I make most of my local journeys by bike. It’s quick, cheap, healthy and, this summer, inspirational!
My journey into Newcastle takes me along a cycle path with a wild flower border. This summer the border has been absolutely gorgeous; a mass of blossoms awash with colour and buzzing with insect life.
It has been a joy to watch the border grow and develop. Each time I cycled past I thought I must do something to record and celebrate this lovely feature.
I want to capture the way these supposed weeds are reviving our urban landscape. I’ve spotted more, deliberately planted, wild flower borders along main roads and on roundabouts. The variety of flowers is gorgeous to see and I love the lack of order – not ‘unkempt’ at all – just natural!
Another aspect I want to capture is the depth and layers, as the plants grow up, over and through each other. Looking through the bright, verdant leaves to the dark spaces beneath.
I think there also needs to be an element of recycling (no pun intended 😊) in these cycle path scenes. As I cycle or walk around my local area I often find these rings.
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etal rings appear on roadsides, pavements and hedgerows; rusty, grimy and misshapen. They are used to hold car hubcaps in place but obviously get dislodged when hubcaps are damaged and fall off cars. I've got quite a collection now and have been thinking about how I might use them.
I have also sourced a very old book on wildflowers that will feature in new pieces of work and, as I'm inspired by cycle paths, I think I will have to include some of my lovely old puncture repair tins too
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at is all this leading to? A new body of work, quite different in style to my landscape pieces but still using my favourite processes of appliqué and free machine embroidery. I am busy developing ideas in my sketchbook(s) but here are some of the first pieces in this new series.
< img src=”https://donnacheshiretextiles.files.wordpress.com/2017/09/img_6703.jpg” height=”2448″ class=”wp-image-2587″ width=”2448″>< img src=”https://donnacheshiretextiles.files.wordpress.com/2017/09/img_7316.jpg” height=”2448″ class=”wp-image-2589″ width=”2448″>
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f these pieces are currently in Ripon Cathedral at the Great North Art Show, others will be listed on Etsy.
I'll blog soon about how the series is developing but I'd love to know what you think of them too.
Donna Cheshire Textiles 
I think I know the wildflower border you cycle past & have photographed it a couple of times. I’d love to see more of these wildflower strips along paths & roads in the city. I look forward to seeing this body of work develop. I’d intended to do a series of prints of the ‘wild’ plants, butterflies & perhaps animals in the Lower Ouseburn Valley – but have only done 2 so far.
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I’m making slow progress as I’ve got lots of workshops on at the moment but the collection is growing 😊 I cycled along last week and it’s still glorious!
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Such beautiful wildfowers; I can see how (and why) they inspire you. I do love your new art. What sort of scale are the rectangular ones? Good luck with sales!
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Hi Erica – glad you like them! The rectangular ones are sort of A5/A4 sizes. I had very positive responses at my recent show:)
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I too concur that these are beautiful. I know this post is over a year old but that is the beauty of the blogs. they can be there for all to be inspired by.
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Thanks Alan 😊
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