It’s very definitely autumn now, as evidenced by the first proper mist of the season on Tuesday.

Kirsty Hall, Morning Mist, October 2009

This was the sight that made me run back inside for my camera! Isn’t this leaf just incredible – it looks as though it’s been gilded or sprayed with gold paint but it’s completely natural.

Kirsty Hall, Leaf Turning Gold, October 2009

The spiders really pull out all the stops at this time of year. I am always astounded when I go out in the morning to find metres of silk spanning entire corners of the garden – how do they even do that?

Kirsty Hall, Spider Web, October 2009

Kirsty Hall, Spider Web, October 2009

Kirsty Hall, Spider Web, October 2009

Hi everyone. Unfortunately I’ve gone down with a milder version of my partner’s flu. I don’t feel too bad unless I try to do anything but posting may be a bit on the fluffy side this week.

With that in mind, here are the last of the Dewstow images. It looks like I’ve messed around with filters in Photoshop but I promise these are straight from the camera – isn’t physics wonderful!

Kirsty Hall, Dewstow Reflections, Aug 2009

Kirsty Hall, Dewstow Reflections, Aug 2009

Kirsty Hall, Dewstow Reflections, Aug 2009

Kirsty Hall, Dewstow Reflections, Aug 2009

I was captivated by the skylights in the tunnels – there’s something about shafts of light cutting through darkness that I’ve always been drawn to.

This is my favourite shot from the whole day.

Ah, the grottoes…

Kirsty Hall: Dewstow Grottoes, Aug 2009

We found these utterly magical. We were constantly seduced by the cool shade; the sudden dancing shafts of sunlight from skylights; the incredible jungle greens of the ferns and mosses and the constant soothing sound of water.

Kirsty Hall: Dewstow Grottoes, Aug 2009

There are several different grottoes at Dewstow, all connected with tunnels. Some are shady and cave-like…

Kirsty Hall: Dewstow Grottoes, Aug 2009

…while others are far more open and tropical in feel.

Kirsty Hall: Dewstow Grottoes, Aug 2009

And having fallen in love with this Victorian madness, I immediately decided that we should have a grotto at home! Just, you know, a small one…

Kirsty Hall: Dewstow Grottoes, Aug 2009

But even if I don’t manage to acquire a grotto of my own, I can certainly take inspiration from Dewstow and plant more ferns.

Last week we took a 3 day trip to Wales to celebrate my partner’s birthday.

A definite highlight of the trip was our visit to Dewstow Gardens on the Tuesday afternoon.

Kirsty Hall: Dewstow Gardens, Aug 2009

Kirsty Hall: Dewstow Gardens, Aug 2009

The gardens are notable for their amazing restored Victorian grottoes and tunnels. I got so many good photos of the gardens that I’m going to split them into several posts: the grottoes are so delicious that they deserve a whole post all to themselves.

Kirsty Hall: Dewstow Gardens, Aug 2009

Kirsty Hall: Dewstow Gardens, Aug 2009

As a gardener, I thought the fern areas, the lush tropical planting and the wonderful use of water were far more successful than the more traditional border areas but that’s a small quibble, it’s still an absolutely gorgeous garden that’s well worth a visit if you’re in the area.

I’ll post the grotto pictures tomorrow. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with this little chap…

Kirsty Hall: Dewstow Gargoyle, Aug 2009

‘I don’t know what you’re thinking of doing,’ said Pippi, ‘but as for me, I’m not one who can take things easy. I happen to be a turnupstuffer, so of course I never have a free moment.’
‘What did you say you were?’ asked Annika.
‘A turnupstuffer.’
‘What’s that?’ asked Tommy.
‘Somebody who finds the stuff that turns up if only you look, of course. What else would it be?’ said Pippi…’The whole world is filled with things that are just waiting for someone to come along and find them, and that’s just what a turnupstuffer does.’
Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren, translation by Edna Hurup

Isn’t that just the perfect description of what an artist does – I knew there was a reason that Pippi was one of my childhood heroines.

‘What sort of things?’ asked Annika.
‘Oh all sorts,’ said Pippi. ‘Gold nuggets and ostrich feathers and dead mice and rubber bands and tiny little grouse and that kind of thing.’

Yesterday, I turned up these images of my dill plant.

Kirsty Hall: Dill, July 2009

Kirsty Hall: Dill, July 2009

Kirsty Hall: Dill, July 2009

Today I turned up: several hours of art time, some thoughts that turned into art journal pages, my original Puffin copy of Pippi Longstocking, the first hint of ripening on one of my tomatoes and a quite unseemly amount of chocolate. No tiny little grouse though.

