As an artist I think that Sheila Wolk captures movement in an exquisite way and that is possibly because she initially began her career as a successful sports artist. I think that her amazing observations and fluid depictions are so talented and give an inspirational feel to her paintings that seem to come alive as you watch them. Her beautiful fantasy work is so detailed and believable that one feels drawn into the dream and at one with the movement. Sheila’s delicate style becomes breathtaking as the truth in her figures seem to want to emerge from the page… This is gorgeous fantasy art and her web site is www.sheilawolk.com  I’m sure you will enjoy the experience.

The first and most important enchanted task of the day here is to make a cup of tea - truly, our lives and business are dependent on it. It is an odd thing to write about as most of my blogs are nature based, but I feel that tea is one of my blessings and therefore should be mentioned. It is also the best way to conduct an interview for Faerie Magazine Int. in Britain, in fact, I haven’t managed one yet without! What is it about these fragrant leaves steeped in boiling water with a dash of milk that can literally run a company, soothe an upset, celebrate a wonderful recording session here with our youngest son or welcome in a dear guest, or even a delivery man! This odd ritual is sacred to my life and for that I have to thank my mother who is seventy five years young today! She followed her mother, my beloved grandnana, who was still heartily enjoying her cups of tea at 100 years old and taught me the art of laying proper afternoon tea, that is still my very favourite time of the day and much more preferable to me than an evening meal. Making a cup of tea is the first thing we do on returning home, to warm us up on a cold winter’s day or cool us down in the summer, fuel a long nights writing session, sit and put the world to rights or ease us all down after an awesome piece of theatre with our eldest son. I have experienced many momentous things in my life over tea, including the amazing memory of my first cuppas after giving birth, both times! In fact, to take out a thermos of steaming tea when we go on a journey, suddenly doesn’t seem too fuddy-duddy now that we’re older. Maybe it’s just that our blessings get simpler as we gain in age or maybe we just appreciate the simpler things in life more. Raise your mugs and warm that pot…     

Magical Blessings, Be

“A woman is like a tea bag – you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

Many years ago I was fortunate enough to be invited to an evening out at Gloucester Cathedral to hear this gorgeous ensemble. I adore our local cathedral and although I’d never heard of them before, I went willingly and truly had the most delightful evening, the amazing acoustics in that ancient space perfectly amplifying these ladies beautiful voices. The Mediaeval Baebes are not only lovely to look at but their music is an important echo of days gone by, with complicated harmonies made to sound easy, accompanied by instruments from long ago, melding together in a wonderful sound, timeless in its appeal. (Having gone on to briefly study this period in our musical history, I can vouch as to how challenging it is to sing and play.) There is a magical quality to the Baebe’s sound that enchants your ears as they make long lost music relevant today, playing with the melodies and often singing in the old, traditional languages. I was also thrilled to see them perform again a few years later, as they do each year, at our local castle where they grace the annual Joust and make their entrance on the arms of knights in shining armour! Their web site is www.mediaevalbaebes.com where you can find details on their albums, all of which I can heartily recommend.

(photos here) I am addicted to hanging crystals in all of our windows because I love the rainbows that the prisms make, dancing all around the rooms as the sun shines in. The colours are so pure and bright and as the air moves them, these seem to touch everything with their magic. These crystals even sparkle in the moonlight and that brings its own special enchantment… This is one of my simpler blessings and, maybe as I live in the UK, I’m more grateful for sunshine than others, but these beautiful rainbow colours are something that I give thanks for, every time they grace my home.

Magical Blessings, Be

“It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that things are difficult.” - Seneca

This is an appropriate time of year to be mentioning this talented artist as many of her pieces are autumn inspired. We first met Dawn M Schiller a few years ago and I was immediately drawn to her astonishing creatures and little folk that she’d sculpted. Dawn’s amazing ability to be able to make something so intricate, and often, in miniature, is wonderful. Her Odd Fae have such a great humour about them, even the grumpiest of chaps are appealing and rather cute (though they wouldn’t thank me for mentioning that!) all tucked up in their pods or shells, their natural settings are perfect with intricate faces so full of expression and every detail carefully hand crafted. Dawn always discovers their names and gives a little history about each one with her own distinct sense of humour… These are, of course, one of a kind pieces and are treasured and collected the world over, whether fantastic Hermits or Seidhs (my favourites) or larger dolls, complete with costumes that Dawn makes and sews herself, each one is a three-dimensional piece of art. It’s a good thing that Dawn often shows the actual scale of her tiniest creations on her web site www.autumnthings.com  or you would find it hard to believe that the human hand could sculpt so small. As is so often when one talks with these artists, you get the feeling that they are compelled to do this art and often have little say in the matter of their creations, but that they just magically happen…
 
The loudest song in our garden comes from one of the smallest birds and is a delight to me every time I hear it. The darling wren with its sticky up tail and little round body, with movements so mouse-like you often have to check twice, has one of the most impressive birdsongs - beautiful high notes, a distinctive trill at the end and of far greater volume than its size would suggest. In character, they are one of the more shy birds, keeping to the depths of the hedgerows or crevices of walls and I’ve heard that they can roost in many numbers to keep warm! One of my happiest discoveries came last year when I caught sight of one wren, busy collecting spider webs to bind its nest material, and on researching this, found them to make nests comfy enough for me to consider moving in...

