#9 - Daisy Chain

Summer is nearly over but I found a few late daisies in a forgotten field and practised making some chains - an extraordinarily nostalgic activity. I was immediately transported back to where I learnt to make daisy chains, on the lawn outside chapel as a little girl.

#8 - Woven Willow

#7 - Willow

The willows are at their best on a windy day, sometimes silver, sometimes green...

#6 - Blackberries

Three shades of green...

#5 - Leaves by Lamplight

Did not get round to walking the dog till late last night. Too late really to be walking round in the city, I'd forgotten the nights are drawing in. Stuck to the main roads to be on the safe side which are not exactly havens for nature. By the time I turned for home, the street lamps were alight and the night dark. I'd almost given up on a picture but as I passed under a tree I noticed a leaf lying on the pavement, it's concave shape holding the light from the lamp above rather beautifully...

#4 - Window

#3 - Green Leaves and Rosebay

Went to my beautiful buttercup meadow only to discover that it had been mown and was now looking rather forlorn, such a shame, but perhaps you have to mow wildflower meadows once in while. The hedgerows though were still full of purple spires, Rosebay Willowherb apparently. I saw some very bright green, new leaves which I thought would look startling against the red-brown mud path and I found that the Rosebay Willowherb flowers were exquisitely detailed on their own.

#2 - Cherry Plums

  Turned a corner we usually miss in our local park and found another play area (much to the delight of my three little people) and a cherry plum tree. The nicest kind of art is the kind you can eat afterwards!

#1 - Sundown Over Mown Grass

 Inspired by my friend Michael Bickerton over at discarded365@blogspot.co.uk, and a deep admiration and, well... envy of the life and work of artist Andy Goldsworthy, I have decided to stop moping about the fact that I do not have the time to roam the hills creating masterpieces but instead challenge myself by taking 365 photographs of my own humble land art.  

So, I don't live in the country, and I am a busy, homeschooling mother of three but I do walk the dog quite regularly, often with some or all of my children, in parks and fields around Birmingham, this means I am  restricted in several ways, apart from being neither a photographer or an artist I mean...
1. Photographs are only shot on my phone (a Sony Xperia) and
2. Only while walking the dog, which means the shot must be set up in a very short time frame.
3. I can only photograph what I find in situ.
4. Post manipulation using only Instagram or similar free phone apps.
5. And of course, I can only use available light.

So, you know what they say, "If life gives you lemons..."

My first image - I am going to call it, rather imaginatively, 'Sundown Over Mown Grass'. I'm pretty sure Andy Goldsworthy's dog wouldn't jump all over his art work as mine did, although with the repeated interruptions to fend her off I did finish perfectly in time with the sun going down behind the  trees which made a rather wonderful play between the light and dark on the curves of the grass ridge.