A Postcard From the Barn - August 2026 - ink, pigment & a stag
glimpses of velvet- covered horns
I may have mentioned this before that I choose not to reach for a phone when wildlife appears; a joy in letting a moment simply happen, rather than trying to hold onto it.
I can't show you what unfolded on our walk this week, but perhaps you'll let me paint it instead, in words that might outlast any photograph: the scent of parched earth finally drinking in rain, the soft, cosseted hush of woodland as the sky let go, the flick then dash of squirrels (twelve of them by our count) who've built their dreys low this year, their young kits wobbling out along branches on first, tentative leaps, all elbows and nerve.
We were already full to the brim with the ordinary magic of a nearly autumn walk when, right at its very end, the woodland opened and gave us something else entirely. It was a stag, magnificent and unhurried, stepping out mere metres ahead of us.
We stilled.
We became, as these moments always ask of us, quiet and reverent witnesses.
What followed him was a parade I still can barely believe: a fawn, a young buck, does, eight beautiful fallow deer in all, moving as one dappled, watchful but calm clan, their coats speckled with light, carrying between them something wilder and older than words.
near the fig tree, and a little too close to a barn window
Now I'll show you a recent exception to my 'not attempting to photograph wildlife' rule...isn't the robin, a highly territorial bird, (yes we know we live in your space) we have as a regular visitor, such a gorgeous creature.
My husband cradled it in his two hands the way he does now, a bird whisperer, self-appointed, CV addition pending. The robin lay stunned following its window collision and trusting in his gentle grip, showed us its rusty orange breast rising and falling at first too fast, that particular burnt-amber I'd only ever caught in flashes across the garden, now close enough to count each fibre of feather.
Its eye held ours; black, glassy, a small bright bead taking his measure. Ten minutes he stayed still for it, barely moving, as if he understood that stillness was the whole of the medicine. Then, the sudden shrug of recovery; a shake, a blink, a decision; and it lifted straight off his palm and away over the barn roof, into the paddock, leaving Andy, my husband standing there with empty hands and that quiet, private glow of a man who has just been trusted with something wild.
We tend to think of wildness as something distant, deep in forests, beyond our homes and fences. But sometimes wildness arrives in the garden, settles on a finger, and reminds us that closeness and belonging are not quite the same thing.
And then there is the rather wonderful fact that, if you have ever met my husband, with his huge, well-cared-for grey beard, you’ll know that he has occasionally been mistaken for Santa by small children.
So perhaps, quite by accident, we have now sorted our Christmas card greeting.
Root & Branch- an exhibition at Leicester Print Workshop
I'm thrilled to be part of Root & Branch, a selling exhibition at Leicester Print Workshop bringing together a whole community of printmakers whose work has been shaped, one way or another, by time spent among trees.
The gallery is currently full of woodland in all its many moods; dappled light caught in etched lines, the quiet architecture of bark and root laid bare in ink. It's a show about looking properly: about what happens when you stop walking through a wood and start walking with one, noticing the green of moss on a north-facing trunk, the way mist settles low before the sun burns through, the calm that comes from standing beneath something centuries older than yourself. Every print in the show carries a little of that feeling, and I hope visitors leave with more than a piece for their walls, but also thinking about why these woodlands matter, and why they're worth protecting, now more than ever.
My own contribution, explores the fleeting moments when light
filters through trees — what the Japanese call komorebi; earth pigment prints using ground pigments and some prints using foraged leaves, and they sit very much within that spirit of thinking about why woodlands matter; made from woodland, a celebration of it.
Root & Branch runs from 1 August – 5 September 2026 at Leicester Print Workshop, 50 St George Street, Leicester, LE1 1QG.
Do come along if you're in the area — it's a lovely space, and this feels like a show worth lingering in.
And have a look at the exhibition catalogue to discover more about each of the print makers involved.
workshops past and to come..
I recently hosted the most nourishing week , a week long printmaking course here at the barn. We sketched out in the field, admiring wildflowers, using photography and pastel sketches, along with a symbolic shorthand in print, to carry ideas back to the studio, where they became prints in deep, inky palettes.
We visited some beautiful spaces across the Lincolnshire Wolds, including the visitor centre at Oxcombe, where my commissioned piece lives; always a quiet joy to see it there but even better to hear the enthusiastic reactions of others.
If you'd like to book your own, check out the workshops available here or contact me for something bespoke, as my Californian visitors did.
hot off the MINI press...
Sunday 13 September 2026 10am-1pm
I've another course coming up, this time a relaxed few hours:
I'm a familiar face at Harriman & Co in Leicester, and my workshops are relaxed, hands-on and creative; perfect whether you're a complete beginner or already love making.
Mini Press Print Making — 10am–1pm
intro to botanical etchings and how the 3D printed press works
mono-print demo — each one unique with amazing plant detail; select pressed botanicals, ink a plate, print onto soaked quality paper
create a handful of mini prints in a monochrome theme, using a variety of methods
learn which botanicals suit the process best
take home a set of 7cm square plant prints, ready to frame, shelf-display, or turn into gifts
a chance to shop in a a beautiful, curated space filled with interior design gems
tea, coffee, water and biscuits included.
📍 Harriman & Co, 14 St. Mary's Works, Lineker Road, Leicester, LE2 7JL
Just a few hours and such a good way to get creative.
I have so many experiments and works in progress currently ongoing. Metal (silver gold and copper along with vintage linen - best get back to it and let you get on with enjoying your week ahead.
Until next time...
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