Rutland Birdfair adventures!

Once again, I've ended up posting this later than expected but better late than never as they say...

So last weekend I packed up the bike ready for plenty of birdy shenanigans at the Birdfair. I've only been the once before and only for the one day whereas this time I'd be going for both the Saturday and Sunday. Here is the mighty SV650 (or as she is affectionately known, Thump!) all set to head south.

I'd been very lucky in managing to bag a late booking for a couple of friends and I at a beautiful cottage in the sleepy village of Sudborough...but I was setting off close to rush hour and the ride down involved mostly filtering down a somewhat gridlocked M62 and A1, oh the joys! So tired when I arrived but very pleased to find a most welcoming hostess and a kettle, teabags and biscuits awaiting. Just needed to wait for the cavalry to arrive.

After a comfortable night's sleep we were looking forward to getting plenty done at the fair. The day before my friend Sarah had delivered a very special painting to the Birdlife Malta stall as it was being auctioned off to raise money for this fantastic organisation and its dedicated team of staff and volunteers. The artist is Alan Harris who is renowned for his meticulously painted pieces mostly involving birds set in beautiful landscapes. Alan is also a well known illustrator who, together with Keith Vinicombe (the author of the Helm Guide to Bird ID) was book-signing at the Fair. A very useful book indeed for any level of birder, taking a detailed look at those species which can be easily confused.

Available to buy now!

 You can see more of Alan's stunning work on his website if you click this link http://www.alanharrisbirdartist.co.uk/

Back to goings on at the Fair, lectures and events were being held throughout the day and we knew there was one we couldn't miss. Chris Packham was giving a talk on Malta - Massacre on Migration. Massively inspirational talk with a VERY packed out marquee, apparently 700 people were there, incredible. The atmosphere was amazing, such a serious message and it was fantastic to see Birdlife Malta getting the support it so rightly deserves. The ongoing Massacre is truly chilling, hundreds of migrating birds are shot for fun as they pass through the island of Malta during the spring and summer months. Chris Packham made a video blog when he went over there, you can watch the first of these by clicking here. A few pics from the talk itself, inspiring stuff.

Chris Packham with Maltese volunteer Nimrod Mifsud

Alan Harris' painting of two Montagu's Harriers on stage

Apparently the ONLY standing ovation
anyone remembers at a Birdfair

Next up - this is in between me shopping for a new pair of binoculars - Bird Brain of Britain...a quiz show which traditionally takes place every year at the Birdfair, think of it like Mastermind for birders! Four contestants are quizzed by the host on their specialist subjects. It looked bloomin' nervewracking up there and Bill Oddie certainly takes no prisoners. A great bit of fun though :D

The host, Mr Bill Oddie himself!

Many stalls and many pairs of binoculars later, I eventually settled on a fine pair that ticked all the boxes...and they'd SOLD OUT! On the Saturday! Gutted didn't quite cut it, you spend ages making a decision only to find out people have beaten you to it, most disappointing. But, I have them now, they arrived yesterday and they were well worth the wait :D

Someone did pop up trying to sell me Zeiss bins...look familiar?

Yep, Mr Simon King!

It was also a celebration for the British Trust for Ornithology, 20 years of the Breeding Bird Survey...which of course can only mean one thing...CAKE! And what a whopper, very tasty too I might add :)

A highlight to my Sunday was bumping into a fellow Twitterer who I'd not met before who congratulated me on my Gorillas being shortlisted for Wildlife Artist of the Year earlier on in the summer, such a lovely chap who made my day so thankyou Simon!

I'd left off visiting the Art Marquee until the Sunday afternoon, knowing it would be a great way to finish a busy busy weekend. Amazing work on display as always. Art popped up all over the place at the Fair as it happened, this eyecatching Osprey fashioned out of horseshoes was a particular favourite of mine, made by Nick Forryan, a farrier (naturally! :D)

And of course, the traditional art mural which progresses as the weekend unfolds, lovely to see artists at work and such different styles all on the same canvas!

