Portland Stone

Today was a wet day of unexpected delights. As the snails appeared to enjoy the refreshing rain we thought we would have races and in going to collect them we visited  the beautiful Tout Quarry Sculpture Park and Nature Reserve. Here Freya was encouraged by the wonderful Hannah Sofaer to carve her collection of friends in Portland stone.  
A wonderful day enjoyed by all even, as you can see, by the snails.

A swarm of snails . . . by Calef Brown

"I usually draw a snail along with my signature . . .
As I was dooding the aforementioned creatures,
I reflected on how satisfying and easy they are to draw.
When I returned home, I pulled out a jar of india ink
and some brushes, and drew a swarm of 41 snails." Calef Brown
 

The joy that makes someone draw a swarm of snails, the uninhibited creativity and imagination of Calef Brown.

Last snail entry

Sorry, I seem to have a snail thing going on, but this made me laugh when I came down in the morning to all the snails tentacles out hanging from the ceiling of their home (this was when they were getting ready for the big race).

Snail Song "Non, je ne regrette rien''

It is rough and ready, but it was so much fun to make and many thanks to Finlay for his help. Also it was very difficult to persuade everyone to sing even just one line of ''Non je ne regrette rien''. It is so nice to have such a funny reminder of lovely times, with everyones voices and laughter.

Snail Song

While we are on snails, I made a little goodbye to France film, this is me animating it, still some refinements to add, but I will try to share it soon.

Just Back

Just back and trying to make sense of life again and get ready to leap in the deep end with work, school and home etc. I also have new comedy finger, as I have discovered I am very allergic to wasps, and unfortunately got stung twice last week and ended up in hospital. Above is a picture from a wonderful evening of snail racing. Hello everyone xxx

Painting with Snails

It was wet here today, one snail crossed my path and one was hanging on to my cherry tree, the cherry tree climber is the artist. I once did this with my students, when I happened upon a boot full of snails on the way to class. No snails are harmed, just mix a tiny bit of food colouring in some water dip your snail and let it free on a nice piece of paper. It is great fun if you have a lot of snails, and a pallet of different food colours.