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Seeking

I've always had a soft spot for these, ever since working in an estate greenhouse as a teenager. There were several thousand bulbs in 5 large Victorian greenhouses, and the nurseryman would tend to them first thing in the morning, at lunchtime, and then last thing in the evening.

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First picture with a new toy, a Canon WP DC34 Waterproof Case.

After my near disaster of the 6th February, I decided to treat myself to an underwater camera housing. It's certainly going to take a bit of getting used to, and you need to memorise the controls and use them with frozen hands (how anything can breed in water this cold is beyond me!) - but hopefully the new housing will open up a few new possibilities.

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A female Nursery Web Spider (Pisaura mirabilis) in the greenhouse.

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Watching

I know, not exactly Wildlife Photographer of the Year material, but to be honest I did feel quite priviledged to get this close to a wild corvoid. Certainly when he/she looked at me there was a definite recognition and intelligence behind the eyes.

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Glass Ceiling

Water Mint (Mentha aquatica) heads upwards towards a late ice ceiling.

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Inspiration

Another rushed picture this evening - a mad 13 hours at college and my brain is fried and it's dark and cold outside.

My art inspiration comes from many and varied sources, but one of them is my 'library'. This consists of an overflowing bookcase drowning in books.

My main source of inspiration is just being outside on walks (Mother Nature never fails to inspire/amaze). Other sources include Flickr (probably the second most important source) and Twitter, (then books), then objects in shops, then exhibitions, galleries, and the press.

The books include:

Wildlife in Peril - I collected the original partwork of Piero Cozzaglio's artwork when it was published in 1978 (I was eight) and I still have it to this day. I found his book in a charity shop last year for a £1. His artwork is so stunningly beautiful, and the book so moving it always makes me sad - thinking of the havon man wreaks on some stunning and fragile wildlife.

National Parks of America - A leaving present when working in a picture library - a wonderful book.

Angelika Sigl's Der Wolf - A book I worked on 20+ years ago!!

Intimations of Paradise - The second most expensive book I ever bought (and looking at the current price on Amazon I should have bought a dozen!!!) - wonderful.

Trees - I own three copies of this fabulous book, stuffed with dried leaves - one of my first 'serious' natural history guides, and still my most used - smells amazing (of dried Ironwood tree leaves)!!

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Spring seems to finally be on it's way, and a bright sunny St David's Day helped.