It's not always about the birds you know! :)

So a fantastic weekend all in all and I've finally got round to investing in a brand spanking new pair of binoculars, can't wait to try them out in Scotland next week...Another blog post I hope!

That's all from me for now, need to take a breather after that lot!
Meg x

Born Free Foundation - 30th Anniversary

I can't believe it's been a whole month since I last posted, where on earth did that go! I thought I was doing well for a while too. So much has happened, Tour de France, an actual French holiday, an Aradia arty wine-tasting and plenty more besides! At least this means I'll have plenty to talk about when the ecology survey season is over and the nights are closing in...NOT that we're even thinking about that yet, I'm sure you're all loving this lovely summer we've been having so far in Blighty.

Anyway, I thought I really had better post about the grand day out I and the other half had in Matlock yesterday. Matlock is a very pretty part of the world, set on the edge of the Peak District, a National Park famed for it's rolling hills and plenty of other things...but I digress. Why were we there? To attend an event that was being held at artist Pollyanna Pickering's home, a beautiful country house with gardens surrounded by tiny roads and lush green fields. As part of the Born Free Foundation's 30th Anniversary celebratory weekend, Pollyanna hosted an Open Day, a ticketed event whereby people could browse a huge collection of her artwork and explore her stunning gardens. Virginia McKenna was a special guest, the lead actress in the 1966 film Born Free, which of course is what inspired the Foundation's creation in the first place. The true story starring Elsa the Lioness pulls on all the heartstrings, especially teamed up with the moving music composed by John Barry, a masterpiece.

Virginia and Bill

Joy Adamson

Born Free has always been a film I have watched with great fondness having seen it multiple times from being a young 'un. I never tire of watching it and I still manage to cry at every tearjerking scene, terrible softie I am but I know I'm not the only one. It really was a wonderful experience to meet the lady who did such a fantastic job of portraying Joy Adamson all those years ago. If you haven't seen the film, do. It's quite easily one of the best wildlife films in history, a real classic and one for all the family. This one, along with Ring of Bright Water are amongst my top films of all time (also starring Virginia and her late husband, Bill Travers).

A link to a special message from Virginia McKenna
http://www.bornfree.org.uk/get-involved/our-30th-anniversary/reflection-from-virginia/

Anyway, some piccies from the day.

Pollyanna presenting a huge cheque to Virginia,
a fantastic result

Will Travers, the President of the Born Free Foundation

Gorillas, a special spot for me!

Gorgeous fountain

Painted by Pollyanna

And my favourite pic from the day, such an honour
to see two so very inspirational ladies
bringing art and conservation together

I've got lots of ecology-related photos I've been wanting to post up but sadly they will have to wait until I can snatch another bit of spare time.

Oh, go on then, seeing as you twisted my arm, just a couple!

Large Skipper butterflies (I think!)

A sleepy Tiggywinkle

A Great Diving Beetle, quite frequent visitors to
our bottle traps

Side profile, gorgeous :)

I think I remember why I don't get round to posting too much, takes up a lot of time this blogging malarky! Hopefully worth it though.

Enjoy the rest of your week, I'll leave you with this: my trusty steed in a Tour de France Teaser, doesn't she fit in well with the colour scheme!

Tata for now, 

Meg x

Cute babyness here!

Life certainly seems to be running away with me these days, so good to be keeping busy and getting out and about during this amazing time of year :)

First up, I managed to find a few hours to pick up my pencils last Sunday and it felt so good to get back into it after an unintentional two month break! Here's the next stage to my Puffin Study, prepare for a "squee" moment!

Puffling in progress

Puffling complete and this excerpt shows the work begun on the juvenile stage

In other work, things have been really hectic on the surveying front, newt monitoring surveys and bat surveys galore which are certainly keeping me busy! Ecologists the country over are no doubt nodding in agreement with this :) Here are a few pics from my travels over the last few days:

Buzzing about a Guelder-rose

Leopard slug

A definite squee moment, my first Great Crested Newt larvae of the year!

