Sunday

A February day...lovely to see the snowdrops out. Seals basking on the beach and one of our cats (who likes a walk) trying to gain the upper ground on the fulmars who were gathering and squabbling on the low cliffs. Luckily she was unable to get too close or she would have had a nasty shock - these are the birds who spit out a really foul smelling substance to protect their nests :) Relative newcomers to Orkney but now easy to find everywhere, fulmars have been around for 100 years or so, their swift increase apparently the result of plentiful offal from the fishing industry that was so widespread in the islands in the 19th and early 20th century.

Painting updates to follow!

A work in progress

Work in Progress - detail © Tracy Hall 2010

Muddy boots and wooden floors, hedgehogs, eggs and farmhouse doors.... A word about eggs - don't even try and paint an egg without a model in front of you. You only think you know what they look like. You don't, particularly when they're plural and especially when broken :) These still have a few more layers to go but the whole painting (this is only a little bit of it) is a full sheet and coming together gradually. I'll show it in its entirety later in the year.

Long-eared Owl miniature painting

'Long-eared Owl' © Tracy Hall 2010

3.25" x 2" watercolour on board (enlarged)

Long-eared owls arrive in Orkney in late autumn to overwinter, but they are not easy to find so I was pleased to have the chance to see a pair in a local village recently, where they have been roosting during the day in a sheltered garden. Owing to the lack of leaves on the trees it was possible to get a very good view of them - and they seemed quite unbothered by their visitors! This is the resulting painting.

Miniature garden painting

'The Red Door' © Tracy Hall 2010
2.25" x 1.75" Watercolour on board (enlarged)

This is a painting of the entrance to the walled garden at Kirbister Farm Museum in Orkney. Its a beautiful, peaceful spot, tended but also a little bit overgrown and one of my favourite places in the islands - it reminds me of long summer days :) I think I may tweak it a little more but its basically done.

P.s. I'm not entirely sure I scanned this straight.

Heron miniature painting

'Grey Heron' © Tracy Hall 2010

3.25" x 2" watercolour on board

A new miniature just finished of one of my favourite birds, the grey heron. Although we usually only see one or two at a time on the beach here, there were six roosting on the cliff top a few weeks ago. I love the way they arrange their necks :) Below is a snippet of a new licensing illustration as well; I'll show it in full later in the year, but its pretty busy.

'Barn Sale' (detail) © Tracy Hall 2010
28" x 20" watercolour on board