Tree House Collages and WOYWW

Carrying on the theme from my last post I've just finished another two little tree house inspired collages.

I'm linking up with Julia this week, over at What's On Your Work Desk Wednesday.

Tree House Collages and WOYWW

  On my desk this week are these two little collages that I've just finished - they are based on my fascination with tree houses and my current love affair with lime green!
If anyone's interested I did a little trio of tree house pieces last spring, and you can find them here.

   

I'm joining up with Julia over at WOYWW this week.

My Outdoor Studio and WOYWW

While some health issues have been causing big changes in my life lately, I've been turning to the things I feel familiar with - more than ever my garden has been a huge source of comfort and inspiration to me and in some ways is an extended part of my studio.
 My garden is full of memories and full of plans for the future.

 It's where I feel closest to my mum - she would have been such a strong and loving support to me through this rather trying time and she is deeply missed.

When my mum was living with Alzheimers the garden was our favourite place to be - I turned her little herb garden into a sensory garden where we could enjoy the flavours, smells and textures of the plants.  Wild strawberries were scattered throughout and Pineapple Broom gave off a beautiful fruity scent.  Chocolate Cosmos really did smell deliciously of real chocolate (that was one of our favourites!) and we'd crush and smell the leaves of Lemon Balm, Rosemary, Thyme and Lavender.  Heliotrope had a smell very much like cherry pie (which is also it's nickname) and Stachys Lanata had the softest, furriest leaves to stroke.

Some of the plants have disappeared during bouts of neglect due to many different reasons throughout the years, but there is still an abundance of  favourite plants that have survived through both the good and bad times - Thalictrum with it's especially beautiful fern like foliage, Geums and Rock Roses, and blue Geraniums. I've been gently working on the garden when I can so that it continues to be a place of inspiration, comfort, peace and tranquility, and where new memories will be made. 

Here are some older photos of the herb garden - the house and lower lawn are behind the bench, hidden by the hedge so I'm working on opening it all up so I can see this part of the garden from the house.   

  I'm joining up with Julia over at WOYWW and I apologise for the length of this post - I seem to have rambled on for an unusually long time today!

Jigsaw Pieces and WOYWW

While having a sort out in my studio I came across these jigsaw pieces that I had painted and printed last year but not got round to using.

They were part of an idea for my 'midnight garden' project which is why I've added them to the black sketchbook page - I like the idea of all the tiny little aspects of the garden that we often miss making up the whole picture. The jigsaw pieces seemed to be perfect for this. I'm not sure how I'm going to take this further but the foundations are there and I will work on it later in the summer - I have Spring projects to complete first!

I'm linking up with Julia over at WOYWW this week.