The White of Blackthorn

Things are beginning to blossom. White magnolia in the garden, white wild cherry blossom and in the hedges the white splashes of Blackthorn.

It has to be one of the most beautiful sights of English spring country lanes. Dark leafless hedges decorated with a froth of white blossom. The leaves will come later.

I walked by the reservoir today and along with pussy willows and first green shoots was a patch of blackthorn, one ball of white flowers against dark spiny branches.

Monday …White blackthorn flowers.. Watercolour 6” x 6”

Further along the track is a big oak tree.. leafless so far but lovely in its skeletal form. There is a large nest box. I have yet to find out what it is for!

And back in the Empty Garden good wildlife news, the hedgehog has reappeared, along with 4 different butterflies, yellow, white, a peacock and a comma, more  redtailed bees and the lovely black female hairyfooted flower bee.

About the Residency

Anglian Water: Artist In Residence at Grafham Water, April 2013-March 2014

What's it all about? 

The Residency post is a self funding role which I wanted to take partly as an opportunity to produce artwork but also to get people involved locally. I had long thought that there was so much scope here for much more in the way of creative activities and with the support of Anglian Water I really hope we can make them happen.
It is a wonderful opportunity to make a body of work about an area I already know quite well, as for the last two years I have been sketching, walking and cycling the paths around the reservoir and the nearby countryside. Through painting, drawing, printing and writing I will endeavour to reveal some of the fascinating and little known aspects of the reservoir and celebrate some of its activities.  What will I do? It is impossible to say at this stage what the final work will be. That is the intriguing part of a long term residency. Anything can happen in year.

I know the first few months will be spent walking, drawing and researching. From the writing and sketching I have already done, I can see certain ideas and motifs recurring and I am happy to let the work evolve. But I also know that the natural world, history, archaeology, geology and literature will all play a part. Water, earth, sky and their inhabitants will be represented. 
The area surrounding the reservoir is quintessentially English. The flora and fauna of middle England, historical remnants of ancient woodlands, Saxon settlements and Roman roads. It´s a quiet and bypassed place but lies only three miles from the ancient Great North Road. The nearby towns and villages of Huntingdon, Buckden, and Kimbolton have important historical pasts. 
There are old through ways and grassed over drove roads, there are footpaths and the old railway line there are remains of moats and fishponds, old and descriptive field names and of course, under the water, the ghosts of drowned fields and farms.

People come here to walk the dog, fish, cycle, picnic, sail and windsurf but underpinning everything is the working reservoir. A great body of water collected, filtered, pumped and distributed to give us one of the few real essentials of life, clean water. 

This all gives me so much material to work with. I can indulge some long held loves; of the English countryside and its inhabitants, of its narratives, its emblems, folklore, patterns and design; and of stories, books, paper, language, print and paint. I hope you will join me on the blog in this year long exploration. 

During the residency I will be offering workshops and tuition based at either Grafham or Perry. Please email me for details. val.littlewood@gmail.com

Getting Started

I am delighted to say that I am going to be Artist in Residence at Grafham Water in Cambridgeshire for 2013-14. The residency officially starts in April but since I knew it was happening I have been gathering thoughts and ideas. In the two years we have been here I have spent many happy hours  walking cycling and sketching around the area and I decided to collect all those sketches together and put them in a flickr set (see also the side bar).  It is interesting to look back at these, to see what preoccupations and themes recur.
I will be posting here as things develop as well as on my main Pencil and Leaf blog
I think it's going to be a busy year!