Ramblings of a (very!) amateur artist

The Fledgling

I’ve not been in a very positive mood over the past couple of days. In fact, other the last few weeks, I’ve been feeling more and more overwhelmed and hopeless in our new Covid world.

In an attempt to snap me out of this, I thought back to June when I did a daily ‘act of wildness’ as part of the Wildlife Trusts’ 30 Days Wild campaign. Appreciating the wildlife around me really did wonders for my wellbeing back then. Not gonna lie, the occasional sunny day might also have helped – though I believe we did end up having quite a bit of rain in June too? Anyway, a particular highlight of 30 Days Wild was definitely the little fledgling in our garden – a blackbird fledgling.

I have lots of very fond memories of this baby blackbird. The first time I saw the little thing, s/he gave me a huge fright. I was out watering the garden when something suddenly dashed out from under the plants and hid in a bush near the fence. I honestly nearly jumped out of my skin. I wondered what on earth I’d spooked so I peered into the bush and saw this chubby little brown bird – it looked a lot like a thrush but it wasn’t quite large enough. I decided it was best to leave the poor thing alone so I went back into the house.

I was pretty intrigued so I sat and kept my eye on the garden for half an hour or so. A little while later, a male blackbird landed in the grass and the chubby brown bird jumped out of its hiding place to be reunited with its dad. From then on, I kept looking out for this little blackbird and even drew a doodle of her/him for ‘30 Days Wild’.

Through the doom and gloom of the lockdown (and some of the ‘easing’), this little fledgling brought me many happy moments. One particular highlight was when its dad was trying to feed it cherries from our tree. These cherries were pretty big in comparison to the little bird and they just kept popping back out of the baby blackbird’s mouth. I have to say, there was always an overriding concern that this little thing wasn’t going to make it into adulthood – it was just so clumsy at times and seemed completely helpless! – but, somehow, s/he made it.

I can’t remember the last time I saw the baby blackbird but I’ve been thinking about it quite a lot recently and it inspired a couple of my art pieces this week. The first one is an ink drawing. I do get a bit ‘perfectionist-overload’ while using pen, but I really do love the effects you can create with ink. I used a few different pens to do this one and I had a lot of fun trying to recreate the fluffy feathers. The only downside of using pen, I find, is that it can be difficult to stop. Every time I looked at the picture, I thought an extra stroke here and a line there would make it even better. But one too many and it could be ruined!

I was very happy with the pen version of my little fledgling but I decided to make this chubby bird the subject of a watercolour as well. I bought some A5 watercolour paper recently and I absolutely love using my watercolour paints on it. The colours mix so beautifully and it’s really easy to create some lovely effects. The more I’m learning about watercolours – and other mediums, to be honest – the more I’m realising how important layers are. In this case, I started with a very light layer of yellow/green in the background and then, just before this had dried, I layered darker greens and blues over some of the sections. I did something similar for the browns on the baby blackbird as well. I think I need to have a go at some more birds with this technique!

Right now, we have a couple of new fledglings in the garden. Our cherry tree continues to attract a range of birds and some juvenile pigeons have been sheltering there over the past week. On some days, these 2 juveniles have sat in our tree for hours on end doing nothing but cling to the branches they’re holding onto. And, at one point, with no sign of an adult pigeon at all, I speculated that maybe, perhaps, possibly, these little things hadn’t even realised they’d fledged! To my utter relief, an adult did come and join them in the end! They’ll definitely have to feature in a piece of art at some point! I’m sure that’ll bring another smile to my face 😊

‘Testing the Water’

I wrote back in May about an image I couldn’t get out of my head – a huge wave. Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been having the same feeling I experienced back then. A feeling of uncertainty.

It’s hardly surprising and I imagine many readers have felt similarly during the easing of restrictions in the UK. In addition to the – somewhat contradictory – ‘uneasy’ easing, it’s also been a time of rapid change. This is the inspiration behind my ‘Testing the Water’ cartoon.

Now, many people are aware of the importance of testing at the moment. Testing in the sense of checking for Covid-19. Each day, more and more people are passing this rite of passage of the year 2020. I ticked that off my bucket list a few weeks ago, as I was randomly selected to take part in a piece of research. The testing I’m referring to in this cartoon, though, is to do with the easing – testing the water over summer to see what the virus will and will not tolerate.

