Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

 

(There are ten candy canes to find on the tree!)

Christmas Copy and Colour Images

These .jpeg pictures are designed for printing out and colouring in.
They are free to copy and use but must not be used for commercial purposes
or for profit without my express permission.

Christmas Wishes Robin 

Christmas Tree

Merry Christmas Snowman

Christmas Tree Fairy

 

Handmade Seasonal Gifts and Cards

 Delighted to have some new festive cards and gifts, handmade by me, available in my Etsy shop now:

A6 seasonal greetings

Beads and malas

Fridge magnets and handstitched paper bookmarks.

Original art and craft by PatriciaRustArt by PatriciaRustArt (etsy.com)

Glastonbury Frost Fayre ~ November 27th 2021

I'm very delighted to have an indoor stall at this year's Frost Fayre on Saturday
where I'll be selling a range of my art and craft. 

Crochet crafts and hand knotted malas

handmade cards and bookmarks

a range of gift-sized paintings 

Amulet of Tears: Book One now available as an eBook or paperback

Just a quick update to announce that Amulet of Tears: Book One is now available as a Kindle eBook (99p) and also a paperback on Amazon (£4.99), just click on the title to go directly to the Amazon UK website. I'm delighted to have the first book written in this science fiction/fantasy saga and you can follow my writing process over on my other Twitter account @TearsAmulet or find out a bit more on my Ripplestone Review Fiction Blog, link in the sidebar.

Nanu, with the help of his sister Seer and mentor Zoa, is running a gruelling race across the fire plains of Naime to win back the Amulet of Tears for his people. Naime is their home planet, one of the Tied Worlds ruled by Ota. By winning it, he will set the Naime free from Ota's brutal rule.

The Amulet is an ancient jewel Blem is prepared to pay trillions for. Ota knows, if he sells the jewel, he will be able to pay off his debts beyond the Tied Worlds & be free.

Blem's protégé Cha, is a Wind Walker whose people Ota destroyed. She wants to do more than help procure the jewel for Blem but inadvertently sets out on an adventure of her own across the Tied Worlds.

Jovu, Blem’s deal broker is simply after making sure he gets the best deal, whether it's Ota, Blem or Ota's creditors that he deals with. Lasha & Nott are bounty hunters now commissioned to hunt down Ota.

Between them all, they trigger a set of events that will take them beyond the fire plains & rift mines of Naime & eventually, beyond the Tied Worlds solar system...

New handmade items available!

My Etsy shop is now open again with a range of handmade, individual gifts, paintings and cards.

(Click on images to go to shop.)

Yandles Summer Handmade Market this Saturday ~17th July 2021

 

Looking forward to my first craft fair at Yandles this Saturday, with a range of handmade cards, crochet gifts and watercolours.

June & July summer exhibition

 I am delighted to be exhibiting watercolours, oils and small collages at the Creative Studio Art Gallery, Great Bow Wharf, Bow Street, Langport, TA10 9PN this summer during June & July. There is a lovely selection of local artists across a range of mediums situated in a beautiful repurposed wharf building on the River Parrett. You can grab a bite to eat in the Kitchen and wander along the river paths as well.

Good Luck Tor, watercolour in a Fairtrade frame. (sold)

Paper collage of Kilve Beach, Somerset looking towards Exmoor.

Egret flypast and Swans at Ham Wall nature reserve, watercolours.

Two views of Burnham-on-Sea, paper collage. (sold)

Beach Moments at Charmouth, Dorset.

Mosaic on watercolour paper handmade in Somerset.

Winter Walk near Glastonbury Tor

White Horse, Kilve Beach, Somerset (oils on board).

Beautiful June

Everything seems to be flowering at once this month in the garden. The warm wet weather has bought lots of buds and growth but not so many butterflies this year. The prolonged wet weather was not good for the outdoor vegetable seeds, I'm on my second lot of bean sowings as the first were lost to slugs and pigeons but have managed to get some shallots and rhubarb going. 

I have begun another lawn spiral, this time in the front, they start off pretty unruly but after few mows settle down. If you are tempted to try one & have an electric mower, please make sure you remember where the cable is at all times. 

Lawn spiral

Nigella, tiarella & green alkanet

bearded iris, knautia and lavender

tea rose

On a visit to Hestercombe Gallery, May 2021 (Landscape Portrait: Now and Then)

The clear line dissects

A horizon drawing the view

Everything else

Left to others to construe

 

And here are old favourites

With anecdotal charm

The chance meeting in quiet rooms

Shapes of another time, another place

Of older artscapes we have

Wandered in

 

Lyme Bay & Exmouth

All along the coast

 

Each footstep piled

Like stepping-stones

These landscapes we fossil

For memory bones

 

A washing line of memories

Pinned up, black & white

Reminding me of another day

Stitching it all together

While we unpick meaning

 

Letting our lives fall

Moments windblown

Petals on a lawn

 

Old walls and footsteps

Gossip in these halls now

A slow travelling

And in the blink of an eye

Time & timelessness combine

 

