More seeds sprouting

The snap dragon's have sprouted, closely followed by the morning glory, nasturtium and tomato. The sweet pea is a bit slow but one of the pots is showing signs of life.
I been moving things about at home bringing my art supplies downstairs so I might use it more. Have confirmed what I knew already have too much stuff , time for a clear out.
I am doing another bookbinding course at the end of March should get me going again, it has been a long, grey winter can't wait for some colour in the garden.

Cosmos and gardening

On Monday afternoon I sewed my cheapo Cosmos seeds from Aldi , woke up this morning ( Friday) and they have sprouted! Gardening my new found pastime. I needed some colour  in the remaining dreary end days of  I now have loads of primroses and miniature irises in the garden. I have planted Allium , Agapanthus and Chinese Lanterns for later in the year. Buying seeds and plants seems to be potentially addictive. One more thing I also
got a pot of Bearded Iris. I want flowers to paint , flowers for colour through the year and flowers for cutting.

The Sketchbook Challenge

 I found this blog following this  link.   Notes from the Voodoo Cafe  Looks like it could be very instructive.
It will give me a chance to use some of the sketchbook / journals I have been making for the past six months.

Coptic Binding

Last June I took a workshop at the Owl & Lion in Edinburgh. Since then I have been busy making journals and sketchbooks.  I have learned to make my own bookcloth and my local art shop stocks Italian decorative papers

and hand made papers. Folding and cutting paper is very soothing. Not so the pasting, if I don't concentrate I can get in a bit of a pickle but I least I have found a use for old magazines and catalogues as papers to paste on.

 I have cut and folded some old watercolour experiments and I'll be binding them soon to use as art journals.

Recent paintings

Last week I did the chimpanzee and this week the garden.

Himalayan Poppies

Spectacular Himalayan Poppies at Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh

I have been making more of an effort to make art this week , I have had the week off work and have going to my workroom at least a couple of hours a day. Haven't known what to do but yesterday I took some of my photographs randomly and just thought about how I would paint them. It made me realise how important light is in painting. Some of my photographs were just so uninteresting. They reminded me of the place but were unusuable as primary sources.
A few rough sketches I have done recently. Gouache, watercolour , charcoal, and pen and ink.