Do you find that certain pllaces make your heart sing? I had that sensation this morning when I found a beautiful wildflower meadow. It wasn’t lost! I’d just never heard of it before. In the UK the Wildlife Trust is holding a *30DaysWild event this June. I’ve been taking part – feeding my love of nature again ! I was so enjoying it that I’ve joined my local Wildlife Trust and now I have information about the location of lots of pockets of nature close to where I live, in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne.

This morning I cycled to Cross Lane Meadow in Gateshead, a beautiful wildflower meadow situated just above the A1! Talk about incongruous, look one way and its all clover, grasses and yellow rattle, look the other and its juggernauts and the Metro Centre, Geordieland’s indoor consumer playpark..!

Durham Wildlife Trust

I felt so happy, even on a cloudy day strolling through the waist high meadow on narrow paths cut through the swathes. I’ve been doing a lot of small wildflower pieces lately but have found myself getting bogged down in intricate detail. Too much fiddly detail when I am trying to make my work more expressive. Walking through this meadow made me want to come back to my workroom, get my paints out, and work on larger and looser wildflower compositions. Something else on my to do list!

In the meantime I need to get on and finish the piece I’m currently working on – again a beautiful landscape in a quite urban area – just along from Weetslade Country Park – a reclaimed colliery site between the A1 and the A19. There is a beautiful purple field – I cycled there too (But not this morning – phew!) The crop is phacelia, related to borage, a natural nitrogen holder and weed supressant that is also good for pollinators.

Phacelia field, near Weetslade Country Park.

All of my new large pieces are coming with me to Art in the Pen in August, along with some small works, giclées and cards. Prepping with this along with showing at The Biscuit Factory and Just Canny is keeping me very busy! I’m only just managing to get out on my bike in search of these landscapes that make the heart sing!

Stitching Blue Skies above Phacelia Fields