A Postcard From the Barn - October 2026
Chasing pheasants & a chat with the farmer & new prints and places
I’ve been out on evening walks again, chasing the last of the light now its getting dark earlier. At this time of year, the sun sits so low that it rakes across the fields and everything catches a copper glow for a few minutes. The ridges and furrows run away from me in long tidy lines towards a thin band of trees on the horizon. The low light catches the tops of the ridges and leaves the furrows in deep brown shadow, so the whole field looks like a pleated textile. The dried stems of the crop lie across the ground in loose tangled lines, pale gold and silvery white, like fine drawn marks of aesemic writing.
We’ve gone for a fair few walks in the dark lately, one under the full moon and others just to be serenaded by the owls while everything else settled down for the night. The owls are very atmospheric, all fairytale screeches from the trees. Then there’s the pheasant...
On a recentwalk, we were ambling along the edge of a field, chatting, feeling peaceful. An owl screeched somewhere behind us. Then, about a metre to our right in the undergrowth, a pheasant I had absolutely not noticed lost its mind! It shot straight up out of the hedge bottom, squawking like I’d done something unforgivable, and in the dark it sounded far bigger than it was. Its friends joined in, one after another, until the whole hedge was flapping and shouting at us.Then they all soon went quiet again as if nothing had happened, and we were left standing in the dark, laughing and trying to remember where to walk. Owls get the reputation for being spooky ins storybooks, but they need rewriting as the pheasants are the ones who actually make you jump.
We met the farmer near here the other night. We were next to grasses I'd been collecting to squirrel away for winter. He had his two dogs with him- one doesn't like men in hats - a simple description of my husband that evening, and the other, we had been told likes to bite ladies fingers. Now here, I don't mean those sugar coated sponges, from the bottom of trifles in the 70s and 80's, I mean my very useful tools of my trade. I had on previous meetings stood talking not quite with my arms up, for surrender, but more rapidly putting them in my pockets, to avoid any temptation.
Luckily, both dogs have both now had successful training than when we last met them, so everyone is now much more well behaved.
He stopped to ask about my work (he never quite gets what I do!). He is always curious though in whatever I’ve collected or been photographing and why. This time he started joining in talking about the colour he unearths from on the tractor seat. (many of the tractors by the way run off an ipad in many cases these days!)
He described exactly the palette I always gravitate to: rust, burnt umber, ochre and soft blacks. His words about the soil as 'mostly browns and greys but there's changes with the weather. Wet, in some places its nearly black and sticks to everything, and the limestone and red clay that come up with the plough has a red, rust colour.' He then slipped in asides about the heavy rocks that come up and the seams of extra tough ground that are hard going to farm.
According to him, the rocks are clearly breeding, because he clears the field one year and they’re all back the next, and some of the ground is so stubborn it seems to take the plough personally.
A possible new print series
In the woods I’ve been finding fungi and shelf mushrooms growing on fallen wood and old stumps. On one walk I spent a good while at the edge of the woods, with a line of silver birch, looking up into their branches.
The long hanging twigs fall like pen and ink marks against a pale sky, the little leaves and catkins are scattered along them like notes. I am enjoying the space in the photos and I am again moved to make photopolymer prints. In fact I'm off to Leicester Print Workshop soon to expose the plates.
...& here is one of my blackthorn prints form the last series I created.
The blossom shows itself on bare, black branches, usually around my birthday, before the leaves have even thought about arriving.
The same hedgerow gives sloes later in the year, a gift when the light has turned golden and the air smells of woodsmoke. This print holds both moments together.
A soft, atmospheric print in warm, nostalgic tones, with the feel of an early autumn morning.
Salt & Silt, Salt & Rust- two new limited edition prints
I’ve collected coastal walks, some on the North East coast and some in Lincolnshire, and on my camera roll they’ve all run together into one long beach and coastal path. A marker post standing alone in grey water. A bare wooden post against the low sun, with seaweed dumped around its feet. A whole sky of sea blues and soft greys. The tide pulling the sand into thin branching channels, with gritty sand catching the light.
Then there were the things that weren’t on the beach at all. An old hobnail door with rust seeping out from under every hob.
A patch of old steel where the rust had gone from warm orange to a deep brown.
The sort of thing that grabs your attention, then demands a close up.
I love the moment of noticing a weathered surface. The marks are a record of weather, salt and time, and I like stopping to look properly.
It’s why, if you ever go for a walk with me, it might take longer than you’d expect. I’m not a get there in a straight line kind of person!
They make a pair but can be bought singly, and each is a limited edition of 10.
My new limited edition prints are a record of some of what gets my attention.
Salt and Silt and Salt and Rust are both pulled from photopolymer plates.
Joining GroundWork Network
I’ve just joined GroundWork Network, as an associate. GroundWork Gallery brings together artists who care about the state of the environment; who want their creative practice to help shape how we think about nature, in ways that are positive and powerful.
What drew me in is the idea of a shared space where different skills and disciplines meet and swap good practice.
My work is rooted in making, with earth pigments, plant fibres and non-toxic printmaking, so it feels like a natural home. I’m looking forward to meeting other members and seeing what we can build together for a more resilient future, one which challenges. If you'd like to read more about the gallery and its artists, read on here.
I attended 'The Wash: Remember Nature', a tribute to that extraordinary stretch of coast in Eastern England. It grew from the GroundWork Residency for 2026 and includes an exhibition at GroundWork Gallery in King’s Lynn and seven more across Norfolk and Lincolnshire. It draws attention to the threats to the natural world as well as its special qualities. Living and walking in Lincolnshire.
Where To find Me Soon
I’ll be a stallholder at the Craft & Art Fair at Attenborough Arts Centre, and I’d love to see you there. It runs from 11am to 4pm, and there are over 50 makers and artists showing everything from jewellery, glass and ceramics to textiles, printmaking, painting and stationery. I’ll have my printed and textile pieces, so come and have a look, pick things up and buy if you wish.
The galleries, shop and café will be open all day too, so it’s easy to make a proper visit of it. Booking is recommended but you can also just drop in on the day...and you choose what you pay, with a recommended price of £1.
I will have a few of my new Blackthorn series with me and as many of you arent local to Leicester there's a chance to be first in line below.
Back in Black (the first CD I ever bought... if you know, you know!)
The new new blog series I have been writing 'Unearthing Colour' has its first entry so if you're interested in the dark side - not halloween, but the colour black, take a look here.
Speaking of black, I recently sold the piece below on its first outing and its one of the first pieces I make where I included keum boo on silver, onto the linen. (the Keum boo is the process of adding the gold to silver). It is such a wonderful feeling when your work resonates deeply with someone else, so I was chuffed when a piece of mine went to another artist whose work I have been a fan of for some time.
In fact, I had seen a vessel made by Kate Boulton at a previous makers show, and when I saw it again, its textured surface and wild landscape feel, along with its uneven edge and hole, meant it came home with us. with me. Do have a look at Kate’s work. She is a lovely human too.
Come and print with me a mini print course
I’m running my plant lovers mini print workshop at Leamington Studio Artists on Saturday 28 November, 10am to 1pm, in the LSA Art Room at Royal Priors in Leamington Spa.
We’ll use leaves and flowers to make small, detailed monochrome prints on a mini etching press.
All levels are welcome and everything is provided, so you only need to bring yourself (and an apron). You’ll go home with finished prints that make lovely cards or small wall pieces, and the skills to carry on at home. The workshop needs a minimum of eight bookings to go ahead.
...& if you can't make it there, get in touch as I can travel to run group courses or you might wish to arrange a bespoke workshop, here at my home studio, in Lincolnshire.
Until next time...
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