Angie Rogers Artist

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Connecting you to Landscape, Nature and The Wild

Bringing The Outside In.

Hello and welcome!

Here's a sort of Haiku I wrote after observing the mixture of dried seed heads from the previous year alongside new green growth in the hedgerows.

"Winding of Winter, quickening of green,
What is to come and what has been."

'Quicken' is an archaic word meaning come to life. The quick of your fingernail is the alive bed that grows. If you scrape a winter stem you can tell the plant is still alive because it's green inside. I always think of Spring as being the great quickening; all that stored green bursts out in a frenzy of growth and you never get tired of the mystery of transformation.

Its so uplifting when the Pussy Willow/Goat Willow catkins change from the silvery grey of January to the bright yellow green of March (in the UK)

You can bring a few sprays into your home for a temporary flash of spring energy. I imagine they would look just as beautiful against a dark painted wall. Here they are complimenting a woodcut I made after spotting the simple nest of a Golden Plover on the high moor.

To be honest, I first thought it was a Curlew's nest and even exhibited the original print in a Gallery with the title 'Curlew's Nest'. It was a bit embarrassing when a more informed birder explained the error.

Shortly afterwards I was fortunate enough to see a genuine Curlew nest and could see how different the eggs are - more pointed and greener. Anyway I love the Golden Plovers on our moor just as much as the Curlews and it's wonderful to see any wild birds' nests in this rampantly urbanised world.

Nests Are The Best

Have you seen this beautiful illustrated book by the Botanical illustrator Susan Ogilvy?
I don't think you need to be a bird watcher, naturalist or nerd to appreciate the amazing intricate architecture of birds' nests, and these watercolour images are exceptional.

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She has always painted the nests from life, not photographs, so the images aren't a comprehensive catalogue but rather a record of the serendipitous arrival of nests from friends, colleagues and family.

Consequently there are fascinating repetitions. For example there are four Wrens nests depicted, each one different yet also clearly the work of Wrens.

We had Wrens nesting in our South Pennine garden last year. The fledglings came to view me through the kitchen window whilst I was washing the dishes! In Autumn we had to trim back the Ivy on the wall and I found their nest. There was one abandoned, tiny, non-viable egg right down in the surprisingly deep nest cup.
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I've photographed that nest resting on Susan Ogilvy's book to show you the accuracy of her painting. Over winter the green ivy leaves in 'my' nest have faded to brown.

And here is a Goldfinch nest I found in South Brittany, years ago. I treasure it and keep it safe in a victorian glass dome.

Its surprising how different these two nests are, the Goldfinch is a fairly open bowl but the Wren's has a roof and is entered from the side

Do you think the nests somehow reflect the character of the bird that built them? Goldfinches seem neat and tidy in their smart yellow and red uniforms with their tinkling calls whilst the equally carefully constructed Wren's nest displays something of Troglodytes Troglodytes exuberant and loud rumbustiousness.

A Nest In A Box

I bought this little round wooden box from a shop selling affordable art materials. It was very inexpensive and I intended to maybe use it for storing small tubes of watercolour paint.
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But then I had a spell of making artworks to fit within small wooden boxes and so almost inevitably I got the idea of turning it into a nest. This was years before the Susan Ogilvy book came out.
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Don't you love the idea of a rather plain, nondescript container opening to reveal a little treasure? This one fits in the palm of your hand. I stained the pale, raw wood to make it seem more tree-like and weathered.

Eggs Are Not Just For Easter

I find the commodification of Easter to be a bit sad. The build-up in the shops starts in February and the shelves are inundated with nest and egg themed products. Then the second Easter Sunday comes that's it - nests and eggs are passé. Yet the blackbirds in my garden continue breeding for months afterwards, sometimes managing 3 broods of chicks, and the same is true of birds up on the moors.

Its interesting to notice there seems to be a very short window of time when people feel its appropriate to buy my nest print, almost as though you shouldn't want something like that if its not Easter!?

Anyway the image below is a variant of the standard edition of my woodcut and you can view more details or purchase it at any time of year on my website via this link:

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If you collect birds nests, feathers or any other bird related ephemera I am very interested to hear all about it.

Not Whispering Into Silence

Thanks to lovely supporters Ian, Kate, Mell and Alice who responded to my previous email.
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Ian sent me a photograph of moss growing on a pillar, taken on his way to work. And Alice sent one of a moss cushion in her garden. Kate is looking into the source of the Nene, her local river, and Mell reflects on the different natures of the two rivers she lives between, the Severn and the Wye. It’s uplifting to know that something I sent encourages other nature watchers to look more closely at the wonder of our world.

You may enjoy viewing ‘Between Two English Rivers’ a blog post with text and image on my website, all about a trip to explore the land between the Wye and the Severn.

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Don't forget to email me your suggestions, questions or thoughts; you know I love to hear from you and always reply individually. They are all my own words, I don’t use AI/robots.
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That’s it for now. Until the next time, wherever you are, pay attention to the natural world, notice the rapid changes of spring, look out for nest-builders, let your busy thoughts waft away on a gentle breeze and most of all, get inspired!

All the best
Angie

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