Nature is ready for spring
I had experienced something quite new for me and that was an intense feeling of completion whilst i wandered all the three spaces. I was not certain whether it was the energy of these places , it felt and looked different or was it me? There was an emptiness that quietly but confidently said “we are ready now”
Was this me or was it the place or perhaps had we synched together at a defining moment of change. Maybe the change for me was my ability to sense a place or is it something deeper , something my inner world knows which has not come to light. It feels similar , the woodland is clear and waiting for a spring beginning and i feel clear , ready , completed and sense of accomplishment but not really knowing what that really is or how it will manifest within me.
Nature knows itself , there isn’t any preferences or judgement just that it will happen that brings abundance for a short while of time that will flourish and provide its own needs and others. But there has always been uncertainty in my life , an unknowing what abundance really feels like and perhaps my movement into freedom is that i have , like nature , let go of judgement , preferences and attachments to outcome to just be.
For February Angel card i drew “Hope” and it brought a feeling towards world events , perhaps there is a clearing a happening , something remarkable and unexpected which changes everything for the better. The work with Hope is what we focus on , pay attention to and align own behaviours. When we move from fear and anger into love and care things manifest differently , our reality changes to how we perceive life and interact with it. It is not something we get but become. Our relationship to the bad stuff shifts to kindness and compassion moving our nervous system into ease and healing. This feeling within is contagious and lifts the spirit subtlety to others and multiples exponentially.
Just like nature the readiness for spring has no attachment to when but quiet patience and knowing that it will happen. I feel that hope is the same , our work isn’t anxiety of outcome but present moment of being the change and leaning into love. Trust in goodness and hope flourishes even in the darkest of day and it takes darkness to be able see the light.
Bull Crag Peninsular
I felt like a parent this week to this place , my heart was excited when i saw from far a Gorse bush in bloom and couldn’t wait to congratulate it on the first flower and vibrant colour of the year. These beautiful bushes are gateways to other worlds of magic . The Gorse are wild spirits. They are edible , you can make wine and tea with them and they make a beautiful yellow ink if your patient enough to have your fingers constantly pricked which i have many times.
Gorse is the symbol of the sun god Lugh , it lifts the spirit and brings hope and joy into the world. It is a plant spirit that keep on giving through the year and our ancestors had a deep affinity to it.
New tripod in hand and now with having a waterproof we ventured into the drizzle mist of the Peninsular at would of been first light but the sun had little appearance today. I was connected to the space and things just kept on popping up along with having a cheery mood and attitude of “i will take it anyway , as its fun” . I had this same feeling of euphoria on the previous Saturday when i chanced the weather for a couple of hours to sit and paint , it felt like time had just stood still and i was deeply connected and seemed to get an amazing amount of things done.
I think that it has rained all of 2026 for some part of the day. The moss and lichen are loving it and everywhere i go there is something quite wonderful to look at. Lichen is such a good indicator of the quality of air which creates a blessing to how i ended up living here. But it just is not moss and lichen , the saturated colours of fern , heather , tree trunks and grasses make this place seem otherworldly like i am living in Fae land. It would not of surprised me that they were not looking directly at me from this magical tree with its golden brown leaves still in place.
As everything has cleared now there were little tracks leading down to the reservoir and i loved the contrast of the brown tones of the grass with the misty water. You would think that this landscape was timeless but the fact is the reservoir was created in 1980’s in which my home was built for the displaced people. But , look at it now , see how nature is resilient and makes it own through love and flow rather than resistance.
In the Wild , painting
I want to be you
I want the moss to
engulf me , and
redefine me.
I want the lichen to
embellish me , and
co-exist in my dreams
I want my roots
exposed to show
vulnerability is my
strength.
Top Left : Watercolour on 33 x 50 cm Fabrinno Oil paper
Top Right : Watercolour on 50 x 65 cm Fabrinno Oil paper
Middle left : Watercolour on 170 x 250mm Leda Supplied Sketch Book
Middle Right: Watercolour on 140 x 210mm Watercolour Sketch Book
Bottom Left : Watercolour on A3 Canson Watercolour paper
Hareshaw Linn
It was dark and raining for my visit , i would not normally chance my camera equipment but i was not even sure we would have another dry day in the next few weeks of February. My reward soon came as i saw my next first flower of the year a beautiful snowdrop , they are a favourite and hopefully i will get a better picture with better light next time.
Snowdrops are the embodiment for Imbolc although the flowers are non native and its not certain when they were brought across from Europe they therefore do not hold folklore of our ancients in Britain but they became a symbol of hope , new beginnings , innocence and light. Bring a few indoors to remind you of hope of new beginnings.
And thus the snowdrop , like the bow
that spans the cloudy sky
becomes a symbol whence we know
that brighter days are nigh
George Wilson
Even in February with the right conditions does this little gem of a woodland delight with mushrooms although i still cannot resist the lichen and hawthorne berry combination of complimentary colours. The berries must have a point when the birds stop feeding as they seem untouched now for months.
This diary is very much my external memory and i wonder whether the super sunny 2025 created such a bumper harvest of berries which has led to the trees still being graced with them plentiful. 2026 will be my test year for noting it in comparison.
The burn is a vibrant sound cascading down through the woodland at the moment and its hard for me not to acknowledge it for 5 minutes of grace. wishing it to heal and nourish the earth on it way.
Bakethin Nature Reserve
I think i have calmed down now with my rage against this place having to be logged and i am sure it could of been left alone as a nature reserve. However , the deed is done and i have no control over this so the focus is about whats still here for this month as i have plans to move to a bigger woodland in lieu of Bakethin. I will still continue to visit and hopefully come painting but with what has happened it is just too small now for my diary.
In march i will be visiting two native woodlands about an hour away , one called Allen Banks and Staward Gorge which is the biggest and Whittle Dene which is a wee smaller but has folklore of fairies and mystical beings which certainly attracts my attention. I still have Bull Crag Peninsular close by which i am still coming to , i absolutely adore these forests even though they are plantations.
I have been contemplating “Self Belief” for a while and i saw a post on Instagram about not being taught to hold your own space of being yourself and its not about self belief but self love. For whatever reasons we try and fit into something which clearly does not fit and then thinking we are imposters and not enough try and adapt ourselves causing unhappiness and depression.
Nature holds space for itself and includes everything as it is. I see the unseen as much as the seen and find beauty in it all. Nature doesn’t need to sell itself to seek validity ; it doesn’t need to believe in itself so other might believe in it , it does not need a vocabulary to explain why to others as they don’t understand it.
I have not learnt or been taught to hold my own space and often feel not enough , try to adapt myself to fit in and fall in the trap of self belief and needing words to explain my art. This is work for me to do , but what i think at the moment is holding my space is having the confidence to let it be without the need to explain and allow whatever manifests from this. My meditation taught me to sit with the uncomfortable and see whats behind it and let things be as there is no need to figure it out or try and adapt yourself by meddling with the natural flow of life.