Number 1 focuses on the people who have been shielding. Back on 1st August, shielders were ‘released’ and were told that they were free to leave their houses. Many shielders, though, continue to be concerned for their health and wellbeing. The virus, after all, is still with us. It hasn’t magically disappeared. So, though vulnerable people have been signed-off to have a normal life again, they – like all us pub-goers and holiday-makers – are reminded to still stay alert. Whatever that means.

Speaking of holiday-makers, we were also told about a month back that we’re allowed to go abroad again. Some things called ‘travel corridors’ have been created to facilitate this. Now, personally, I was never going to try and go abroad this year. I don’t think my nerves could have taken it. Being stranded is a genuine fear. But many have decided to get some Mediterannean sunshine and it’s their right to do so. These summer holidays have certainly captured the headlines, though, with many being caught out by very short notice changes to quarantine rules. I think it was Spain that bit the dust first. Now everyone keeps talking about France. Where’s next? It’s like a game of Russian roulette. I suppose we all need that thrill these days…

Moving onto the 3rd section, we’ve all been given the green light to meet people who aren’t from our household indoors again. Well, actually, that isn’t quite right. Let me start again. Most of us were told that we could see people indoors again, but some of us were a bit naughty and now we’re not allowed anymore. My family live in Pendle and are under tighter restrictions at the moment – apparently because people weren’t keeping to social distancing guidelines when visiting each other indoors. Naughty, naughty.

And finally, the ‘Eat out to help out’ scheme. I’ve certainly been a winner from this campaign and have so far enjoyed 2 discounted meals at local village pubs. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think the spectre of Covid was behind me, though. My fear of getting ‘The Call’ is still there and that’s going to be a reality for the foreseeable future. Just another example of the trying – and changeable – times we continue to be in.

I should say that I really don’t envy policy makers. I think in many cases, it would be impossible to make a ‘good’ choice in this situation. It isn’t fair for ‘shielders’ to be confined to their houses indefinitely, it isn’t good for the economy if people can’t go on holiday, it isn’t helpful for wellbeing if you can’t see your friends and everyone wants a meal as a special treat now and then! Sadly, I think this is our ‘new normal’ for the time being – a time when plans can change quickly, disruption is highly likely and self-isolation (at some point) is an inevitability.

Indeed, I’ve kept most of my cartoons pretty politically neutral. The satire is usually aimed at myself or is used to demonstrate the universally rubbish aspects of our situation – where we’re pretty much helpless to do anything about them… I do need to end on one final thing, though. And, just a warning, it is political. Last week, I spoke to lots of students who had just received their A Level results, along with their parents and teachers. There’s only one thing I have to say about this: it isn’t right and it isn’t fair.

An encounter with Ms Atalanta

I’m sure some (most) of you are wondering what on earth this post is going to be about. I don’t blame you. Sometimes, titles for posts come into my head instantly. Other times, I just hit a brick wall. This time I was somewhere in between. And I think the origin of the title will make a few of you chuckle.

Whilst contemplating this pickle, I decided to look at the latin name for the subject of my post – the Red Admiral. Lo and behold, its latin name is Vanessa atalanta and so ‘Ms Atalanta’ came to be. And I really did have a lovely encounter with her recently!!!

Photo taken from the Butterfly Conservation website, credited to Tamás Nestor

Before I tell the story, I wanted to interject with some other, less enjoyable, encounters I’ve experienced with butterflies in recent days. For some absolutely unknown reason, they seem to enjoy coming through our open windows at the moment. I’ve had to rescue a couple already this week and yesterday I was frantically urging another one to leave the kitchen and go back out of the window (it was right next to the open window but didn’t seem to understand how to leave). Later in the day, I ended up having a similar conversation with another butterfly in the living room – this one appeared to have a better sense of direction and fluttered out quite quickly.

Now, back to the tale, I was having a bit of a bad day about a week ago. The heat really didn’t help and I just wanted to wrap myself up in a dark room and while away the time. Whenever I feel like this, it’s usually a sure sign that I should leave the house and have a walk!

