Learn how to draw anything by seeking out shapes - basic drawing skills to help beginners get started drawing quickly and easily...

I want to get you started drawing by sketching nature. The objective of the drawing lesson in this blog post is to understand how to sketch out the basic shapes of your drawing so that your drawing is recognisable and accurate.

This is important because although art doesn’t have to look ‘realistic’ you do want your drawing to look recognisable (unless you choose to play with the shapes and proportions for style and effect)…

It’s important not to give your viewer the sensation that “there’s just something wrong about it” which can often be the case when we get things even subtly wrong.

My Celtic hawthorn art plus a look at hawthorn meaning, symbolism, stories, folklore and traditions...

Hawthorn, commonly known as whitethorn or may, is one of our most beautiful spring trees in the countryside, where you will often see it in hedgerows festooned with tiny, white, pungently-scented blossoms, during the month of May.

Hawthorn is a native tree to the British Isles and in Irish Brehon law, dating from early Celtic times, the hawthorn was known as a ‘peasant tree’.

Historic pollen records show hawthorn was in Britain at least as early as 6000BC.

The Gaelic name for hawthorn is ‘huath’ – which may also relate to the Anglo-Saxon word ‘haw’ which is believed to mean ‘hedge’.

Hawthorn is now widely used as a hedging plant after the 19th century General Enclosures Act, but in earlier times, the wood was used to make small personal items such as knife handles, combs and trinket boxes.

It’s a tree that grows alongside people and has become a part of our lives and traditions…

Fabric face mask sets of 4 are launching today in my Contrado store...
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• 4 different designs per set
• different sizes available (all the same size per set)
• child-size available (select 'small')
• machine-washable up to 60C, re-usable, fast-drying
• thick quilted-jersey 3-ply -OR- lightweight 'airflow' fabric
• elastic loops to fit

Here are just some of the face mask designs available in my store...
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DIY fabric face mask kits to sew at home are now available in my Spoonflower store...

The DIY face mask kit includes everything you need to make two fabric face masks at home:

• patterned fabric 
• unprinted fabric for lining 
• elastic or twill tape for securing mask behind the ears

​The finished masks are washable and re-usable.

​Beautiful Celtic willow art prints and arty products – I explain willow tree symbolism and meaning…

The mystical willow tree is one of our ancient native British trees (White willow, Salix alba) and is a favourite in countryside and gardens.

The willow tree is beautiful – an elegantly-shaped tree that dances in the wind and grows in atmospheric, watery places – so it’s no wonder that people have always taken the willow to their hearts...

In ancient Tibet, the willow was revered as the ‘world tree’ or ‘tree of life’.

Our modern name for the willow comes from the Anglo-Saxon ‘wileg’.

We have a long relationship with the willow tree – we’ve long recognised its usefulness and its special abilities as well as its inherent beauty...