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The Colours of Nature: Greenish White
With the emergence of spring flowers bringing some welcome colour to the countryside, there’s an opportunity to use a wider colour palette in our drawings of nature. Having reviewed the book, Nature’s Palette, I wanted to find out more about…
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Book Review: Nature’s Palette
Enjoying nature and appreciating colour often go hand in hand. For artists representing the natural world in their artworks, colour will almost certainly be central to the process. I wasn’t going to do another book review so soon, but this…
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Sketches from Laxey Glen: Ink and Graphitint pencils
No matter the time of year, Laxey Glen is always incredibly beautiful and full of interest for the artist or natural historian. This glen has a rich history of ownership and cultivation, so there’s an interesting mix of tree species…
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Horses and the Isle of Man
From ancient times to the present day, horses have played a significant role in the Manx culture, economy, and way of life. In this week’s blog, I’ll be taking a look at some of the resources at the iMuseum and…
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Vintage Book Review: The Naturalist in the Isle of Man
Last year, I was browsing the natural history section of the very impressive Leakey’s Bookshop in Inverness, when I spotted a copy of ‘The Naturalist in the Isle of Man’ by Larch S. Garrad. This 1972 publication details the flora,…
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Moss Hunt
One of the benefits of having an extremely untidy garden is the biodiversity that develops within it. At this time of year, it can seem that there’s not much of interest out there, but take a closer look and it’s…
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A Little Post About Little Egrets
The little egret, Egretta garzetta, is a small, slender heron with a predominantly white plumage. It has become an increasingly frequent visitor to the Isle of Man and, as it feeds on crustaceans and small fish, can be seen in…
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Kingfishers and their Surprising Beauty
It’s hard not to be impressed by the striking beauty of kingfishers. The kingfisher (Alcedo atthis), with its orange, cyan and blue plumage, is easy to recognise and hard to forget. Seen each year on the Isle of Man, I…
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Book Review – Spectrum: Heritage Patterns and Colours
Art books are fantastic sources of inspiration for creative work, and books about colour inspire us to use new colour palettes and push us out of our colour comfort zones. I recently received ‘Spectrum: Heritage Patterns and Colours’ as a…
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12 Days Wild
This year, I took part in the Manx Wildlife Trust’s nature challenge ’12 Days Wild’. The aim is to do one nature-based activity each day between the 25th of December and the 5th of January. I thought it would be…