Aradia Summer Exhibition & some Ecology

Evening! So a very busy couple of weeks has absolutely flown by, keeping very busy in my new ecologist job at the height of the survey season and the art is juggling along on the side too, I'm buzzing about like I don't know what of late but far better that than sat about twiddling me thumbs!

The latest news on the art front involves my new exhibition at Aradia, a source of exquisite Tuscan delights and a gorgeous space to present artwork. I am so pleased to be Aradia's "Summer" Artist of the Season until 1st August. On Wednesday I spent a few hours preparing my display and this is how it looks!

Just to give you an idea, much better if you can see it in person!

Aradia Global Ltd.
Chapel House, 70 Jagger Lane, Emley Moor, Huddersfield, HD8 9TF.

Aradia is situated almost directly below the Emley Moor Transmitting Mast so you can't go wrong finding the place :) Here's a picture I took the first time I visited, couldn't fit it all in the photo, my bike looks tiny!

Emley Moor Mast - A Grade II listed building and the tallest freestanding structure in the UK

 Anyway, enough about the mast! I have a selection of originals, prints and mugs on display and available to buy from Aradia until the 1st August. Aradia (Emley Moor, Huddersfield) will be celebrating this exhibition along with the presentation of some new wines on Saturday 21st June (Summer Solstice) so if you like art and more importantly, good, scrap that, amazing Italian wine then keep that date free in your diary!

Read more about Aradia and it's gorgeous array of Tuscan produce online here http://www.aradiaglobal.com/


And a few photos taken while I've been out surveying in my ecology job which I'm loving so far!

Translocating a female Great Crested Newt

Handsome Male GCN

Patterns in nature (acted of their own accord!)

A very obliging Field Vole, not camera-shy!

Heath Spotted-orchid I think, not yet in flower

Stunning Cowslips

Water Scorpion

That's all for now, hoping everyone is enjoyng spring in full flow! Nest building and chick feeding is all a-go-go in the garden, I'll leave you with this recently fledged Robin who was having its tea last night while I was doing the washing up, waiting patiently for its parent to come back with juicy green caterpillars! You can still see what's left of its bright yellow gape :)

Counting down the days until I deliver my Mountain Gorillas portrait to the Mall Galleries in London for the David Shepherd Wildlife Artist of the Year Exhibition!
  

A New Chapter and more Puffins!

Another fortnight has flown by since I last posted here and more news to tell! As of tomorrow I will be starting a new job working for an environmental consultancy as an ecologist surveyor which I'm very excited about. All those years of being out and about in the natural world observing birds, mammals, flowers etc. have not been in vain and my seemingly vast collections of natural history books are certainly going to be earning their keep, not to mention my Zoology degree! I know I previously mentioned hoping to study as a veterinary nurse but sometimes you need to follow the paths presented to you and this job is going to be wonderful opportunity to not only boost my knowledge but allow me to assist others with that knowledge which I have already gained and putting it to good use out in the field. I can't wait to get stuck in! You can expect to read more about my exploits as I go along, wellies are at the ready :)

Obviously my embarking on a full-time job for the summer season will mean I'll be spending less time sat behind my desk with pencils in hands BUT this doesn't mean I'll be stopping drawing altogether, far from it. I have a couple of wildlife commissions to complete as well as preparing for my being the "Summer Artist" at a lovely little gallery called Aradia in Emley, Huddersfield where delectable Tuscan edibles and wines are also available www.aradiaglobal.com Here I will be exhibiting both original work and limited edition prints for the months of May and June 2014 so if you're in the area do pop by and say hello! I'll post more about this closer to the time.

Still rather giddy about my Mountain Gorillas drawing  going to that London (read more from a previous blog post here) The exhibition will be open to the public from 3rd June to 7th June 2014. If you're thinking of going it will be free admission and well worth a pop in if you're local-ish so scribble the dates in your diary if you're a fan of wildlife art, there are going to be some stunning pieces there! Here's a link to the Exhibition website where an online catalogue will be available to view from May 10th www.davidshepherd.org/way/ 

I also mentioned I would be posting up a progress post of my Puffin Study that I'm currently working on so here are a few more updates for you:

Taking off or about to land? You decide!

Havin' a scratch

Scratching pose completed and onto a snuggled pose...

A double update as the layering of the feathers has built up, my brain was definitely starting to feel fluffy after staring at so many!

