop at my studio, which went really well. Seven people came and produced some really lovely work. The worksop focus was acrylic landscapes. I used a photo from upper Ribblesdale for demo purposes, but some people brought their own photos in to work from.  Here are the resulting

I called this painting ‘Loop the Loop’. It shows (in fairly unscientific detail) carnivorous Madagascan pitcher plants, of the genus Nepenthes. Memorable to me because on my first trip to Madagascar aged 22 I was really struck by their exotic jungley appearance. I had never been in the tropics before, and I was reading Robert Drury’s Journal ,

I’m running two art workshops at Williamson Park this summer. They’re ideal for anyone who’d like a shot at drawing and painting but can’t manage regular art classes. Numbers will be restricted to allow plenty individual tuition. Booking essential – contact Janet at jmr@jmr.org.uk or 07786 868783. I’m away on holiday between 28th June and 6th July but either

I really like watching birds through my little telescope, I see so much that I’d otherwise miss. I felt like I was in some kind of nature documentary on Saturday, at Conder Green on the Lune estuary, watching a flock of lovely eider duck paddle around a fishing heron and a feeding swan, while the occasional