Stunning Bee Orchids, one site has loads of these, amazing!
I'd not had the pleasure of seeing them before, so delicate.

A particularly big Marsh Orchid

Not the best pic in the world but this was Thurs 12th/Fri 13th's "Honey Moon"
It started off a lot bigger than shown here, the same every June apparently!

In other news, I took my car theory test mid-week and I'm pleased to say I passed it. Yes, after 4 years on the road on two wheels I'm finally heading over the dark side and going for my driving licence...

Hooray!

Also on Saturday, I finally got round to booking a birthday gift given to me last year!! It was due to run out on the 26th June so I needed to get it in quick and thankfully the weather yesterday stayed dry. When I get a chance I'll probably write a more detailed blog post about it (saving it for a rainy day ;) ) but in the meantime, here are a few teasers from SMJ Falconry's delightful creatures. Plenty of drawing material to go at here!!!

Tropical Screech Owl

Harris Hawk taking a breather

Reggie Perrin - A Peregrine Falcon

Bengal Eagle Owl - I managed to catch her blinking her nictitating membrane :)

Just to show her sheer size, she was rather heavy!
Little Ashen-faced Barn Owl to the bottom right

Winking Long-eared Owl

A European Kestrel

I hope you've enjoyed these photos, I'll leave you with one more of a cheeky appearance in the Cambrian news, a Welsh local newspaper distributed in my old university town of Aberystwyth :)

Fame! Got to start somewhere :)

Don't forget you can see more of my pencil work over on my Facebook page and if you click the "Like" button you can keep updated with all the action as and when it happens!

Meg Ghyll's Fabulous Facebook Page ;) or indeed Twitter @MegGhyllArt

Ciao fer now!

Meg x

What a weekend!

A bit of an overdue blog post after what's been a very busy week but better late than never! I'm about to fill you in on what was the best moment of my art career to date, I hope you're sitting comfortably, here goes!

So after getting in from a transect bat survey at half 12 in the morning (and some hair-raising green laning on the motorbike in the dark) I collapsed into bed hoping to squeeze in as much sleep as possible for a 6am start and some frantic packing. Breakfast was wolfed down, bags thrown in the car and my Gorillas carefully packed up and seatbelted in and at 8.30am we set off on the long road trip down to Kent. I say we, I don't drive yet so my lovely other half was responsible for the safe transit of Primaternal Love and I down to that London and he fulfilled his role as chauffeur superbly well. I had until 4pm to deliver my portrait to the Mall Galleries and we were aiming to be in London for around 2pm...obviously nothing ever goes to plan!

Last pic of the gorillas in my home!

Ticket packed!

It was a seemingly uneventful journey most of the way and our opinions of a congested south were fading...until we hit the M11 and realised the possessed sat nav was trying to take us close to London with all the congestion zone road signs popping up, aaargh! Turned out it was set to avoid the toll roads, typical!....so after resorting to a good old-fashioned map we turned around and went for the Dartford crossing...hitting it at early afternoon on a Friday - NIGHTMARE! An hour's very slow crawling in traffic and we were across, throwing the toll of £2 at the barrier willingly just to get going again. We eventually got to our friend's place for 2.30pm, only an hour and a half to get to the centre of London, eek!

We parked up and promptly hot-footed it to Sevenoaks train station where we managed to hop on a train straight away (always remember London having very efficient transport systems!) and after 40 minutes we were at Charing Cross, thankfully a very convenient 5 minute walk away from the Mall Galleries. By this time is was 3.30pm so a speedy game of human dodgems was on the cards, past the great lions of Trafalgar Square, through the Admiralty Arch and then we'd arrived. A weight was lifted now the drawing was safely delivered, with 20 minutes to spare too, phew, talk about cutting it fine!!!

The Admiralty Arch

We didn't hang about in the city centre long then with us both being tired from the journey and rush hour fast approaching. We were planning on spending the day there on Monday before the Preview night at the Galleries so we headed back to Kent for an evening of sunshine and good company, in fact a whole weekend of it but more about that at a later date.