So, although I had to physically drag myself to the door, that’s exactly what I did. I decided to head to the meadow on the edge of town. My partner and I often take evening walks here and we’ve been lucky enough to see green woodpeckers, greenfinches, red kites, and lots and lots of butterflies here.

While I was walking, I ended up getting a bit lost in some anxious thoughts and wasn’t really taking in my surroundings. Then, out of nowhere, a red admiral butterfly landed on a leaf right next to me. I stopped my daydreaming and had a good look at it – they’re always so much bigger than I expect them to be! As I studied the bold black of its wings and the beautiful red and white markings, my mood started to lift.

I was truly very grateful to Ms Atalanta for this encounter. I certainly ended my walk feeling much, much better than when I started off. This is how I felt during ‘30 Days Wild’ in June and it definitely reminded me of the importance of nature for wellbeing.

When I got home, I decided that this butterfly needed to be drawn. It’s been a busy week and the next couple of days are going to be pretty full-on due to A Level results day (and whatever else that brings…), but I finished my A5 red admiral yesterday. Although the vibrant red marking on the wings immediately catches your eye, I particularly enjoyed focusing on the range of colours in the ‘black’ sections – I say ‘black’ because I used about 4 different brown-ish, grey and black-ish pencils on those bits!

And, would you believe, the red admiral can migrate from places as far away as North Africa to brighten up our humid, stormy (currently) and/or cold (we’ve had some weird ones this year!) summer days??? I think I owe Ms Atalanta one!

A scan of *Ms Atalanta* – the original is a bit softer but you can still make out the variety of colours!

A ‘collared’ kind of beauty

I think it’s fair to say that the collared dove has been on my list for a little while now. I wrote previously about its turtle ‘cousin’, but, though it lacks the colours of those impressive wings, this more common dove really does own its collar.

I have quite an attachment to a pair of collared doves that seem to have made our cherry tree their home. Or, perhaps, a temporary resting place. They seem to drop-in at some point every day at the moment and just sleep or chill in the tree. There’s no nest or anything but I’m assuming they’re a couple. Occasionally they ‘mix it up’ and flap chaotically down to the fence and sit there for a while. Both of them. You can’t help but have a soft spot for that.

Since my partner and I moved to Shipston-on-Stour, I’ve seen loads of collared doves around – more than anywhere else I’ve lived. And, in addition to admiring their pale greys and browns (and their fabulous collar!), they really do make me laugh. It took me a little while to realise that it was the pretty, dainty collared dove that made the ridiculous sound I kept hearing outside. When it isn’t ‘cooing’, the call it makes is a very difficult sound to describe – it sounds panicked, alarmed and to the point. Almost ‘aggy’ I’d say. It’s as if I can imagine the collared dove saying “right you better get out of my way because I’m about to land. Seriously now! NOW!” as it plummets down from its perch in the tree. I was even on a video call with some staff during a virtual summer school recently and I heard the noise through the microphone of one of the student helpers – I nearly cried with laughter (I mean, I was quite tired!)

I even drew out a quick cartoon of a collared dove couple in the middle of lockdown. I wanted to capture the bond between these two doves and, though I think the cartoon did that, I also knew that the collared dove would have to feature again!

Now, the piece I ended up creating did in fact only feature one collared dove, rather than two. I decided to go a bit ‘out there’ and do something different so I didn’t want to over-complicate things! I’ve seen some amazing watercolour pieces recently that really capture the freedom of the paint. I’ve wanted to have a go at this for quite a while so I decided to go for it. Using these colours and just letting the water run really was liberating!!! Something I’ve only recently realised about watercolours is what the paint does really doesn’t matter. It literally doesn’t. You can just let the paint run into the water, into another colour and then BOOM – it does something you could never have done if you’d tried! And, best of all, it actually looks good!

The hardest bit was bringing the control back by using pen to finish it off – that was quite nerve-wrecking and I’d want to do it differently next time! But, overall, I felt my experiment had paid off and it’s even made it into the ‘Beautiful British Birds’ collection of my online shop! I even learnt something new – collared doves only made their way to the UK in the 1950s. Who knew?!

The ‘Mot Mot’

Well, I should really say Motmot – the Lesson’s Motmot, to be precise. A different kind of bird to my usual ones. But this tropical species is no less special than the rest.

I was lucky enough to see a Lesson’s Motmot in 2018 when I went to Costa Rica. It wasn’t long after we arrived in Monteverde (after a pretty long coach trip from San Jose) that we visited a butterfly garden and saw this bird on a power line minding its own business.

The Lesson’s Motmot – from the bird’s eBird gallery

Like a typical rainforest bird, the Lesson’s Motmot is extremely colourful and has some very interesting tail feathers. I have to confess that I think I was suffering from some jet lag when I saw this beautiful bird in the flesh and all I can remember of that day was sitting on the coach, looking out of the window and seeing lots of sheer drops as we drove up and over mountains! I think a reflection of my tiredness is that I was entirely content knowing that the coach could plummet down off the road at any moment…!

I thought about the motmot recently and decided I wanted draw or paint it. So, in order to do this bird justice, I decided to get my watercolours out again. The first attempt ended up in the bin but I persisted with the second attempt. And, while working on the piece, I really started to appreciate the variety of colours in the Motmots plumage and it’s very mischievous eyes.

Interestingly, there isn’t a huge amount of information about this bird online. Apparently the name ‘motmot’ comes from its ‘double hooting’ call, which sounds like an owl, its range extends from southern Mexico all the way down to Panama and another name for the Lesson’s Motmot is the ‘Blue-diademed Motmot’. It’s also thought to be pretty abundant but its numbers are also suspected to be declining and it isn’t clear whether a comprehensive count has ever been done!

I certainly hope I’ll see this bird again in the future. I was lucky enough to see so many tropical birds in Costa Rica but this was the first major spot of the trip so it’ll always be special to me 😊

A final word…

I do hope that you like ‘The Mot Mot’! Before I finish this post, I also wanted to say a huge thank you to everyone who voted in my poll a couple of weeks ago! After some very helpful feedback from my blog readers and followers, I have now submitted 5 pieces of artwork to a design competition. You can see these designs on my competition profile page here.

Each piece of artwork submitted has a story behind it. I shared these stories recently in a blog post called “They all have a story to tell!” If you really like any of these pieces then, for a limited time during the competition, you can buy prints of the artwork or even cushions of your favourite designs!

Or, if you’d like to support in another way, competition points are also received for likes and shares of my competition page on Facebook. Voting ends on Monday 10th August.

Thank you very much to all of my readers and anyone else who is able to support me in this competition – it is very much appreciated!!! 🤗

They all have a story to tell!

I have to say, I never thought I’d create as much artwork as I have recently. The confidence boost I’ve received from sharing my work with family, friends, colleagues and on social media has really reignited a passion that I thought had died a long time ago.

At the moment, I’m doing a lot of pieces of animals, particularly birds. I’ve shared these pieces on social media (and mentioned some briefly in my ’30 Days Wild’ posts in June), but I thought it was about time I shared the proper stories behind them too.

Bearded Tit, 25th June 2020
Let’s kick off with a truly very special bird. The bearded tit. This striking creature was inspired by a very lucky sighting in March. I’ve mentioned in other posts about how fortunate I was to be in Norfolk the week before lockdown and this bird symbolises a lot of very happy memories from this trip. During the early days of the lockdown, this sighting – along with the other wildlife I was lucky enough to see – brought a huge amount of comfort.

Blue Tit, 5th July 2020
I really do love blue tits. Sometimes I’m lucky enough to see them in the garden. They hold onto the branches of our cherry tree in utterly bizarre ways and having a visit from one always brings a smile to my face. I ended up drawing this blue tit for a friend. She and her husband are expecting a baby and I wanted to send her something for the nursery. I thought the blue tit would fit in nicely 😊

Frantic Pheasant, 7th July 2020
Though I haven’t seen many pheasants while out and about on countryside walks recently, earlier in the year spotting a pheasant was pretty much a guaranteed sighting. These birds literally always make me chuckle when I see them. The poor things just never quite know what they need to do – I do not enjoy it when they make a hasty dash in front of my car though!

