iPhone photography: Melting snow

A vague promise of spring to come. Windy. A cheeky twinkle on the ice covered lake. Snow sliding off rooftops.

Here are three links to celebrate the 100 anniversary of  International Women’s Day.

• Top 100 women. They have led countries, broken through glass ceilings and been in space.
• Book recommendation: Spitfire Women of World War II by Giles Whittell. Extremely inspiring and empowering story of unsung heroines!
• Bond supports gender equality. Starring Daniel Craig and Dame Judi Dench.

iPhone photography: Heather covered in snow

I was going to write about how spring had been in the air, and how remarkable the quality of light is this time of year, when a blizzard transformed the landscape into a cotton wool dreamscape.

Then history was made. Egyptian Dictator Mubarak resigned. The bravery of the Egyptian people transformed Egypt, with a velvet revolution. Bringing a bright light into our world. I cried for joy, watching images of the Egyptians celebrating. People dancing in the streets in Egypt… So moved, so happy…

Today is a day to celebrate a new dawn for Egypt and for human rights.

iPhone photography: Park and star reflection

Winter Swans wallpaper

Happy to present Winter Swans desktop wallpaper, two swans that bring a swirl of snow to your desktop!

It’s snowing. Big snow flakes that slowly drift down. Whirling gently, like on film. You’re walking down the street… Wait, is that really snow? What if you suddenly notice that actually, the snow is white feathers? And then you see that they come from swans flying above you, in the sky? Is that a dream?

This piece has gone through a creative process with numerous changes. In the beginning I drew the swans. They felt right. Next I created orange blossoms and filled the swans with the blossoms, almost like a pattern. And petals seeped out from the wings, forming a shower of petals. But something was wrong with it, I wasn’t happy with the design, it was too fussy. So I started over, this time I drew feathers and scattered them onto the birds, letting the feathers drift out to form snow crystals. Again, too fiddly. Too crowded. Cluttered. Scratch that idea. Snowflakes? I tried that, and now I knew I’d got it.

Do you discover an image or does it discover you? Do you dream a dream, or does it dream you? Does inspiration come to you or do you go out and look for it? Can something you create ever be finished, or do you simply have to decide when to stop?

< — Save this wallpaper to your computer.

This pack of wallpaper includes versions for fullscreen and widescreen computers as well as the iPhone, iPhone 4 and iPad.

iPhone Photography: The first snow. Gold and white.

I’m feeling inspired by the first snow. Gold laced with white. Glowing yellow leaves. Then the rain came, and melted the snow. It was just for a day. This time. Glad to have more colourful days.

“Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower” – Albert Camus

iPhone photography: birch and snow

These birches grow in the park behind the bus stop. It looks like the branches are sugar-coated! Although it was dark I had to pull out my camera. The photos are in colour but the landscape is in black and white. Monochrome. This scene makes me think of woodblock printing, linocuts, engraving and etching. And again, I’m inspired to create patterns for fabrics.

iPhone photography: frosted birch trees

Scottish Fold cat

And now there are more kittens in the litter. Pleased to introduce this marmalade tabby, an illustration of a  Scottish Fold.

Expanding, meeting new friends, participating in group projects and finding inspiration. Closing in to focus on personal projects and deep connections with both online and offline friends and loved ones. And to swing back and forth between expanding and finding focus. Last year was an expanding year for me, this year I intend to be focused and yet open.

iPhone photography: birch branches

This extraordinarily snowy winter we’ve been giving different kinds of snow names. Feather snow, icing sugar, ice mist, castor sugar, sea salt flakes, snowball snow, movie snow… It’s been playful and imaginative.

I enjoy studying thoughts and ideas, the origin of words, to broaden my knowledge and explore the background. This winter I found out that it’s it’s a popular urban legend that the Inuit or Eskimo have an unusually large number of words for snow. And here I’d been saying “did you know that the Inuit have lots of words for snow!”…

iPhone photography: dusted with snow

It’s like someone powdered the trees with icing sugar. Or dipped them in a bag of sugar. Or poured a bag of flour over the landscape. Or something like that… And it’s breathtakingly beautiful!

iPhone photography: frosty branches

My main focus for January is to create my first design for fabrics based on the Full Cold Moon. I’m so enthusiastic about the whole project and I’ve got such a terrific feeling about it! I’d got the fabric samples and colour chart just before Christmas and only need to transfer the design to a curtain format and adjust the colours so they work for printing on textile before I can have the first sample printed. I don’t know about “only”, but still, I’m so close to being there, and so I was very surprised to find resistance within me! What am I afraid of? The technical process that I need to learn? Getting the curtain dimensions wrong? Is it about putting this project out in the world? Is it about completion and what to do next? About the possibility of failure? Or success? I don’t know. All I know is that these ultra cute cats emerged, at this very time of the process.

Turkish Angora

They’re terribly cute, kawaii, as sweet as sugar, and really not what I consider “my style”! And yet here they are. I thought about it. Then I decided to just let them come. They’re fun and playful and perhaps they appear with ease because I have no big dreams or strong emotions attached to them?! So I’ve been making more friends for the first cat. A family. A collection of cat breeds. They could be a collection of icons or they could be a set of prints or illustrations in a children’s book. Cute as a Button. That’s it, that can be the name for this cute crew!

iPhone photography: pine tree dusted with snow

I’ve been spending more time offline, unplugged. Batching my internet activities three times a week. It’s bliss. Now if I only got round to sorting out my mailbox too!

iPhone photography: snowy trees

And I’m looking for a good recipe for Boeuf Bourguignon for my birthday dinner. I’ll be serving it either with potato puree or Potatoes Boulangères and a green salad. Not sure what the desert or starter will be yet. I’m thinking of trying Delia Smith’s recipe for Boeuf Bourguignon but I’m interested to hear if anyone has any other recommendations?

iPhone photography: the park in snow

Back home with a cup of tea and a slice of apricot and nut bread after a day in this beautiful winter wonderland landscape.

iPhone photography: Frozen Apples

The birds must be having a good year as there still are apples on this apple tree! Frozen apples. And finally a few photos of the Christmas tree at my local shopping centre before I get dinner going.

iPhone photography: Christmas tree