Recently I have noticed an old trait of grasping and pushing with things. Constantly meddling , sabotaging and changing stuff which doesn’t need changing.

My attachments start playing out predictive thoughts of insecurity and panic because i have not met with the conditions which i think will make me OK.

i keep on getting messages from unsure where to “settle down , you are exactly where you need to be , you are doing what you should be doing and there is nothing more to do”.

The Simon & Garfunkel song sprang to mind “feeling groovy” , we have to stay in the groove and let things evolve and play out by itself. Just do what you are doing and let everything else happen by itself. My message to myself to stop taking the stylus of the record part way through a song and changing.

Slowing down helps me see my reactive behaviours being directed by unwanted old thoughts. Just do as I was taught and sit in silence and let things be. Mostly I have found that sitting in silence is the productive thing to do and silence has become my friend in need.

I am paraphrasing and mixing a few Alan Watts ideas that we have to connect to our intuition more and trust the universe as we cannot possibly know what will happen as life is not “cause and affect; but something more stranger and entangled.

Hareshaw Linn

My second date with Hareshaw Linn , after needing to slow down and find some clarity I went just to have a walk and get to know the place although i did want to look for art in nature as it helps me really slow down by being playful with what I see.

The wet tree from 2 days of rain bring out the colours and textures.

It was early , Eric the Red Insect and I were the only ones about expect a few clouds of midges. For me , it’s good to have an intention to slow me down from pacing too fast with a head full of rubbish. It is my mindful walking anchor. I have to take a tiny booklet and keep on looking at it , it just has titles : Wild Shapes . Tree Bark Art , Nature Drawing and Shapes on Rocks

It is good to remember an intention and motivation to your mindfulness nature walk but it does not have to be doing something or achieving something , it can be simply to breathe and expand into silence. It is never an issue that I do not find something to photograph but the intention to look more openly and curiously with the motivation to connect.

I do the same when I am walking for nature photographs, I normally split into categories of Woodland , Flowers , Grasses , and anything I feel creates the month. Otherwise I get so lost in what I am doing I forget what I came there for. A little stop when I get lost to bring myself back to intention and to sit re-connecting.

There is always something that tells a story about that given time in the year and even within the seasons there are differences and you will begin to notice that the more you go to your own nature spaces. What else you will notice is the different parts of a place will flavour the same plants and trees differently. Nothing is exactly defined , everything has its own cadence and has its own moment. I am always looking for that alongside remnants of the previous season still hanging on or something new coming up.

I received an invite to represent an Italian Gallery for a collective show at Vienna Art Fair which I always feel grateful for. It is nice to be recognised. The problem with these invites is the vast size of the show that you become a droplet in an ocean. It is a difficult call as it is not just about selling your art but investing in your profile and attracting curators. It is a lot of money and you have to be so careful. I paid a lot to have a painting in Barcelona Modern Art Museum in 2023 which was just before my Dads death , I have never seen my Dad so happy with this news. I did get an invite from a lovely lady whom owned a Gallery in Rome city centre but I after my Dad died and what was happening from this I had stopped painting for a while and then changed my style.

I have some time to ponder its pro and cons and see whether I will give it a go.

Along the path edges before you enter the woodland there I such vibrancy of wild plants and it is slowing down that helps finding something which connects. Sometimes it is something quite ethereal or delicate , then something quite structural and majestic but as I have said many times before I do love the messiness of it all together.

I did find a clump of red poppies but I am unsure whether the local community have been planting in the area and it would be rude for me not to share this and see what comes up next year.

Bull Crag Peninsular

This is the only Rowan which I have seen Berries formed on my adventures in Kielder. Generally I have only noticed saplings and a ones a wee bit bigger but not full grown Rowan trees. I need to look to see what age they begin to form Berries. I must admit that I was hoping for more native trees when I moved up here in the Kielder Forest but I am beginning to find places nearby that have that and I can also share Kielder at the same time.

The Berries make a very striking hot pink ink but it is an awkward process. I love making ink, sometimes I use it in my painting but mainly I love to bottle them and gift them.

It is still vibrant along the paths , purple had taken over as the dominant colour, as the buttercups and dandelions have dwindled and come straggly but a week later other yellows have emerged. You have to look harder for white flowers but walking mindfully you will spot them.

You do not need to stray too far from the paths into the Forest to find some amazing tree stumps. There is something quite spiritual in how the underworld begins to claim back what it emerged from. Nature re-purposes and adapts itself , it needs the tree sump as much as the tree needed whats below it and grown from. A full cycle of life

Bakethin Nature Reserve

There are a few little excursions from the main path which are a delight to wander and maybe spend 10 minutes or more just sitting and experiencing the beauty and energy of nature. It is places like this which are wonderful to meditate , just to breathe in the air and soak in the energy waves. It is by the Hide and by the looks it is not often used. Go looking for little gems like this in your own local nature space , make them your secret space and gift it with your time. This is a place that next year I will look towards making a mindfulness walk .

I found a clump of Yellow , maybe lichen on the Forest floor whilst I was hunting for tree stumps and moss. I am not sure what it is but that Cadmium Yellow is striking. Hoping there is some left or more next time as I may spend a bit more time photographing it.

Whilst photographing tree barks I was approached by someone asking me what I was doing. I told him that I love finding shapes , textures and colours on tree barks , sometimes I abstract symbols and ideas that I see on them and then express them with watercolour painting. He said that he has never taken the time to look at tree bark before so I hope I have widened his world and experience when goes for a walk next time.

This is a Kali Dream, told you so moment , that most people just do not connect to nature and see it the way I do and I can show people and perhaps teach people to see differently.

I am kind of lost for words with regards to the beautiful nature ponds so I have just provided an image this week. I have decided to enquire into swapping around my camera system so I can get the 80mm macro lens as I think I need to grow a little with my work.

It still quite early for Berries but the odd ones in the right position are emerging. It feels like a selected colour in a black and white image as the colours are so striking . I have used berries for ink making but following the honourable harvest rules that you shouldn’t take the first or when they are not in abundance so to leave it to wildlife.

Just as this month the cow parsley has become dominant along the edges and hedgerows, it is now, in places, changing colour because of the intense sun and dry weather making them turn quite quickly. I am looking forward to these changes . I should have lovely diverse displays in August to show.

I think that if more people looked at bit more deeply into the Grasses they would see their exquisite nature. It reminds me of a teaching about what we think is the biggest thing in the room and nobody chooses “Air” , like the fish is the last to know its in water quite often I think people are the same with what keeps them alive. Man credits itself for civilisations but without Grasses it would not of been achievable.