Nature is a very important part of my life. I draw much of my creativity and inspiration from my surroundings. I also find that a lot of my thinking time takes place when I'm following some of my outdoor pursuits. I have two lurchers and a horse so much of my time is spent outside and often braving the elements of the North Yorkshire coast! Some of my best ideas have come to me when I've been driving the 18 mile round trip to the stables, or whilst I've been there watching the dogs run around, or watching my horse roll on the grass, or gallop across the fields. For me personally, there is no better feeling than being outside and enjoying nature and our beautiful surroundings. I'm very fortunate to live on the North Yorkshire coast, in a very small town, where I'm surrounded by the beach, the North Yorkshire Moors and no end of beautiful lush green countryside. Who could fail to be inspired in such a beautiful part of the country?
My choices for today are items I've come across recently, which appeal to me because of my love of nature and beautiful things inspired by it. I hope you all enjoy them too.
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'Sheep Pendant' by Aileen Clarke Crafts
Sheep are an all time favourite of mine and obviously they are a very popular sight around North Yorkshire. Aileen has captured a typical landscape of sheep in the heather perfectly. This pendant is an exquisite work of art, with such wonderful attention to detail. To incorporate the piece into a pendant setting is perfect and truly inspired. |
A little bit of fun, but you just have to love this one don't you? I adore chickens and I love to see them running around up at the farm. I have created many pieces of handpainted wood which incorporate the odd chicken or two!
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'Raku Horse' by Tina Devlin
This beautiful horse sculpture appeals to me as I just love the form and shape of horses and the fluid lines. Horses are notoriously hard to draw and paint, so I imagine fairly hard to sculpt as well, but Tina has made a beautiful job of this. I just love it.
I have spent many hours walking on the local beaches, either with dogs, horses, children, or all of the above! Whitby is less than 20 miles from where I live and the home of the world renowned Whitby Jet. I love the simplicity of this piece so as not to distract from the colour and beauty of the sea glass and the Whitby jet. Beach walks are the perfect way to blow away the cobwebs, clear your thought processes and seek inspiration - works every time!
Lots of my own jewellery and handpainted wood pieces incorporate birds and flowers, again much in keeping with my love of all things in nature, so I've included this particularly lovely piece in my collection. I haven't seen anything like this before and I just love the mix of both the 'vintage inspired' and contemporary design elements.
Who could resist 'Mrs Fancy'? This beautiful wet and needle felted picture is just a riot of beautiful colours and 'Mrs Fancy' makes the perfect subject matter. Lots more lovely pieces on this Folksy page, so please check it out.
I am a big fan of the work of Paul at Phoenix Glass and have only recently included some of his beautiful Christmas decorations in one of my posts for Found on Folksy. Paul is also, quite obviously, very much inspired by nature and I just had to include his gorgeous dangly sheep as they are just a complete joy! I would have loved to have included one of his bright and colourful tree frogs, but didn't think one would fit with my theme of inspiration gleaned from the surroundings of North Yorkshire - I've never come across a bright and funky tree frog - yet! One day maybe .....
and last of all, but by no means least, I've included this truly beautiful photograph, because this is the sort of thing which inspires me personally on a daily basis. My animals are a huge part of my life and through them, I experience all sorts of things I would probably never have embarked upon. They get me away from my work and out in the beautiful countryside every single day and they give me a huge amount of pleasure. For me, being able to live a happy and fulfilled life, in beautiful surroundings, is core to being creatively inspired.
I hope you have enjoyed my choices for today. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog.
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