man in the woods
• Walking artist doing everything the slow way
• I make drawings and artefacts in reaction to the landscape and folk culture of southern Britain as I get to know it on my Friday Walk
• www.maninthewoods.co.uk
- This sign is so low to the ground it *must* have been put up by the hedgehogs
- Like mud? Then you might like this little bit I wrote for the Guardian
- Oh and this is the walk where I saw those hedgehog signs (and survived): youtube.com/shorts/hvxNa...
- I’m genuinely starting to fear hedgehogs
- This is one of my favourite gates in a road of garages near me. I’m not a painter but if I were one then I’d like to be able to use colour and shape this beautifully.
- I really enjoyed the halloween episode of the @themerl.bsky.social’s podcast, Absolute Units. It features another favourite podcaster of mine, Mark Norman of @folklorepod.bsky.social. Have a listen here: merl.reading.ac.uk/explore/abso...
- That was a spooky walk! I very rarely feel uncomfortable on a walk but being surrounded by fog makes everything feel… other. A bit like walking in the dark, you just don’t know what’s out there. youtube.com/shorts/Qa0S_...
- When can I move in?
- Scenes of bitter rivalry from the traditional English sport of electing a new vicar
- I made this little linocut as a tribute to the many wonderful handmade signs I’ve come across on my Friday Walk
- Here’s a page from my sketchbook where I planned out the linocut. I love to see the grids and rules people create when making a sign by hand. Often they result in a bit of awkwardness.
- I had great light for this week’s Friday Walk ✨ youtube.com/shorts/lsMOT...
- I also saw what is surely the best sign ever made:
- How much cider is too much cider? Let’s go for a Friday Walk! 🍏 youtube.com/shorts/hjo8C...
- The beast has been seen!
- What do you call this plant? A while ago I asked on here and on instagram what different names people have for this plant. A lot of people said Bindweed, Convolvulus, or Morning Glory. But I was surprised at how many names I was given that were similar to the one I know: Granny-pop-out-of-bed
- My granny taught me that name. She showed me that if you squeeze the green bit beneath the white petals, the flower pops off. And she said the flower looks like an old-fashioned granny’s bonnet. Here are some of the other names: • grandmother, grandmother-pop-out-of-bed • granny-get-out-of-bed
- • granny-jump-out-of-bed • granny-pop-off-her-head • lady-pop-out-of-bed • granny-pops-out-of-her-nightshirt • ms-polly-had-a-dolly-and-her-head-popped-off • molly-had-a-dolly-and-her-head-popped-off • granny-pop-off • granny-poppit • grandfather-poppit • poppy-plant • grandmother’s-nightshirt
- • white-hats • white-bonnets These folk names are important pieces of cultural heritage. They preserve little stories people have told and help us connect to nature. I would love to know if any organisations out there are collecting these important bits of folklore.
- A very aspirational display in the window of a local charity shop
- Recipe book update: When I first started this book, I foolishly cut out a few pages where I’d made some mistakes. This, predictably, destabilised the binding for some of the other pages…
- I’ve carefully removed some of those destabilised pages and stitched them to more stable page…
- Luckily, I’ve been drawing decorative borders on some of the pages, so the stitching doesn’t interfere with the recipes…
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View full threadJust like I’ll live with this accidental ink spot.
- I made this drawing of the cosy little fields from up on Glastonbury Tor on my Friday Walk recently
- When I got back to the studio, I turned it into a miniature linocut, which I printed in red ink
- Coincidentally, I then discovered that the word “miniature” originally referred to drawings made in a red pigment in medieval manuscripts. It’s only because those drawings happened also to be small that “miniature” came to mean a small drawing. Here’s my print, which is a miniature in both senses.
- Monday: drying herbs and homemade curtains
- If you’ve always wanted to get into Iron Age hillforts, the first half of this video by @forestcollectiv.bsky.social is a really great, accessible introduction to what they are, and the varying forms the take: www.youtube.com/watch?v=qldg...
- I love the beautiful mottled reds in these mosaïcs from Rockboune Roman Villa in Wiltshire. They make me think of fallen leaves in the golden autumn sunlight. 🍂🍁✨ #MosaicMonday