Long-Tailed Tit, 10th July 2020
I was amazed at how many long-tailed tits I saw when I first moved to Shipston-on-Stour a year ago. You really don’t have to go far to spot lots of them in the hedgerow! The inspiration for this one, though, came from a beautiful birthday card that I received in July – it had lots of long-tailed tits on it and I noticed, for the first time, how colourful they really are.

Nuthatch, 18th July 2020
I created this piece after a suggestion from my mum. I haven’t seen many nuthatches in the wild but she’s seen them a few times and I think her suggestion was on point. Again, I hadn’t really ever paid attention properly to its colourful plumage so it was an absolute joy to have a good look at some photographs and study the nuthatch properly!

Peacock Butterfly, 19th July 2020
Last but not least. I decided to have a bit of a change. All of the other pieces were completed with pencil and ink on paper. It’s always such a treat to see a peacock butterfly so I wanted to make it as vibrant as possible. I’m also usually very eager to try and identify a butterfly (I’m a bit more successful at that than trying to identify birds from their songs, I have to say) so I’m very pleased with myself if I catch a glimpse of those tell-tale eyes while out on a walk! To do the peacock butterfly justice, I decided to use some new watercolour paints. After having a bit of a ropey start, I was really pleased with the finished result.

I really hope you enjoyed reading the short stories behind my creations! My confidence has grown so much that I’m even thinking of entering some of these originals (and/or some digital edits) into a design competition. If you have the time, I would absolutely love your feedback about which ones are your favourites. You can see all of the designs and vote by visiting my online poll. Thank you very much to anyone who is able to vote – your feedback is really appreciated! 😊

Common as… brown

The weeks are definitely odd at the moment. The weekend can seem like such a long time ago and, by Wednesday, my main thought is ‘how are we not on Friday yet?!’

Despite the pretty poor July weather, the main highlight of a typical weekend is a good ol’ countryside walk. And on this weekend just gone, our walk of choice was a 6.5 miler in the Cotswolds.

While walking over the rolling fields and through the meadows, it was a joy to see the range of butterflies fluttering about. I know 2019 was a very good year for butterflies – particularly Painted Ladies – but I hadn’t seen quite as many this summer yet. And it was definitely the household favourites that first caught my eye: the red admirals with their bold black wings, the tortoiseshells with their beautiful shades of orange, and the peacocks with those striking ‘eyes’. Though perhaps not as colourful, the cabbage whites also grabbed my attention with their pure white wings contrasting perfectly with the greenery.

There were lots of other species around too and I used to refer to many of these as just the ‘brown ones’. The meadow brown is one such butterfly. I reckon I must see at least one of these on pretty much every walk I do in summer. According to the Wildlife Trusts, the meadow brown is ‘one of our most common butterflies’ and it can be spotted pretty much everywhere between June and September – grassland, farmland, wetlands, woodlands, towns, gardens, on the coast. So you really could say that they’re common as, well… brown.

Coincidentally, I was advised recently to try and really look at things and, on this particular walk, that’s what I was daydreaming about as I put one foot in front of the other. When I say ‘really look’ I mean look properly. Look at where the light hits an object, the range of colours, where the shadows are and what shapes they create. So I thought about the poor, overlooked meadow brown and decided to make it the focus of a few pieces.

I also wanted to try out a few of the new art materials that I recently received for my birthday. I started with watercolour first. Now, I’m including this because I want to show an example of when art doesn’t go the way you want it to. I think it can be easy to think that people who share their art always come out with something that looks good. This just isn’t the case. I really wasn’t happy with the watercolour version – so much so that I just had to get a pen out and scribble lines over it to make it look better. So, what went wrong? Well, the watercolours are in paint tubes and I’ve never used these before. The colour is a lot bolder and I found watering the paint down to help it blend with other colours was a lot trickier. I’m really looking forward to trying again though and, ironically, the scanned version looks a lot better than the original – I’ll make a mental note of that!

The scanned watercolour version – I didn’t like it very much but the pen rescued it a bit!

I then used some materials that I’m much more comfortable with in order to really do the meadow brown justice: pencil and ink. While I was colouring the drawing in, I had a good look at the colours on the wings of this lil butterfly and found that there’s so much more there than ‘just brown’. There are oranges, reds, light browns, dark browns, greys, whites. They really are beautiful butterflies and I know I’ll never refer to a meadow brown again as ‘just another brown one’.

