Kestrel

I was surprised I was able to photograph the kestrel at such close quarters especially with a noisy 5 year old in tow. But this was last year during our big freeze and before we realised the impact the weather was having on birds of prey. We began to see more and more in the trees and hedgerows, and I swear I saw a buzzard perched on a road side fence post (usually only spotted soaring high above us around here). I suspect our diligent feeding of the garden sparrows probably helped a few predators.

Prints now available here(Folksy) and here(Etsy)

 

Works in progress

Late last year - on a mild weekend sandwiched between icy blasts we hopped over to Northern Ireland for a wee road trip and a visit to the Giant's Causeway. I have to say the coastline is stunning, my ideal mix of wide sandy beaches, cliff and rocks. I've been working on a design for a print ever since but struggled to get the composition right. Now I think I've just about cracked it. 

 
I was a but miffed to find i didn't have enough lino to make a start on this last night so decided to turn channel my creative urges towards a spot of painting.

He's not quite finished yet but it was a great feeling to produce something in a relatively short space of time, printmaking on the other hand can be a rather long drawn out process (at least it is the way i do it!). Must do more painting this year - and more birds - lots more birds!