Monday 7 September 2009

Wildwood - final part:

The final episode begins with the second set of trees. First the autumn trees, then the spring ones:

Next at the front is the fallow deer one of the three kinds of deer in Wytham Woods (the others are roe and muntjac) A deer-fence limits them to part of the wood only, to minimise damage to trees.


On the other side leaves and a scarab.


Next the toad - I kept him safe, well away from the grass-snake:


I'd originally intended to use bracket fungus as the reverse, but whatever I did to it it just looked toad-shaped. Surprisingly, the mole worked much better:




The back of this section begins with the dragonfly. I remember once walking along the bottom path on a hot summer day with thunder in the air being followed by a huge emperor butterfly which kept pace for about half a mile. My mother used to be scared of them, as are many people, but they are in fact completely harmless.
On the reverse a moth. It started as a copper underwing but bits got added ... you know how it is!

Last in this section is the tawny owl, on the back of which is a Daubenton's bat (they're the ones with short ears)


And finally as the endpiece we have, appropriately I thought, a hibernating common dormouse: it took a number of goes to get this right:

With, on the reverse, a brimstone butterfly, one of the earliest of butterflies to fly in the year: hence I've paired it with primroses.

7 comments:

Julie said...

This is so much more beautiful seen clearly like this and with all the memories woven into it, Sandra. The concept is wonderful and I think you should be very proud of this piece. The dormouse is gorgeous!

Vicki W said...

Thank your for sharing all of the detail photos. This is an amazing piece!

SandyQuilts said...

WOW .... I'm fascinated by your work. Someday I'll get up the nerve and give it a go. thanks.

LOVE STITCHING RED said...

Every single page is stunning, it really must have taken you ages!

mooch said...

These are lovely shots Sandra. I love both the subtle colours and the textures. Really lovely.

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful book, such and amazing undertaking! I came over from Vickie's page, and I'm so glad I did!

Sandra said...

These are really beautiful!!