Finally, I brought out some soft pastels. One of my attempts at painting the meadow brown with pastels will never see the light of day. But the experience was enjoyable so I knew I needed to have another go.

I decided that, unlike my pencil and ink drawing, I didn’t want the butterfly to be the main event. Instead, I wanted to embed it within a landscape – a meadow at sunrise (or sunset?!) would do nicely. But I didn’t want it to be too hidden either. I wanted to strike a balance between its abundance and its beauty. And, although the meadow browns in this piece aren’t the main event, they do still draw the eye and it’s difficult to overlook them. I still need practice with pastels (and fixers!) but I was happy with this attempt.

So, what’s the moral of the story? Well, your first attempt with new art supplies is probably not gonna go great. Noted. It turns out a scan can save a piece. Win. And, more importantly, next time you spot something as common as the meadow brown, have a really close look. You might well see something you never expected!

Here comes the guilt…

It was my birthday yesterday. I think every birthday I’ve had as an adult has involved going to a pub or restaurant of some kind. And, back at the beginning of all this, all I would say to friends and colleagues was how I couldn’t wait for the pubs to reopen.

So, last week, I was dreading a colleague asking me about what I’d be up to on Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th of July. Because, you see, the honest answer was that I’d be managing an internal battle, something I’ve decided to term ‘Covid guilt’.

The feeling of guilt is not new to me. When I feel a bit low, I often end up thinking about things from the past that I’m not always proud of and that I continue to feel a little guilty about. These feelings usually come in waves – and I have a system to manage them – but I can’t say I enjoy the experience of reliving the guilt! It therefore wasn’t a surprise to me that this new ‘novel’ form of guilt had made an appearance.

Throughout the pandemic, my partner and I have supported a local micropub. It’s pretty much the only local that’s offered takeaway beers and ciders. We love it in there and have lots of happy memories of visiting on carefree Sunday afternoons over the past year since we moved to the village. Months ago, I looked forward to the idea of ‘coming back with a bang’, starting up our pub afternoons once again and ‘supporting our local’.

With many of our favourite pubs reopening on the 4th, though, I just felt so conflicted. I wanted to support my local pub (along with local cafes and restaurants) but I didn’t want to put anyone at risk. And, selfishly, I didn’t want to get a call a week later to say I had to self-isolate. This battle is the inspiration behind the cartoon.

I thought long and hard about how I wanted to construct this one. There’s quite a lot of detail that I should explain. I decided to start by thinking about my internal conflict – it’s really a reflection of the rock and hard place we’re all caught between. On the one hand, the virus is still in existence and I have to take responsibility to keep myself and others safe. On the other hand, the economic disaster that many businesses – and people – have found themselves in is arguably worse for some than contracting the virus in the first place.

The quotes at the top of the cartoon reflect this. They are a mixture of government quotes and quotes from my favourite local businesses from their social media posts – most of these are about the 4th July (or ‘Super Saturday’). The quotes on the left-hand side are coloured in green because these are the ones that reflect the happiness, optimism and hope that the reopening brought.

In the middle, amber makes an appearance. These quotes have a twang of optimism but also highlight the caution that we all need to take. One of these quotes also comes from a local business reflecting the strange times we’re in: ‘Not quite business as usual more ‘business unusual’’.

Then, moving to the right, we hit the red quotes. These quotes really bring the risk home. One is from the PM, one is from a local pub that decided not to reopen on the 4th and one is from a pub (not a local one) that had to close again after someone who visited over the weekend tested positive for the virus. I decided to date all of the quotes because it’s a good timeline of my experience with ‘Covid guilt’. The timeline also shows just how messy the picture is, with green quotes being said on the same dates as red quotes.

The green, amber and red quotes then set the colour scheme for the bottom section. I saw a picture on Facebook of a pub in my mum and dad’s town that had been decorated in lovely balloons for the 4th so I adorned ‘Ye Olde Pub’ with these in the first picture and spread the traffic light colours pretty evenly across them. I wanted to keep the pub anonymous and, after a quick Google search, I don’t think there’s a pub called this in England (it could really be any pub). All in all, this image reflects the optimism, excitement and celebration of the pubs reopening.

