Almost Bluebells

It's not every day you get chased by an extremely aggressive swan.  Not every day you have the pleasure of going for a walk with a dog suffering a phantom pregnancy.  So, one way and another, today was pretty memorable.

We’d planned a bluebell walk. It’s that time of year. But of course everything’s late this year - including the bluebells. They were almost out; just the faintest haze of blue on the woodland floor. By next week…

We walked all the same. Along the canal. With the dog who thinks she's pregnant. That's where we met the angry swan, protecting its nesting mate. It chased us for a good ten minutes before we finally escaped.  Then we swapped scared for soppy as we came upon brood after brood of tiny ducklings. And tramped through fields littered with new lambs.

The air, in places, was heavy with the scent of wild garlic. There was a riot of blossom and flowers: forget-me-nots, grape hyacinths, viola cornuta….dozens more. Cottage gardens, full to bursting.

We met a cross lady who was NOT enjoying her barge holiday and was VERY glad this was the final day. Passed bridge after reflected bridge. Lock after white lock. Paused at the memorial to seven Polish airmen who lost their lives when their plane crashed right there in 1943.

We climbed the hill (to avoid a repeat encounter with the swan) and walked back through the woods; past ranks of slender birches, stick straight and tiptoe tall. Came upon Kildwick Hall, guarded by stone lions. Ached with envy for its perfect walled garden.

We dawdled through the prettiest of villages. Heard the church bells ring out 12 o’clock. Just missed being rained upon.

And we almost saw bluebells.

April at Dixon Hill

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

It's hard to believe, but April is almost over.

Here at Dixon Hill, the month has blessed us with sunshine and blue skies (mostly).  Even a few warm days in and among.  It's been a proper end to winter and oh so welcome.

Before it departs, I thought I'd share some images with you from the last four weeks here in the Pennines.  The little show is just under five minutes long.  So I suggest you get yourself a cuppa, take a few deep breaths to let go of all that tension, then settle back and let the magic of spring in Dixon Hill land work its charm.

P.S.  Debussy's Arabesque No. 1 is played by Daniel Pollack - not me!

A Pennine Safari

I went on safari in my friend, Joanne's, garden the other day.

I'll bet you didn't know we have crocodiles in the Pennines...

P.S.  Today I'm taking part in Mosaic Monday, hosted by Mary at Little Red House.  Why not pop on over and take a look at some of the other lovely mosaics you'll find links to there?

Jolie's Advice

You may remember this post about Jolie Guillebeau’s project, 100 Paintings in 100 Days. Well, Jolie’s up to Day 67 now - quite a feat.

What impresses me just as much as the heroic scale of her painting, however, is the freshness and enthusiasm that spills from her daily posts. She’d be forgiven for sounding just a touch jaded by now. But, no! It’s still full steam ahead.








If you read the comments on the first post, you'll know that Jolie volunteered to pass on the benefit of her experience to anyone else contemplating a similar enterprise.  So of course I took her up on her offer. 

Here then, in her own words, is some of the wisdom gleaned from the last two months of painting.




67 days ago, I started a crazy project. I decided to kick myself out of the quagmire of fear and perfectionism by committing publicly to doing 100 paintings in 100 days. I'd been painting for a while, but not really making much progress. I wasn't selling a lot, which meant I wasn't very motivated to paint because I was tired of just stacking more paintings in the corner of my studio. Then when I was painting, I'd spend hours and hours on something until it looked perfect - and stiff and lifeless.

This project solved both problems. I began on Day 1 with a painting for $1. Why so low? I had so many people who loved my work, but couldn't really afford an original. I wanted to acknowledge their support in some way. And honestly, $1 for a painting is better than nothing.

So on February 15, I began. And I've learned a few things along the way. Hopefully they'll help you, even if you decide not to do something this crazy.

Lesson One: Relationship is everything.

This project has challenged my painting skills, my business model and my creative muscles. But the most important benefit has been the new relationships. I've encountered so many new people, who are excited about my work and my plans. Yes, some of them are buyers, but most of them are people who are just excited about what I'm doing and want to encourage me. That matters more than sales.

Lesson Two: Organization leads to sanity.

Early on, I didn't think about all the "extra" time; I was just focused on painting time. But I quickly realized that setting up the e-mail, shipping and administrative details were going to take much more time that I expected. So I made a spreadsheet. That spreadsheet has saved my life and my sanity so many times. Do whatever you need to do to get the process out of your head and on to paper, so that when you wake at 4am with an idea, you can write it down and go back to sleep.

Lesson Three: Double check everything.

Day 21 was a disaster. I had a lot of new subscribers that week, and Sunday had been especially busy, so when I set up the email for Day 21, I forgot to double check the image. It was the wrong one. The story and the painting didn't match; it was a painting that had already sold, and I spent several minutes curled in a ball on the floor of my studio certain that I was a failure and this was the beginning of the end. But I pulled it out, people were gracious, and I learned that everyone really wants you to succeed. They're rooting for you, so...

Lesson Four: Don't be afraid.

Just get started. If you're thinking about a project like this, begin today. Make a commitment, begin, take action. I'm rooting for you. If you're wondering about anything I haven't covered here, I'd be happy to answer other questions in the comments or via e-mail. Stop thinking, stop worrying, stop listening to your gremlins, and do something wonderful.

The Same View: April

Notice a greening of the hillside yet?

Perhaps….but only just. Everything’s late this year. Temperatures have only recently hit the magic number that starts the grass growing.

But, growing it is; and everything else besides. So next month should bring more visible change.

January                                                      February                                                 March