I feel very blessed to have a beautiful garden and indeed, in this moment of uncertainty, to have an outdoor space at all.
This is my sanctuary, my nest, my place of contemplation. My daily inspiration. A place to reconnect with nature. Watch things grow. Switch off for a moment. Notice the little things. Pause. The world slows down. A momentary escape from the world's current events.
It’s somewhere I feel safe, somewhere that I can connect to the earth, listen to the birds and feel at one with my feet on the ground.
Throughout the year, I like to come out here when the sun is shining bright and enjoy what I see and hear around me. It gives me so much joy.
I often come out early in the morning and take close-up pictures of things around me.
So I thought I’d share with you some of my favourite things. In some ways, It’s a kind of meditation for me. I thought I’d share this with you...
I do hope these images and photographs will lift your spirits. Over the coming months I’ll add to these, showing you how things grow, what’s in season in my garden and hopefully brightening up your day.
Friday 27 March 2020
And breathe. This morning I woke up feeling a bit overwhelmed by the enormity of everything. Perhaps things have sunk in a little. An email I received from a customer last night resonated.
I realised I was feeling a bit lost at sea. I normally cycle with my friends on Friday’s. It’s my one definite day off in the week. It's where I get quite a lot of my inspiration from. My friends are extremely patient with me. Always happy to stop along the way so I can take photographs.
Also realising that although I’ve worked my butt off over autumn, so that I could take mini breaks over spring and summer for inspiration for my work, they probably are not going to happen.
I was being a bit of a spoiled child. I could either sit around feeling sorry for myself or I could get dressed and get out to do one of the little things that always lifts my spirits and makes me happy. Duvet jacket on, bobble hat on and camera in hand, I ventured out into a frosty garden.
Just 10 minutes in my garden photographing nature, the flowers and plants in my garden, always fills me with such joy. There's something about taking photographs that makes me focus on that moment in time. I see things differently. I observe things better. I slow down. I breathe. And in that moment I’m reminded of other things and my focus shifts.
So in my garden today, I saw the plants my nan gave me from her garden over the years, as well as the ones I pinched out her garden before her bungalow was sold.
It also reminded me that I can have my own little adventure in my own backyard. I know not everybody’s got that. But just noticing the beauty of what we have around us, I think helps us get through each day. So with that in mind I’ve set myself a challenge. And that is to make sure I keep on going and make sure I do things just like this.
As I’m quite limited on spare time and so that I’m not creating lots of work for myself, I thought I’d create one blog as a kind of garden diary. Then I can share some of these pictures with you.
People that come to my workshops enjoy seeing my garden too. Have had my workshops I’d planned, these are for you too.
Sunday 5 April 2020
Pause. Breathe. Seek solace in the little things. Connect with nature. This is my happy place. 🌱☀️😊
Monday 6 April 2020
After the rain...
13 - 30 April 2020
I would have been going back to see my family in Stratford-upon Avon this weekend. My nan, nearly 99, was a passionate gardener. Much to her delight I discovered my green fingers 10 years ago when I first got a garden. We'd often spend time chatting about our plants and a few of hers were gifted to me over the years. The peony and one of the euphorbias above are some of them.
Garden Camping April 2020
Dawn Chorus in Yorkshire
Sounds of nature at their best!
Recorded on 25 April from my little tent in my garden.
May 2020
Garden Camping May 2020
A quick tour of my garden...
I hope you'll pop back to see my weekly inspiration and watch things grow.
Michelle
About the artist
Michelle Hughes is a North Yorkshire landscape artist. Much of her work depicts the Yorkshire landscape and Yorkshire coast, including the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors.
Michelle loves exploring the British countryside by bike or on foot, camera in hand, capturing ideas for her next prints. Back in her garden studio, Michelle creates simple but stylised silhouettes based on her photographs, and hand carves these shapes into lino. She hand prints with an etching press, using oil-based inks to create tonal blocks of colour.
Michelle’s original linocut prints are limited editions.