Magical Blessings, Be

“You can do no great things. Only small things with love.” – Mother Teresa

There is a very special, highly talented gentleman who lives in Spain and paints awesome dragons, just like one seems to know they should be painted! Ciruelo is a charming chap who is loved and deeply revered within the Fantasy community. His work is like a dream come true if your passion is for dragons as he is also an accomplished writer. This wonderful man seems embedded in days of old as he weaves tales, pencil and paintbrush to bring alive what we may remember in our heart… Ciruelo Cabral is highly respected within the science fiction circles too, his amazing illustrations are collected all over the world, his art needing no translation. His books are treasured by many devoted fans, and we’ve been greatly privileged to get to know him and also see his other original, amazing way of producing art – Petropictos. This fascinating art form is honestly elemental, as Ciruelo has perfected the art of painting on stones! These give his painting a fantastic three-dimensional quality and when holding one of these treasures in your hand, you truly cannot make out which is his paintwork and which is just natural contour – they have you transfixed, like your eyes are playing tricks with you – Ciruelo has managed to ‘find’ that figure in there and it looks like he’s actually sculpted it, yet the smooth stone remains the same as it has for thousands of years! This very special man is also a musician and loves designing covers for rock albums  www.dac-editions.com  prepare for a real treat.

Puddles play an important part in our lives! Our children adored jumping in any that they could find when really young, whether or not they were wearing wellies; the swallows use them in the springtime for gathering mud with which to make their special nests; if there’s a drop of oil in one, I love to watch the rainbows swirl (I’m a real rainbow addict), the wildlife quench their thirst from them; birds bathe in them to keep their feathers preened (our geese adored them); frogs and toads even breed in them! I’m sure I’ll think of many more reasons in praise of puddles, so I’ll pause my list there and add to it gradually - but leave you with the best image of all: if you’re lucky enough to have seen Dawn French in her brilliant BBC TV comedy series ‘The Vicar of Dibley’, I'm sure you'll remember that side-splitting moment when she jumps into a puddle to hide, and totally disappears… you have been warned!

Magical Blessings, Be

“Imagination is not a talent of some men but it is the health of every man.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson      

A few years ago, through the visionary artwork of Jack Shalatain (EFBlog 8), I came across an amazing composer called Neil H - www.neilhmusic.co.uk - Jack’s wonderful paintings were gracing the covers of a couple of the CD’s, one of which being ‘Secrets of Faeries’, that Neil H had produced and fitted the sounds beautifully. Neil’s music is evocative and gentle, and having had the great pleasure of listening to his music with him live, I found it was an extremely relaxing place to be! This is music for meditation and inspiration, with melodies that soothe the spirit, aid clearer thought and take you to another realm if you wish. Neil is a lovely man whose entrancing and heartening music often provides the perfect music for us here.

(photo’s here) I wanted to share with you our experience last year of these two squirrels that had taken up residence in the roof of our old goat house. Now normally, these grey animals drive me nuts (!) not only because I am a huge fan of the gorgeous native Red squirrels that are so endangered possibly due to this grey variety, but that the ones in our garden were constantly hogging the bird food and had succeeded in munching through many feeders before I was forced to buy the totally squirrel-proof ones!! They would sit for ages, helping themselves to anything that dropped or manage to climb up impossible poles, hang upside down and balance with great agility. (JellyBean and I would keep guard and fly outside to shoo them off, but they’d just run away a few feet and boldly wait until we went back inside.) In the autumn we had been watching them with amusement prepare for the winter, collecting hazelnuts off the bushes, playing together and jumping on each other, suddenly sitting straight up like Meerkats, revealing their white bellies when they were alerted, and gathering leaves and dry grass for nest material with which they’d scamper back to their house with their mouths all stuffed full. Then, by late spring, there were three – yup, they’d had a baby and totally didn’t have him under control at all. This little youngster of theirs, had them chasing him all over the place, he was racing up and down the trees faster than his poor parents could follow and then trying to leap from branch to branch and often slipping, which had us all worried too. All the while he squeaked and squealed and had us in fits of laughter and educated in the facts that even squirrel parents have trouble too…

Magical Blessings, Be

“It is better to have lived one day as a tiger than a thousand years as a sheep.” – Tibetan proverb