February Fairytale
It's already February… this strange in-between month and the shortest month of all. Although it's still midwinter, we're slowly moving towards early Spring. Something I really look forward too, and you?
The weather can still be very wintry and cold. It's clear winter isn't over yet. It looks as if nature is still asleep but as you will discover below, there are hints of Spring to be noticed these days. So let us embrace the last of winter before Spring arrives and let's make February into a fairytale!
Despite the cold weather and grey days, February, is a month of light and hope. Daylight has been increasing with one hour since the winter solstice and it definitely makes all the difference, don't you agree?! And there are beautiful sunrises and sunsets to be enjoyed these days. However, February is still a quiet period which reminds us of take care of ourselves and make time for rest and retreat.
‘The winter is a stillness and a darkness and a sleep. But not a death, for in the earth the roots of life go deep. A rest… then re-creation and a glad new burgeoning. Every day in wintertime is one day nearer to spring.’
Patience Strong
When the world is covered in snow, it's so quiet and everything looks peaceful. Stillness and beauty surrounds us, and it always fills my heart with gratitude and wonder. It made me also realise how noisy and loud our society is, and how I long for quietness and silence.
I hugely enjoy snow walks in this wonderful white wonderland when the world is a quiet and enchanting place for a little while!
When the snow has melted, the landscape looks bare and stark again. However, if one looks carefully the first signs of Spring are here. There are catkins, the lovely flowers of the hazelnut and alder. Have you also noticed the female flowers, blooming like tiny red stars on the hazel branches? Followed by the pussy willow. And the first shoots of the elder and buds on the trees and hints of green. Nature is slowly awakening!
But what introduces Spring in the most perfect way are the snowdrops, don't you agree?! They are definitely my favourite! So delicate and fragile and yet so strong to resist the cold and heavy load of snow on their drooping flower heads. Tiny symbols of hope!
And a source of inspiration for me… While it's cold outside, I'm cozy in my studio and working hard on new creations for the upcoming market season and the exhibitions I'll have.
I've been working on some new creations which are about the growing stages of this delicate spring herald. It's just wonderful to model these delicate botanical parts in porcelain and being delighted by the wonderful design of the snowdrop.
‘Whatever their names or pedigree, snowdrops were something to look forward to - the earliest and bravest of the brave spring bulbs, defying the winter gloom’.
Margaret Mayhew
While I'm waiting for spring to come, I'm tucked in my studio and creating a February fairytale with a magnolia branch and a flower, made in porcelain. Inside my studio flowers are blooming all the time, no matter the season outside! It's definitely one of the pleasures of being a botanical artist.