I remember the first time I saw

Leonardo da Vinci’s cartoon

It was no laughing matter

An acme moment

With a view

 

The triptych

(plant in threes)

The densely wooded landscape

(Of your knees)

Here tenderness grows

Wrapped in human clothes

 

Rain obscures the Jekyll garden now

A pattern of drops on the windowpane

Echoing art

Art echoes

Again

The exhibition can be found at:

Landscape Portrait: Now and Then 17.5.21 - 25.7.21

Hestercombe Gallery, Cheddon Fitzpaine, Taunton Somerset TA2 8LG

For more information:

hestercombe.com

 

Trees, Seeds and Crochet

As lockdown eases and the temperature rises it has been lovely to get out & about over the Easter holidays. It is that moment in the year when the trees burst into leaf and bird song and I have spotted my first swallows of the year.

As usual, several windowsills have been full of seed trays, mainly flowers this year and now the days are warm but the nights cold, it is that seasonal dance of bringing trays in and outdoors as they start to harden off and grow on. 

The pasque flowers have survived the frosts  and I'm delighted to find lots of self seeding flowers in the garden, feverfew, ox eye daisies, pansies and a few foxgloves, natures own patchwork. What we need now are milder nights with some rain to help with the outdoor seed planting.

Pasque flowers

Quantock Hills, mini tree and sheep.

Beautiful tree shadows at Glastonbury Abbey in the Spring sunshine.

Mini Granny Squares patchwork crochet in cotton.

Spring arrives with Pasque Flowers & Pots of Seeds

The sudden spell in warm, dry weather has meant lots of growth in the garden and a chance to get out and get on with a bit of weeding and tidying up after such a long lockdown winter.

These Pasque Flowers are a lovely welcome sight for Easter.

The fierce frosts destroyed this old pot but the pansies it held survived, clearing up the pieces, I found this makers stamp with its pretty little flower motive intact.

Peacock butterflies have been emerging in the sudden heat this week, I guess from hibernation, a delightful distraction.

Indoors, pots of seedlings are taking over the windowsills, this week the heat beginning to make them too leggy! I've quite a few 'free plants' outside this year as well, as self seeders start to emerge, feverfew, love-in-a-mist, ox-eye daisies and strawberry plants and the warm temperatures have also meant the chance for a bit of sketching in the garden!

Wishing you Happy Easter.

Thoughtful Spring Gifts...

This month in my Etsy shop I have added a new design, based on oak leaves collected from our little oak tree last Autumn. These new fridge magnets are lightweight, slim & ideal for popping in an envelope along with a card for posting as a thoughtful gift for someone special. Click on the images below to go straight to my Etsy shop to browse.

Oak Leaf Fridge Magnet

Oak Leaf Blank Greetings Card in pale mint with recycled envelope.

All my items are designed and made by myself and, where possible, I use locally or UK sourced materials. 

Springtime in the Garden

 Happy St. David's Day!

After a weekend of beautiful blue skies & warm temperatures the little daffodils in the garden have bloomed, a lovely sight after a dismal winter. I have spotted bumble bees, honey bees & a brimstone butterfly over the weekend, along with more garden birds making the most of the sunshine.

Spring means it's time to reach for the seed tin, check what seed is still viable from last year & work out sowing times. I use a moon phase planting calendar to help plan timings. For germination, especially if sowing directly outside, it seems to help. There is a full moon towards the end of March so will aim to sow outdoors by then, if no frosts are forecast. 

I have bought some new flower seed for this year, Helianthus annuus 'Sonja' for the bees, some Mexican Marigold for companion planting, Phlox drummondii 'Creme Brulee' to fill in the borders & Brachyscome multifida 'Blue & White Mix' to use in pots for the patio. I found a few self-seeded foxgloves growing well & a few strawberry runners which have survived my neglect & the fierce recent frosts, these welcome free plants are always a bonus. 

 

New Handmade Cards and Crochet Keyrings for 2021

I'm delighted to offer a new selection of individual handmade gits and cards in my Etsy shop. Including a new card design ideal for St. Valentine's Day, a finger labyrinth and Good Luck cards.

I try to make sure I am including local or UK sourced materials, reduce the amount of plastic and use recyclable packaging where possible throughout my range.

  Crochet keyrings using British Wool, featuring flower or wheel motifs.

Handmade cards, each one is individual, using a block printed Hamsa motif in watercolour.

'Grow Love' card featuring a flower motif  hand stitched onto watercolour paper. 

Hand stitched onto watercolour paper that is traditionally made in Somerset and mounted in a lightweight card frame this finger labyrinth is ideal for a moment of quiet reflection.

Click on images to go to my Etsy shop,
opens in a new browser window.

Watercolour papers used are from The Two Rivers Paper Company, Somerset.
Two Rivers Paper – We hand-make beautiful rag papers for artists and designers at an ancient watermill deep in the Somerset countryside.

The wool is ColourLab DK from West Yorkshire Spinners. 
West Yorkshire Spinners – Reared, sheared and spun in Britain (wyspinners.com