I hope you're enjoying seeing the portrait taking shape, it's great fun to do but as with all my work, very time-consuming. I had an idea of the poses I was going to include from my own selection of reference photos taken while I was on Skomer Island but as the portrait has progressed I've adjusted and swapped round the original ideas do even I'm not sure what the end portrait will look like but that is what makes it so much fun :)

If you're a Facebook-er there are more in-depth posts about each pose and if you want to be more closely informed about progress of my drawings then you can also "like" my page  https://www.facebook.com/megghyllpencilartist

Once the like button is clicked you can hover over it and click "Get Notifications" to be alerted every time I make a new post :)

Hope you're all enjoying your Sunday, here are some pretty Wood Anemones to go on with, I found them while out on a walk yesterday (brushing up on plant ID!)

A Surprise Birthday Weekend

A jolly lovely weekend was had in Wales, staying in a gorgeous 200 year old cottage just outside Porthmadog. Gorgeous garden filled with birds singing away in warm weather which we were very fortunate to have for most of the weekend. My other half had been keeping the whole trip a secret for some time, I didn't even know what country he was taking me to! It was so lovely to get back to Wales though and we were certainly blessed with the weather!

On arriving we had a bit of time to spare before a couple of our friends were due to arrive so we went and explored Porthmadog to find an OS map of Snowdonia. Naturally I wanted to visit the estuary so we parked the other end of "Y Cob" and I was chuffed to find a little bird hide with the comfiest bench! Late afternoon it was and there wasn't much to see, I wished I'd brought my spotting scope. Just a Heron and a pair of Shelduck to be seen from the hide. As we drove back across Y Cob embankment I got a bit too excited about a bird of prey flying across the estuary - an Osprey! My first this year :)

View from Y Cob

The comfiest hide bench ever!

So the plan for the next day was to climb Mount Snowdon which I was very chuffed about as it's been on my to do list for some time...despite having climbed 6 other peaks (Cadair Idris and Pen Y Fan twice!) during my 3 years at university Snowdon (the highest Welsh peak) had eluded me on 3 separate occasions but better late than never! We had hoped to climb the Crib Goch ridge but on arriving at the visitor centre conditions looked a tad too windy to attempt it and with 60 mph gusts predicted it was decided to give it a miss - this time. We headed up the Pig track and back down the Miner's track. Blue skies and sun for the hike up, the tracks were certainly busy with plenty of people. A Sea King chopper roared about the summit for a good while and gave us amazing views.

View down the Llanberis Pass, a route I absolutely have to re-visit on my motorbike!

Snowdon Summit

Coming down the Miner's Track

We made it up and down in good time, back to the cottage for a homecooked meal of spaghetti bolognese, garlic bread and a couple of bevvies :)

These lovely old plates were in our bedroom, reminded me of my time on Skomer, such a shame our coastlines are no longer home to the Great and Little Auks.

So all in all a great success of a weekend! Art-wise, my original Gorillas drawing is due to come back from the framers in preparation for it's trip down to that London! I've a busy week ahead what with one thing and another so  not much drawing is going to get done until the back end of the week but the Puffin Study is really coming along now, I'll be posting up another progress blog post shortly :)

Meg x

BIG Art news!

So I opened my email inbox on Thursday to find a piece of amazing, superb, thrilling news. My Mountain Gorillas have been shortlisted for the David Shepherd Wildlife Artist of the Year award and will be exhibited along with many other wildlife artists at the Mall Galleries in LONDON in June!!! I had to re-read the email so many times to check I'd not missed something but it's still there in black and white, eeee!

The David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation carry out vitally important charity and conservation work, David Shepherd himself being made a CBE for his services to the world of conservation. Proceeds from the sales of artwork at the Exhibition in June will be put towards the organisation's many conservation projects. You can read more about these projects here http://www.davidshepherd.org/projects/

This is definitely the biggest thing to happen in my art career so far and it certainly seems to have filled me with a new-found respect for myself and my art, the fact that a prestigious international art competition has seen fit to accept a piece of my work and provide a space for it to hang in the company of many superb artists in our capital city is, quite frankly, blowing my mind! I'm feeling motivated and inspired to create new pieces where previously I admit I was wondering if all the hours spent on drawings was a productive way to spend my time. I'm thrilled and beyond chuffed! I finally feel like the last four years of completing pet commissions for those wonderful people who enjoyed my art are being rewarded as well as me, I am so grateful for that.

Anyway, this is the drawing in question! Have a click on the pic to see in a tad more detail.