Now to fill you in on the main event on Monday 2nd, the Private Preview night! After a visit to the British Museum and St. James' Park and a quick freshen up, we headed back to the Mall Galleries for the start of the Exhibition itself. After all the build up to this prestigious event, it was actually happening and I couldn't quite believe I was actually there, just a few moment's walk from Buckingham Palace with one of my drawings up in a top gallery, just wonderful. Tonight the Exhibition was opening up to all the artists who's work had been short-listed for the event, plus guests and celebrity artists.

After having my name ticked off and collecting a name badge we were greeted by an amazing display of truly stunning artwork, canvases and framed works of all sizes, meticulously arranged on the walls whilst the sculpted pieces were spread about the centre of the room. Straight away cameras were flashing left right and centre as artists were posing with their work and we had to try and find my work among the 150+ works in this huge space that was quickly filling with people, no mean feat! It took a few minutes but then we saw them and, wow, WHAT a feeling! I almost wished I'd adorned neon legwarmers and done some crazy leap across the room towards them but thankfully I hadn't and didn't, thus preserving all sense of dignity and professionalism.

Anyway, some pictures!

Busy!

Much time was spent perusing the hugely varied and, quite frankly, breathtaking standard of work, and here is a selection of my favourites!

Smew with miniature by Philip Nelson

The Indochine Tiger by Trung Nghia Nguyen

Lemur Lunchtime by John Elliff

Feathered Friend by Mandi Baykaa Murray

Shirokuma by Liara Crane
(winner of the Young & Wild Category)

Indian Summer by David Shepherd (Limited Edition print)

Water Vole by David Shepherd

Sunrise on the King by Stefano Zagaglia

Clear a Path by Nick Oneill

Noca - Brazilian Jaguar by Neil Allen

Raven by Jane Ackroyd (eyeing up my other half!)

Sword of the Desert by Stefano Zagaglia
(Winner of the Wild Life category)

And the artist himself, who also painted the exquisite
"Sunrise on the King" shown above

If the Bee Disappears... by Calla Beddow

Time Out by Nick Mackman

Amazingly whilst at the other side of the gallery we had noticed little red dots appearing next to artworks and assuming they meant pieces had been sold we meandered our way back to the corner where my Gorillas were up...and I couldn't believe it, I HAD A DOT! ALREADY! Another fantastic feeling (I was a bit stunned to be honest) so we then had to ask a volunteer and they confirmed those red dots really did mean what we thought they did, blimey.

I was also asked to have a photo taken by one of the DSWF photographers so I'm in the official magazine for the event, such a privilege! You can read the mag here (I'm on page 20 ;)) The photographer congratulated me when she saw the dot after I'd taken her to my drawing for the pic, which quite took me by surprise so thankyou, a lovely boost :D

http://issuu.com/dswf/docs/event_magazine2014/12?e=5340120/8115065 

Before we knew it, the moment for the prizegiving had come. "The Boss" David Shepherd, head judge Mark Carwardine and Pam St Clements took centre stage and gave inspiring and heartfelt speeches about the amazing work the David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation carry out.

David Shepherd himself

Mark Carwardine, wildlife film-maker and photographer

And then it was all over! Well, we wandered a bit and then, knowing we still had to make the long journey back home that same night, we went on our merry way. A couple more photos and back on the train to Kent :D

The exhibition finished at 4pm today, do let me know if you managed to have a look! If you've missed it you can access the whole catalogue of works online and buy here http://shop.davidshepherd.org/event/8/

Read the BBC article on the event:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-27664083

The overall winning piece was "Transparence Elephant" by French sculptor Pascal Chesneau so a massive congratulations to him, it's a gorgeous work of art and very worthy of the title!

It was an absolutely superb experience, one I still can't quite believe I've been a part of and definitely the biggest thing to happen in my art career so far. I'll leave you with a few momentous screenshots, enjoy the rest of your weekend...

Eek!

...onwards and upwards!

Meg x