Art and inspiration

The other week I got to go with Fergus to a lecture he was giving on Great Dixter. It was in a village called Sedlescombe and was attended by the ladies of the W. I. or Women's International. There were all of these ladies that gathered there in the village hall bringing all types of cakes and finger foods (all homemade and delicious!) to share. On the wall was an intricately done mural that was put together using different textile materials and sewed together to show the history of the village.
There was a plaque that read, "The contents for the panels of the embroidery are based on the book "Twenty Centuries in Sedlescombe," with help from it's author the late Mrs. Beryl Lucey. Designs for the panels were drawn by Mrs. Ann Lacey and Mrs. Katie Edworthy. The main panels were sewn by the ladies of the village, whose names were placed above their work, and the leaves were sewn by ladies of both the Women's Institutes."

The details that were captured in the embroidery were really astounding, such as the trees below. One of the many individual leaves.
A detail of the fighting that took place. It was pretty large, about 20 panels long. Needless to say, they helped me get back into my sketchbook. I have had apples on the brain lately. I did these apples in oil pastels, after hearing that Liz, my classmate from my PG class at Longwood, got accepted into the Fruit Culture Program at Wisley, where she will be attending for a year. Congratulations Liz! My old roommate at Longwood, Suguru, was also accepted for the same program at Wisley, concentrating on Alpine Plants. Suguru!!A view, from the pub, of the old church tower in Ewhurst. A beautiful but quaint town..
One of the many English cottages in the area. The architecture is very interesting to me here.
On the shelf in my room, with dried Narcissus 'Jetfire' and Pheasant feathers I was able to find.