What small wonders have you turned up today?

Last Tuesday, the weather was so glorious that we took the opportunity to visit our beloved Virtuous Well over at Trellech. The joy of working from home is that you can occasionally take a day off in the middle of the week and go for day trips when it’s quiet.

And what a delight to sit in blazing sunshine having a picnic surrounded by this!

Kirsty Hall: Welsh Meadow, June 09

The colourful rags were still on the tree, although there seemed to be less of them than last year. But perhaps this mass of green and yellow just made them less visible.

Kirsty Hall: Welsh Meadow, June 09

I left a small offering beside the well.

Kirsty Hall: Small Offering, June 09

Afterwards we walked over to visit the stones – one of these days we’ll manage to visit the unusual, historical sundial at the local church as well.

Kirsty Hall: Broken Bird’s Egg, June 09

Kirsty Hall: Broken Bird’s Egg, June 09

Kirsty Hall: Broken Bird’s Egg, June 09

Kirsty Hall: Broken Bird’s Egg, June 09

Kirsty Hall: Pins In Cotton Reel, May 2009

Yesterday was a glorious sunny day, so I made the most of it by taking one of my current projects out to the garden. Soaking up some fresh air and Vitamin D whilst making art, what could be better?

I’ve done a huge amount of work on the garden this year and it’s really paying off: it’s a lovely place to sit and work now.

The view to the left of the bench:

Kirsty Hall: Looking Across The Lawn To The Air Garden, May 2009

The view to the right of the bench:

Kirsty Hall: The Shubbery, May 2009

I needed to turn the hem on a piece of linen so it can be hung from a wooden pole but it already had a thick seam and wouldn’t fit in my sewing machine, so I decided to hand sew it.

Kirsty Hall: Work In Progress, May 2009

Sitting in the sunshine listening to the sounds of birds, bees and children while I pulled my needle through soft, white linen, I experienced a profoundly productive peace even when my thread tied itself into subtle knots.

I’ve always said that I hate sewing and only do it when it’s necessary for art purposes but yesterday, I finally reached an understanding with it and I suddenly felt that I could actually come to like sewing. It was a deeply satisfying experience.

The all-important cup of tea, without which no art would ever get made!

Phew, the Exhibition Blues seem to be lifting – I told you they wouldn’t last long. I’m still very physically exhausted and having to curtail my activities accordingly but my mood has thankfully improved.

I am currently planning my garden. This is the first year that I’ve experimented with sowing seeds and – fingers crossed – so far it seems to be working. I lost one tray of teeny tiny lobelias when Chiana knocked them over in her rush to attack next door’s cat (he had dared to come and sit on the windowsill, the bounder!) but everything else is still miraculously alive.

Kirsty Hall: Seedlings, March 2009

Things are seeding and growing on the art front too.

While I was in London, I had an idea for a short daily project. I realised that I was missing The Diary Project and also wanted to challenge myself to just start something straight away instead of ruminating on it for months or years first!

So for the duration of March, I’m making a small object no larger than 10cm in any dimension every single day. These aren’t necessarily high art or great sculpture but they are fun and a good way of experimenting with form and materials. And I’m enjoying doing a daily project again: I don’t think I’d want to work this way all the time but it does often seem to benefit my practice. It feels a bit like a musician doing their scales.

Kirsty Hall: March Object No 2, March 2009

Kirsty Hall: March Object No 3, March 2009

It’s not a requirement of the project that I make the objects with materials that are lying around the house but it seems to be the way it’s going. I’m especially enjoying taking bits of rubbish and making art from them. So far I’ve used the wax from some BabyBel cheese, a bit of a plastic milk bottle, a torn up paper bag and the thick paper insert from a chocolate box (they’re fabulous if you pull them apart because they’re sort of corrugated inside).

Kirsty Hall: March Object No 5, March 2009

Kirsty Hall: March Object No 6, March 2009

Oh yes, and quite a lot of thread and yarn. I can’t help it: thread is apparently still where my brain is at. In fact, I’m having to force myself not to use thread on every single one and to experiment with other materials.

The recent snow we had made some lovely ‘accidental drawings’…

Kirsty Hall: Snow Grid, February 2009

Kirsty Hall: Snow Grid, February 2009

Kirsty Hall: Snow Grid, February 2009