Hidden

The Mighty Wren!

The wren is the smallest of garden birds, yet for its size this diminutive avian has, gram for gram, the loudest voice! Quite surprising!

As I was contemplating the subject matter for my next art work, I was thinking of drawing something dramatic like a wolf, or admired in the UK, like a fox. However, a series of personal events occured during this period that made me look hard at a few matters in my life. The most significant being that a good and dear friend passed away suddenly. Whilst dealing with my grief, it made me look at what's important in my life and re-prioritise a few things and then quite unexpectedly, I had the vision of a little wren hiding in the hedgerow and I knew this had to be the subject matter of my next work.

Hidden © 2014 Angela Cutler

At the time I didn't know why I should draw a wren as it seemed the farthest away from something large, mammalian and dramatic; but the image seemed burned into my mind so I went with it.

When I start a new piece I have an idea and it just feels right for that moment. I often have a clear idea of how I want the main pencilled image to look, but not always a clear idea of the background. For this piece, I knew that I needed to have the little wren hidden away in the undergrowth as is their natural nature to do. Apparently, they are one of the most common garden birds, but due to their tiny size and secretive natures, we don't often see them. We only notice them by their very loud, shrill warbling song.

My little wren coming to life. ©2014 Angela Cutler

Earlier this year whilst on holiday in Somerset, I took several photos of the spring flowering hedgerows as they were so pretty and delicate. I wasn't quite sure how I was going to incorporate the hedgerow plants in my drawing as I didn't want it to become too busy...it could be easy to over-power the little wren. I just wanted a hint of hedgerow so I drew a few pretty campions, grass and a fern - just enough to give a flavour.

This picture was a little bit of a departure for me, as with my last drawing - Sing for the Sun - I added a hint of colour to the pencilled bird and I was aware that the flowers made putting in the background a little trickier. I wanted the feeling of the bird hiding in the darkness of the undergrowth, but with the light from outside filtering in...perhaps even calling to him to come out.

Wren study © 2014 Angela Cutler

It was then, only once I finished the drawing and even a week afterwards, that I realised what the meaning of it is. Sometimes, you need to step out of a life situation or out of what you are or have become, to chooose between the dark and light or perhaps out of a situation in life that arose, make your voice heard and stand up for what you believe is right and make that change! But I am just as happy if you see my drawing as a pretty wren in the hedgerow.

I hope you have enjoyed looking at the little wren and my background narrative. Please Like on Google+ or leave a comment.

Of Tides and Currents

The weather in England is so changeable, that's why us Brits are forever discussing the weather as a topic of conversation - it becomes part of who we are - forever ingrained in our cells. I visited Pembrokeshire in Wales, UK recently, and true to form the weather changed day to day and unfortunately for me, not for the better.

The Wave © Angela Cutler 2012

Pembrokeshire is a lovely part of Wales - mostly quite rural with small towns and some picture postcard seaside towns like Tenby. However, the draw for me is St. David's on the farthest south-western point jutting out from the peninsula. St. David's, the place, is so called due one of the holiest men of Wales and their patron saint, born at about 500AD. An historic cathedral was built in his name and in its time was one of the most important pilgrimage sites in Christendom. That all has past, but the cathedral still stands and attracts a host of tourists from around the world. A little further out, off the beaten track, if you care to explore is the supposed spot that he was born and raised - a small chapel sits here named after David's mother, St. Non, as well as a sacred spring whose water's are said to heal the sick.

St. David's, Pembrokeshire © Tony Crook

Even after all the centuries have passed, here you still feel the past pushing against the present; fervent Christianity has waned here, belief in saints and healing water are now no more than curiosities. However, the area is so steeped in its history that you can still feel this exude from the granite it sits on. When I visited, the weather closed in, the sky turned grey, a stern breeze blew and it rained and rained. Far from putting a dampener on my holiday the weather somehow lent an ethereal feel to the place - the light was not just grey, there was a shifting of subtle hues which gave rise to a mood that almost made you feel time could shift easily and magically from the present to the past. There was nothing else to do with my time here except explore and when the weather further closed in, sit quietly and allow the atmosphere to soak in. It's little wonder this area draws so many artists to live in or paint the place. As I sat on the headland being somewhat battered by the weather, I could not help but feel imbued with the history and rugged beauty surrounding me.

A Walk on the Wild Side

I am the flame. © Angela Cutler 2013

I have always had a connection with nature. As a kid I would be fascinated by whatever I could find in my garden - what we as adults find ordinary, was extraordinary to me then. I even remember as a toddler sitting watching ants industriously scurry by, I'd watch spiders spin webs and wrap up flies, I'd try and find caterpillars, so that I could put them in a jam jar and watch them turn into hard, crusty crysalis's; then transform into butterflies...mostly 'cabbage whites' as I recall. I was just amazed by the enormous variety of life and lifeforms, of colour, of everything living. I have two older brothers who brought home a plethora of unusual pets - grass snakes, toads, lizards, stick insects. As I grew older, I'd watch and feed the garden birds and then later, we did have some more usual pets - a goldfish from a fair, a mouse saved from a zoological supplies shop, gerbils and fancy rats; we never had a dog or cat. I would also watch all the David Attenborough nature programmes on TV, read natural history books too and my favorite place to visit was the zoo - I got to be pretty knowledgeable about the flora and fauna around me. Much later, I almost read Ecology at University rather than Art. Almost.

Glastonbury - A Kind of Magic

© Angela Cutler. Out from the darkness, May 2013 

Anyone who has visited Glastonbury, UK, knows it's a spiritual mecca for an eclectic mix of everyone for many centuries. The history of the area goes far back in time to prehistory and myth. There are links to King Arthur who is said to be buried in the grounds of Glastonbury Abbey which is now remains in ruins - how true that is I don't know, but it's always been good for the tourist trade. Other myths say that Joseph of Arimathea visited the Isle of Avalon (Glastonbury) and stuck his staff into the ground so that every year an unusual thorn bush blooms out of season. There's long been a reverence to female Goddess power linking it to the landscape and two famous springs adjacent to each other flow with red iron infused water and the other with fresh clear mineral water.