Cherry Trees

Today we had a visit from my favourite one-year old - and her parents.  When this beautiful little girl was born we gave her a book that I wrote and illustrated just for her.  The story is about a little girl who watches the birds in the cherry tree and wants to fly like they do. 

Around that time we planted a cherry tree in our garden and her parents planted one as well.  We have 15 little bright green cherries on our tree!  By January we should have a few to eat, if the birds don't get to them first.  This is an illustration from the book:

Birdwomen Collection

I started this series of ceramic sculptures at the beginning of 2010.  They are made of terracotta, fired twice to make them waterproof.  They look quite at home amongst the succulents.  Because the clay becomes terracotta-orange colour after the bisque firing, I have added  contrasting colours for decoration.

Museum Visit

Today, my daughter and I went to our local museum.  While she photographed the exhibits in the zoology section, I found the display of moths, butterflies and beetles.  I have an idea for making a necklace with ceramic beetles.  I made a few sketches for inspiration: