That Forest Feeling

Our Book Nook…Magical moment today when I put out the laminated poems…randomly…poems spoke the language of our forest school session. We had seen two squirrels descending head first, one after another. This captivated the foresters. Geese honking as they passed overhead & imitated by a child below, & a foresters observation of a blackbird "Flying it’s wings". It all came together in two poems based upon the foresters first hand experiences. I shared the words with the children & they showed me what they had seen in the forest. They listened in the sunshine, their faces glowed with pleasure & my heart soared! I love my job!

Taking my lead from a child I too, shed boots & socks to find out what "Blossom on the ground" feels like. Child "Tickly & soft" Me "Squishy & spongey" Having been inspired by the poem Moss from The Forest has a Song we now require 'Socks of moss' Luckily I have just the pair...to share! The little forester is captivated by moss & has represented her live if it through Mark making, poetry, sculpture & modelling using a variety of materials...next steps?!

This book is wonderful! ♡ it. I took small groups of three & four year olds yesterday to share poems based upon their interests in moss & bones. I used a poem machine to post little notes with words & phrases used by the children to describe their thoughts about them. We then shook up the machine & extracted a note at a time & I both modelled & recorded further comments using them to construct a poem one line at a time. Favourite thoughts on moss included "Blossom on the ground"..."Soft like a blanket" & yellow spaghetti" I love my job! Poem about bones included the find itself - How did it get there? Feels like butterflies...why are they called butterflies? Are they made of butter?!

This book is wonderful! ♡ it. I took small groups of three & four year olds yesterday to share poems based upon their interests in moss & bones. I used a poem machine to post little notes with words & phrases used by the children to describe their thoughts about them. We then shook up the machine & extracted a note at a time & I both modelled & recorded further comments using them to construct a poem one line at a time. Favourite thoughts on moss included "Blossom on the ground"..."Soft like a blanket" & yellow spaghetti" I love my job! Poem about bones included the find itself - How did it get there? Feels like butterflies...why are they called butterflies? Are they made of butter?!

Heading for a bump?! #childrenswriters #childrensauthor #forestschool #naturestories #natureeducation

Detail of book illustration...yay...progress... #forestschool #childrenswriters #childrensauthor #naturestories

Deatail of part of my latest book illustration. #forestschool #childrensauthor #childrenswriters #naturestories

Meet Cyril, Cyril the squirrel of course. #forestschool #childrenswriter #childrensauthor #natureeducation #naturestories

Meet Cyril, Cyril the squirrel of course.

Dave the Woodpigeon I haven't written for some time but the forest is as rich as ever, offering spontaneous, natural experiences & opportunities for deep learning every moment of every day. Death is a steep learning curve & something that most children escape in early life. However some children won't escape a loss early in life & it's a subject that's often avoided due to children's lack of understanding & the understandable sensitivity of the subject. Forest school has offered many opportunities to explore death, with wild animals being found dead or I'll. I tackle this in a very real way on both a practical & spiritual level. Two recent examples spring to mind. The first being the discovery of a seriously injured pigeon in our forest. The little foresters discovered it, trailing a wing, limping & with an injured eye. Had I been stronger I'd like to have put it out of its misery. Though I'm hopeful in spirit I also don't want to prolong suffering & pain. I explained to the children that this bird was so poorly it was likely to die. Understandably they wanted to do something for it. Some wanted to hug it which sent the poor thing into blind panic as it was pursued with open arms. So I suggested offering a plate of seeds for if it got hungry in the night...for that is the time I felt it had left. One of the children stroked my cheek with the back of his hand, turned my head to look at the pigeon & said it looked sad. I said that it was sad because it was very poorly. Another child said it looked huggy - I explained that it's feathers were puffed out to keep it warm & perhaps give itself comfort as we do when we are I'll. I also restated that it probably eouldnt live much longer & should give it some peace. I took the children to our story circle & we gathered for two stories about Christmas robins. I told the children that sometimes people believe that robins bring messages from l8ved ones in heaven. I said that I hadn't seen Bill - our forest robin - for a while. I said I called him Bill after my Dad who died & is in heaven. One of the stories is about a robin flying home to it's mate for Christmas & when we reached the last page a child asked about the other robin...I thought she meant Bill so reminded her we hadn't seen him in a while. But I learned that this child had experienced losing a cousin, a matter of days old & that she was looking for a robin with the same name as her baby cousin. This was so touching & to have made that connection with her own experience was deeply moving. I do hope that in some way these thoughts are of some comfort to the child, as seeing Bill helps me process my father's passing & brings me comfort. Returning to our woodpigeon...the next day...a different group of little foresters came to the forest & discovered the remains of the wood pigeon strewn over the forest- a pile of feathers & an upper torso & head. The children seemed cross about this & also sad. I told them of the injured pigeon from the day before & said that whilst it IS sad I had noticed that the feathers had signs of fox damage. I said that I had seen a poorly fox in the forest & felt that it had been hungry...I said that if he had eaten the bird at least he has had food may stand more chance of healing. I was trying to put in place some information on balance in nature, the circle of life if you will. I put the torso on a piece of wood & we looked at it closely- one child said we could kill it more. I explained that things can get more poorly but not more dead...the child plays video games & watches war films! We talked about what to do & a child said we needed a stick for it. I was puzzled at first but ascertained that she wanted to make a marker & bury the bird. We did this in due course but I didn't know what name to put on the market. 'David' said one little girl. So we marked the grave & the time came to say a few words or sing. The same girl suggested Twinkle twinkle & we replaced a few words to connect with David's passing. These experiences show me that the children are connecting with the forest, with reality & with nature. I hope that these connections will help the children to deal with these emotions & grief as it has helped me. Was I tearful throughout? A little yes...but I think that it doesn't harm children to experience grief through the experience of another person...to know that crying is natural & in my opinion necessary. Ret

