Tag Archives: Processing

Nov 25 2019
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ShareMondays2019 – State Of Decay

State Of Decay 2

ShareMondays2019 – State Of Decay

It’s Sunday night, you’ve not had any camera time during the week due to illness, how do you produce an image for the following day? Decaying leaves and a scanner! These are from the sycamore tree that sits just out the front of our flats.

State Of Decay 1

I thought I would try to do something creative, with processing, to help inspire my godchild, Quinn, who has an art project on patterns in nature. I had a bit of fun taking the natural patterns and then cutting them together in strips to create a new pattern. This next one is the most stylized, looking almost like a tile.

State Of Decay 3

The fallen leaves are losing their colour as they rot down into a mulch on the ground. There are lots of creatures feeding on them already, particularly slugs and snails. I brushed and washed off the leaves before scanning them! I think my hubby would have had something to say to me if I’d left any slugs crawling around the bedroom.

State Of Decay 4

Jan 28 2019
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ShareMondays2019 – Pelican In The Park

Preening Pelican in St James's Park

ShareMondays2019 – Pelican In The Park

Another week, another royal park! This time it’s the smallest and oldest, St James’s Park. Set in front of Buckingham Palace, the park was originally created by Henry VIII as a hunting ground. Later, it was redesigned by Charles II and became home to the first, royal Great White (or Rosy) Pelicans. They were a gift to the King from the Russian Ambassador in 1664 and the park has been a home to pelicans ever since.

St James’s has a fascinating history that has really left it’s mark on the area. Charles II had avenues of trees planted alongside his Paile Maile (similar to croquet) lawns. Locals started calling the main road alongside these lawns Pall Mall and the nickname stuck. The King opened the park to the public and was a frequent visitor, feeding the ducks and mingling with his subjects. He filled the park with animals including camels, elephants and crocodiles and built a row of aviaries for his collection of exotic birds. The adjacent roadway gained the name Birdcage Walk. People still gather here to feed the birds and a few exotics have returned, the ring-necked parakeets!

John Nash redesigned the park in the 19th Century. The original canal was transformed into a natural-looking lake and in 1837 the Ornithological Society of London presented the park with a collection of birds and erected a cottage for a birdkeeper. Both the cottage and the position of birdkeeper remain to this day. Duck Island cottage is where you will find the pelicans being fed every day between 14:30 and 15:00. There are also around 15 species of waterfowl living on the lake.

Exploring this lovely little park was just the tonic I needed on Friday afternoon after another disappointing appointment at Guy’s Hospital. The day may have started out negatively but I turned it into something very positive! Another busy Monday ahead so I am putting my pelican into all three Monday challenges. Have a great week everyone!

Pelican In The Park

Jan 9 2017
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Blue Monday: Messing About With Boats

The Blue BargeBlue Monday: Messing About With Boats

Sadly, Jeanne at Backyard Neighbor still has no internet access so we cannot share our Blue Monday posts as a group. I am still going to share these images, taken last week at the Basingstoke Canal, as part of the theme and to share my entry for Wex Mondays on Twitter. Included in the gallery is a particularly colourful blue houseboat that always makes me smile. There was a certain irony to its Hawaiian-styled design set against the frozen waters of the canal!Sunset and SmokeMany of the resident ducks were gathered near the houseboats this week as the warmth emanating from them was keeping this one stretch of water free of the ice. I have to admit that the sight of the smoke coming from the stove chimney with streamers of sunlight cutting through the tree branches gave me a rather warm feeling inside! It’s a shame that warmth did not spread to my extremities. We’ve not had any snowfall here yet but reports are looking vaguely hopeful!

Wex Monday: Creating a vintage effect