Earth

Earth

This is our Dorset village, made famous as Hardy’s ‘Marlott’ in ‘Tess of the D’Urbevilles’. Come with me past the Church, ‘The Pure Drop Inn’, past our house then down the field to the River Stour - and you’ll know how I feel about this beautiful place.

Surreal yet recognisable, the eye is led from the dark horizon towards the chimneys and the two iconic lamps on Gold Hill. The deep shadows cast by them echo the inky blackness on the horizon, with pale golden moonlight guiding and protecting us….

The Hovis advert made this “an image of childhood, a collective warm memory of an idealised world.” Surreal yet recognisable, the eye is led around the chimneys over the vista towards the horizon - with the white light guiding us back to the Sun.

Fragile snowdrops hang down shyly yet withstand storms and wind, echoing the Christian legend where the Angel transforms snowflakes into soft, pearly flowers. After dark winter, they are a sign of Hope, instilling new confidence and courage within us.

Rising high above the Vale is the tumbling town of Shaftesbury, immortalised as "Shaston" in Thomas Hardy's novels. We live down below, in his village of "Marlott"!

Rabbits, squirrels, frogs, chaffinches, woodpeckers, robins, woodpigeons and blackbirds live with us here whilst butterflies, honeybees and dragonflies flit above flowers. There is to be found a deep inward peace that carries us through the tides of life.

From dawn to dusk in this magical garden, everything is engaged in the Cosmic journey of regeneration. Shimmering fronds of weeping willow dance in the Spring sunshine, birdsong fills the air and, on the breeze, fragrances and tiny seeds are borne aloft.

This Iron Age hill-fort is where Oliver Cromwell routed the last group of resistance in Dorset. A place of defence, people also lived inside the ramparts. Towering over miles of surrounding countryside, it still holds the area in its ancient embrace.

In the early summer, imagining the landscape through which Hardy’s ‘Tess’ would walk from Marnhull to Cranbourne Chase (and Alex), the deep shadows of fields, trees, and sky are softly imbued with light…. Nature is offering her much-needed protection.

Using Chinese brushwork this became luminous. The shapes of the flower emerged with the simplicity of the purple, pink and orange petals of the tulip and its leaves. Translated, my Pictographic alphabet means: “I have found my Way.”

Fragile snowdrops hang down shyly yet withstand storms and wind, echoing the Christian legend where the Angel transforms snowflakes into soft, pearly flowers. After dark winter, they are a sign of Hope, instilling new confidence and courage within us.

Sheltering under a copper beech as the heavens opened on a cloudy afternoon, a double rainbow suddenly flooded the sky with colour against the outline of our church. The Dove of Peace evolved quietly into the painting - as quickly as had the rainbow.

A splash of gold for the centres of the teal, pink, indigo and saffron flowers contrast with deep shadows. Wet on wet creates glass and light for the vase of water and the butterfly simply evolved - to add to the feeling of light, laughter and creativity.

Dark indigo and purple convey the background shadows; and wet on wet creates the impression of glass for the vase of water. The splash of red and gold for the flowers' centres brings warmth and sunshine into a simple composition….as do the butter-flies.

Rabbits, squirrels, frogs, chaffinches, woodpeckers, robins, woodpigeons and blackbirds live with us here whilst butterflies, honeybees and dragonflies flit above flowers. There is to be found a deep inward peace that carries us through the tides of life.