Ink sample flags, labelled on the reverse

Some lovely pinks and browns from a defunct rubber plant

Making good progress on my latest garden map

Drawing more on my week off - a young apple tree from the slope in my garden

Pencil crayon sketches of Spring flowers from the garden

A relaxing week off work – although just spent at home as lockdown continues, I enjoyed having a bit more time to draw and develop some of my recent projects. I finally finished my flag book of ink samples… a few false starts, and it was a bit of a headache keeping track of the labelling, but I’m pleased with how it’s turned out. The flags are made from such heavy paper that it makes a lovely click-clack sound when opened.

I’m very happy with the colour range extracted from a recently defunct rubber plant. I made three dye baths… from the leaves, the branches and the roots. The roots were the palest colour, but the leaves and branches gave quite similar results. I’m hoping this is a more stable pink colour than those I’ve managed to extract previously from berries.

I made good progress with the latest iteration of my garden map. I cut out all the components from my stash of naturally dyed fabric, and bonded it onto calico. This is now ready to start embroidering.

Despite the unseasonably cold weather, I braved some time sat outside in the garden drawing with ink and coloured pencils. I’m determined to continue carving out a bit more time for drawing - slowing down and close observation is making me appreciate the garden so much more. Good to capture some of the Spring colour before it disappears until next year.