I didn’t want to draw me in the second picture because I imagine lots of people have also been battling ‘Covid guilt’. Instead, I’ve used a somewhat long-necked cat to depict this – note-to-self, shorten the cat’s neck next time! The sign to the pub is coloured in green at the start but blends into amber to reflect the cat’s dilemma. The poor cat just isn’t sure what to do.

Now, the third image. I’m worried that this cartoon might be interpreted as very pessimistic. That really wasn’t the intention. To give some context, last week – when I took the place of the pondering cat – something central to my dilemma was what if I get ‘the call’? What if I go to the pub, have a lovely socially-distanced time and then get a call in the week to say that someone else who was there at the same time as me tested positive? Or, worse, what if I’m the one that tests positive and is the reason why a pub, along with its punters and staff, have to pause once again and self-isolate? I knew it would happen somewhere in the country and I was surprised at its speed – only a few days later, the BBC reported that three pubs had closed once again. I’m not saying this is an inevitable outcome (now that would be pessimistic). The image is just a portrayal of this particular concern.

And this summarises my battle with ‘Covid guilt’. I feel guilty for not going out to support my local, but is that worse than the guilt I’d feel if I was the reason for it closing again? I imagine that this is just something I’m going to have to adjust to. The quote from the chief medical officer at the very bottom pretty much reflects this. So, this is my final question: what on earth is a poor guilty cat to do?

#30DaysWild Week 4

And so we come to the end of the sixth month of the year. Although ’30 Days Wild’ is now technically over, I fully intend to continue observing, recording, drawing and enjoying the wildlife around me 😊

Here’s what I got up to during the last 9 days of June…

Monday 22nd June – I had the day off work which was a huge bonus. On a local walk, my partner and I saw a green woodpecker hopping about in the grass. We’ve seen about 3 of these in the last few weeks in different places around the village (I suppose it could be the same one?)

Tuesday 23rd June – I went out into the garden and was very pleased to see that the pansies in the hanging basket are still on’t go (that’s Yorkshire for ‘still alive!’) I never know whether I’m watering them too little or too much. Neither is good!

Wednesday 24th June – I had fully intended to try and create something that some form of wildlife could make use of during ’30 Days Wild’. And this hoverfly lagoon in my magazine looked like a perfect candidate. My main concern, though – what about how windy it’s been? Surely the ‘hotel’ would just topple over? Maybe this can be a July project instead…

Thursday 25th June – It was so nice and warm that, as soon as I finished work I went outside to draw in the garden. We also had our tea outside and watched all of the birds scurrying around. The noisiest is definitely the wood pigeon – it gets spooked so easily that it’s always catapulting itself from fence to fence!!!

Friday 26th June – I reminisced about my time in Norfolk earlier in the year by drawing a bearded tit in a similar style to the green woodpecker. We got a fleeting glimpse of this beautiful bird at Hickling Broad pre-lockdown.

Saturday 27th June – We spent the entire day painting our bedroom and, to be honest, it was a good use of time because it was absolutely chucking it down all day. I’m not sure whether this really counts as an ‘act of random wildness’ but waking up in the middle of the night and listening to the awesome power of the rain was certainly memorable!

Sunday 28th June – I learnt a lot about a variety of animals today from another article in my magazine. Did you know, for example, that pigeons can be trained to distinguish between different types of art? Or that rats (rather cruelly) have been known to sacrifice food in order to spare a fellow rat from an electric shock?

Monday 29th June – I looked out of the window during a break and saw two collared doves perched together on the fence. We don’t see collared doves in our garden as often as starlings, blackbirds, sparrows and wood pigeons so this was quite a treat!

Tuesday 30th June – To bring ’30 Days Wild’ to an end, I spent a couple of hours after work making a very special card. I volunteer with a project called Big Brothers Big Sisters and I can’t see my ‘little sister’ at the moment. So, instead, I’ve been sending her cards and these have been themed around different awareness days. On 29th July, it’s International Tiger Day so that’s the theme of this one!