Naturally I guess that now would be a good time to mention that this drawing is available as a Limited Edition print, so that's limited to 100 prints! These and a selection of other prints can be purchased from my online shop www.megghyll.co.uk/shop.html

Now I need to get cracking and finish off those Puffins so I can get started on a very exciting new drawing which isn't like anything I've done previously, a bit of fun too, watch this space! I'll post an update on how the Puffin Study is coming along on here in the next couple of days :)

Ciao for now,
Meg x

Fewston Reservoir, Sunday am

After a slight delay getting out the door thanks to spilling a portion of stew all over the fridge freezer we headed out to Fewston Reservoir at Blubberhouses just off the A59. I go past this reservoir on the bike every time I'm out ringing so thought it would make for a good length walk as plenty else to be doing for the rest of the day. A total of 3.7 miles round the whole perimeter and a nice easy stroll.

Plenty to be seen on what was a stunning start to the day. From the road dozens of Lapwing could be seen displaying on the moor, Curlew too. My first Treecreeper of the year spotted almost straight away. A lone Great Crested Grebe in full breeding garb was bobbing about, a shame it was alone as I love to see the amazing dancing displays of one of my favourite birds. I was chuffed to bits with the next spot, 26 gorgeous Whooper Swans bang in the middle of the res, stopping off before heading north to their breeding grounds, Iceland, Scandinavia or Russia...I've not managed to get round to seeing them this winter so definitely better late than never!

Tufted Duck, Mallard, Teal and Goldeneye also around as well as a pair of bright Grey Wagtails on the water's edge, always a welcome sight.

Done my chores for the day so I can now settle down to a bit of Puffin drawing after what has been a hectic week of other work, it will feel good to pick up my pencils again!

Sunrise and a Starling before setting off

26 Whooper Swans in total

 

Grey Wagtail

Male Goldeneye

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday folks :)

A successful morning's ringing

Yesterday's ringing session in my trainer's back garden proved another successful haul of over 70 new birds including 26 Siskin, 20 Goldfinch and 10 Redpoll. Ten species in total, the others were Robin, Blackbird, Wren, Greenfinch, Blue Tit, Bullfinch and a new one for me, a handsome male Starling. The first time I've even seen one in the hand so I was a happy bunny! 

I have Starlings nesting in the garage every year so I do get great opportunities to see them up close but not quite the same! They do have a reputation for being rather feisty in the hand but yesterday's was good as gold!

Some photos :)

A stunning male Bullfinch, a real favourite of mine!

A male Blackbird, we had another with an almost orange beak, most handsome!

Wriggly Wren

And my personal highlight, a male Starling!

The blue base of the beak tells us he's a male, if it was pink it would be a female, quite fitting really!

Iridescent feathers galore!

Meg's Mugs

I thought I'd blog a more detailed post about Meg's Mugs, now that we're almost into spring and the Christmas recovery period is coming to an end, pennies could well be appearing in bank accounts across the nation so might as well go for a sales punt!

Well that and I know for a fact these mugs would look a sight better in your kitchen than boxed up in my house! But it does help to at least like wildlife or even happen to know someone who does :)

A customer's pic of one of Meg's Mugs in Action, sporting a fine cup of tea ;)
I admit I was quite envious of the traditional scales featured in the background!

Meg's Mugs are based on a series of British Wildlife drawings I have completed, there are 6 different designs in total. ***

The front of each mug features an original wildlife pencil drawing by Meg Ghyll. The reverse has a scaled down image of the front with English and Latin names. 

Meg's Mugs are both dishwasher and microwave friendly. 

Each mug comes with a "To/From" gift tag in it's own gift box with a cord carry handle.

I have recently sent a pair of mugs all the way to Canada where they were received safe and sound, much to my relief and the new owner's delight! So with this in mind, if you would like one of my mugs then please do contact me directly to arrange postage costs overseas.

Meg's Mugs are £8.50 each and standard UK postage is £3.95 and are available to buy from my online shop Click here for linky

Grey Seal Pup (Halichoerus grypus) - Front
Also available as a Limited Edition Giclée print

Grey Seal Pup - Reverse

European Hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus)

European Badger (Meles meles)
Also available as a Limited Edition Giclée print

European Otter (Lutra lutra)

Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes)

Brown Hare (Lepus europaeus)

And one last thing. . . Meg's Mug's are available all the year round and can be used to contain both hot or cold beverages in most weather conditions. They don't leak or rust, they really do fulfil their function very well and have been tried and tested by the artist herself!

Enjoy your day my lovelies :)

***I am hoping to add more to the collection later on in the year.