Fingerprint lovebirds, romance, very pink!

The weather is still terrible, but the days are longer, and spring is not far away. Naturally my thoughts turn to fingerprint Lovebirds!

 I made the Twelve Robins of Christmas cards last year, and really liked them so I am keeping going with fingerprint birds in groups of twelve, and here are the Twelve Lovebirds of Romance.

 I like the pink and yellow, adding gold beaks and pink legs with gel pens. The legs are slightly sparkly, which is rather cute.

What a romantic gesture, a greetings card with not one but TWELVE dear little lovebirds hopping about on spindly legs.

The cards are on my Etsy shop if you're feeling the love.
http://etsy.me/1d3i3LR

Pink trees in my last blog post, pink lovebirds - what's going on?! But I am embracing it, and I am sure my more gothic side will emerge once more very soon.

love, loss and letterpress

My newly purchased wooden Caslon font arrived today. A full font of upper and lower case letters. 

It really is lovely.

I used some it immediately.

I am taking part in a project with The Print Shed in Madley, that requires an edition of 25 prints, 

20cm by 20cm, and with the deadline looming, today was my last chance to get something done.

It isn't what I had been planning, but the print is in memory of my late friend Dinah, and I wrote the poem yesterday while driving in the car, thinking of those who are left behind when someone passes on.  She was very elegant and beautiful, and it was good to make her name the first word printed with my elegant and beautiful new font.

Here's the poem;

 

time is still flowing, but

seasons are different now

never quite spring again

Horses love carrots, not poetry.

No matter what else is going on, my life with my horse and the life of the yard where he lives remains constant. It's very comforting.

 

When I go to fetch Thomas from the barn where he lives, he always very politely searches my pockets in case there is food for him concealed within, although he knows that the carrot or apple he is going to receive is still in my car.

I took this photo with my phone, our silhouettes against the compacted mud floor of the barn.

He doesn't really rate my ability to write poetry, but he likes my ability to provide carrots.

letterpress printing. love.

Blissful in my shed, printing with my beautiful de Little of York wooden font.

Look at the lovely black ink gleaming.

I made words that just came into my head.

I printed LOVE and OH YES

and then

DON'T FALL and NO!

I don't know if the four are related. I was too busy enjoying the process to ask myself!

short poem. bread and butter. love.

sublime
although
it's only
bread and
butter

paeony. sudden departure. summer flowers.

                            I have had three  paeony flowers in a pot on the mantelpiece.

This morning the flowers had dropped nearly all their petals.

I know they are only flowers but their sudden departure was rather upsetting,

then I saw one of them had left me a heart on the sitting room floor.

poem. almost enough.

  in the garden a

bird sings the sky
is blue there is
no noise from traffic the
tree whispers leaves are
shining the air is
warm what a beautiful
quiet place

Poem. slicing onions. different recipe.

I just realised the truth of it, onions no longer bring tears when I am slicing them. A little like realising that something that was once very important no longer matters. Or it could just be that red onions are milder than the others.

Here I am taking the photo. Note the cat lying in his winter position on the radiator behind me.

www.francescakay.co.uk

Flying Dutchman. Lovelorn. Film.

 Here is a link to a very short film about the Flying Dutchman, and his search for love.  Made with a fingerpuppet Dutchman, and various artefacts. Musical director is Peter Reynolds, who is actually a rather serious composer!

   http://youtu.be/jdyD7yOiLdk

                             The photo shows the Dutchman, stranded on a collage.

Haiku. Baking. Magic.

I cannot believe that baking is about science. It's alchemy. How else can lemon cake be explained? The haiku is below, in case my writing isn't very clear.

oven incubates -
ingredients mix, transform
alchemy of cake.

www.francescakay.co.uk

Haiku. Completion Day

Written after clearing my late Aunt's house, and closing the front door for the last time.

www.francescakay.co.uk

Letterpress. Letters. Love.

I have been sorting through a container of large metal letterpress letters, arranging them on a slate table mat.


I love the edible and textured look of them in the low light.

There isn't a full alphabet, but quite a number of letters with an upper and lower case.