And that’s that – thank you so much for following my #30DaysWild throughout June! For ideas about what you can do to enjoy nature, I’d definitely encourage you to check out the Wildlife Trusts’ website! 😊

My (first) Covid words

I had a conversation with a school last week. I never thought that the chat would result in me learning a new term. But, as we keep hearing, we’re in ‘unprecedented times’.

The term was ‘bubble teacher’. In my day job, I work in a university team that supports school students and teachers. I’ve been having quite a few conversations with schools recently about how we can best support them in this most challenging of times.

This conversation, though, was the first one I’d had with a teacher since small groups of secondary school students (in some year groups) were allowed to return to class. The government’s concept of creating bubbles between households has also clearly been a ‘hit’ with schools. For my satirical imaginings of this strange new world, see my ‘New Normal’ post!

As someone who regularly corrupts the English language with fake words, phrases and misspellings (if you know what I’m on about then you really know me!), I am just in awe of the new terminology that the pandemic has created. I mean, if someone had started talking to ‘past Emily’ – say, 4 months ago – about a ‘bubble teacher’, I’d think they were off their rocker. And yet, when confronted with this new term just a few days ago, I knew exactly what it meant. I didn’t even have to ask for clarification.

This is by no means the only new term to emerge from Covid. In this sense, the disease has been extremely generous. Indeed, I’d never heard of ‘furlough’ before all this (could it inspire a future cookie dough brand I wonder?), I didn’t realise it was humanly possible to ‘socially distance’ and I didn’t know that ‘R’ had a rate… For my utterly bizarre take on that one, you need to consult Captain Polly Parrot in this blog post!

The teacher I spoke to also divulged another gem – she talked about things being ‘Covid-friendly’. That single term inspired this storyboard. As the teacher beautifully demonstrated, in addition to the new words, phrases and concepts noted above, there’s a lot of ‘Covid dash’ terminology emerging. My question is: what do these actually mean? And, given that this is really a rhetorical question, I’ve decided to interpreted these new words myself.

‘My (first) Covid words’ storyboard – the latest addition to my *Lockdown Life* collection

Now, you might be wondering why there’s quite a bit of blank space in this storyboard. The reason is in the title – these are just my first Covid words. Like a small child learning their first words, I’ve only just been immersed into this new language. I fully expect there to be more new words over the coming months – and, dare I say it, years – so I’m planning to add in at least 2 more when they emerge. Another contender was ‘Covid-toe’ but I think we all already have a picture of what that looks like…!

Ok, so let’s start with Covid-friendly. I first had to work out how on earth to draw a cartoon version of Covid. I’ve been told my lil character looks quite a bit like a Pokemon of some kind… Personally, I think that’s quite a success! As for the term, this one is interesting. The teacher I spoke to used this in relation to combatting Covid in schools, workplaces, etc. So, in a sense, it should probably be termed ‘Covid-unfriendly’ instead – I’ve got a feeling that’s got one too many syllables for it to catch on though. So my portrayal does what it says on the tin. It shows big Covid with it’s small Covid friends. Looks like they’re having a whale of a time.

Let’s move over to Covid-safe. The first thought that came into my head to represent ‘safe’ was a vault. My second thought was a sign saying ‘safe space’. I threw both together and there you go. Trying to give Covid a suitable expression in this part was difficult. I’m not even sure what I was trying to show here!!!

Covid-secure. The term the government, in particular, uses to excess. Covid doesn’t look too happy in this one and I suppose that’s in-keeping with the image those who use the phrase are trying to conjure. Covid. In chains. Contained. Secure.

And, finally (for now), Covid-ready. This could only be represented by Covid getting ready to start a race. Feels quite appropriate. And looking at my drawing again, I’ve stuffed up the ‘r’ in the word ‘marks’ in the speech bubble. It looks more like the word ‘masks’. I suppose that’s quite poetic. Not bad for an amateur, right?

Looking at these terms together on the page, and ignoring their representations for a second, let’s be real. All these new terms are saying the same thing. For, is there really any difference between somewhere or someone being ‘Covid-friendly’, ‘Covid-safe’, ‘Covid-secure’, or ‘Covid-ready’? And, for that matter, do any of these terms mean much at all? I’ll let you be the judge…!