Spring Thoughts
April has come around in a whirl of warmer days and busy plans as well as settling back into normal routines after time away to visit family. I am currently working on three different design projects which I am really enjoying and am very excited to see come into fruition.
In mid March Ru and I were given a two day basket making workshop with Dominique Parterre from Sussex Willow. It was wonderful to use our hands to learn how this traditional and ancient craft is done. I was surprised at how little tools and secondary materials were used to create the hedgerow baskets; they are created simply with willow of different thicknesses. The thicker ends of the willow create the frame of the basket, which Dom skillfully rubbed the fibres of the willow, gently curving and bending the material into the form he wanted. Carefully avoiding bends or snaps, the willow was then taped and later nailed into it’s final form. The very fine, bendy parts of the willow were what is used to create the weave, pulling new strands into the basket each time a wip came to an end. It was a meditative and mindful process. The whole studio fell into silence as we worked for hours continuing to add willow to our weaves. We left the workshop with two hedgerow baskets that we were both chuffed with. I am envisioning collecting herbs and flowers in my little basket and perhaps bringing it along for future summer picnics too, the uses are manifold.
We celebrated our three year wedding anniversary by going for a lovely walk along Cuckmere haven towards the beach. We walked along the meandering river, spotting lots of sea birds with the dogs by our side. Ru has never visited this area before, not being a Sussex native, so his visit was long overdue. He loved seeing the chalky white cliffs of the seven sisters. Following our walk we ate a meal outside at the East Dean pub, The Tiger enjoying the early Spring sunshine and the sweet rows of the flint cottage’s gardens, all budding with tulips and future blooms.
One of the projects I will be shortly working on is a South Westerly facing terrace in a local village. The home has recently been renovated and the terrace is currently bare with only one dwarf Acer, a fig tree and a line of lavender. I will be working on this project this coming week and am very much looking forward to choosing cottage and wildlife friendly plants that are also tough and resilient to the sun. I am leaning towards silvery foliage, a muted palette of soft tones that will harmonise with the brick and allow you to see through the planting while relaxing and looking out at the beautiful countryside view.
The week just gone I have created a planting scheme for another village garden that is currently completely bare and shaded. The garden is elevated with gabions and steps up into the garden and so I have introduced a collection of gorgeous frothy plants that will create mounds of flowers and continued blooms to cascade over and down the gabions. Creating a welcoming and enchanting space. It is so lovely to spend time mapping out the forms and colours that will make this garden a sanctuary to the family that lives there.
I managed to squeeze in one day of painting over March, but one I thoroughly enjoyed. I signed up to a Still Flowering class with artist Jo Rance who paints landscapes. She uses unexpected, spontaneous colours which are liberating and fun to experiment with. After the class I carried on painting for a couple of hours into the evening, picking up paintings that I had started and adding new layers. Some of the marks and colour combinations felt unexpected and loose and I hope to find a couple of days in April to develop these further.
March was a lovely month and it has felt good to be settling back into home life after starting the month in Australia and spending a couple of days on the gorgeous Thai island of Ko Samui. I came home feeling refreshed and inspired with the early rising nudge of jet leg getting me out of bed at sunrise but often before.
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