This piece has taken over a week...a bit at a time...I always do the tiger last, as a sort of reward I think. But I have thoroughly enjoyed transforming my original picture with different leaves & different shades reflecting Autumn. This is one of my favourite times of year. This illustration shows the paper tiger itself being afraid...of the fire...& observing the fire circle rules to overcome this fear.

This piece has taken over a week...a bit at a time...I always do the tiger last, as a sort of reward I think. But I have thoroughly enjoyed transforming my original picture with different leaves & different shades reflecting Autumn. This is one of my favourite times of year. This illustration shows the paper tiger itself being afraid...of the fire...& observing the fire circle rules to overcome this fear.

More illustrating for my book...I just LOVE arting around. Yes, there is a desired outcome/product but I am in it for the process pinky promise! If it didn't work out I'd keep it as part of my journey, in fact I've kept a piece of A2 background, the first I'd done whilst on my first tutor session with the wonderful Kate Woodley-Smith. I test out all my ideas on it, have fun, explore & experiment with materials & techniques. I may have to move out soon as nothing else matters when I'm in the zone. All I gotta do now is the cinnabar caterpillar & moth.

Art Retreat Treat I had the most restorative, magical experience yesterday, though for someone as wordy as I this is a poor description of Kate Woodley-Smith's retreat day. You see I'm relatively new to this art lark & a few months ago it would have taken her half an hour to draw a butterfly wing so scared was I of making a mark on the paper that would look stupid! I couldn't 'Commit to shape' & free lots of lines in different places hoping that one of them would be 'Right'. The first of three lessons hauled me out of my cocoon- kicking & screaming at first. But Kate nurtured me as she 'taught'. Her holistic approach & perception of how to guide me without the merest hint of criticism encouraged me to try, to keep on going, to practice & learn from what I did & didn't like on my work. To my amazement Kate stopped me beating myself up when things weren't to my satisfaction - much the same as she did with the children at our nursery - though never patronising to either party. She fosters a belief in self, a growth mindset. Moving on a few months to Kate's retreat...I didn't know if I'd feel intimidated by 'Real' artists...I know Kate is real lol but I know her & she has seen how much I have grown. I needn't have worried...as I met my fellow retreatees I relaxed, we all had something in common...other than art. Link upon link between our lives & our thinking emerged. We all appreciated the natural space we had, such a wonderful & inspirational environment. They were understanding in knowing I'd LIKE to try swimming in the lake but am scared of the water - they encouraged & they celebrated as I conquered my fear...or rather overcame It! Most of all though...they oohed & aahed over MY work...what?! They admired specifically & genuinely. "YOU actually draw in pen? Straight into the paper?"..."I love your writing around your bugs"..."How long have you been doing this?"..."You ARE an illustrator"..."I love your tree" ( me...not so keen". I loved THEIR work but I wasn't intimidated by it I enjoyed celebrating with them. It was like a mutual appreciation society...& guess what? EVERYONE had bits of their work that weren't 100% happy with. They just evaluated & thought about how they'd do it differently next time. I learned so much from the retreat...this is but a small snapshot...I also enjoyed it...TREMENDOUSLY. No doubt that the effects are going to remain with me & keep me growing.

Art Retreat Treat I had the most restorative, magical experience yesterday, though for someone as wordy as I this is a poor description of Kate Woodley-Smith's retreat day. You see I'm relatively new to this art lark & a few months ago it would have taken her half an hour to draw a butterfly wing so scared was I of making a mark on the paper that would look stupid! I couldn't 'Commit to shape' & free lots of lines in different places hoping that one of them would be 'Right'. The first of three lessons hauled me out of my cocoon- kicking & screaming at first. But Kate nurtured me as she 'taught'. Her holistic approach & perception of how to guide me without the merest hint of criticism encouraged me to try, to keep on going, to practice & learn from what I did & didn't like on my work. To my amazement Kate stopped me beating myself up when things weren't to my satisfaction - much the same as she did with the children at our nursery - though never patronising to either party. She fosters a belief in self, a growth mindset. Moving on a few months to Kate's retreat...I didn't know if I'd feel intimidated by 'Real' artists...I know Kate is real lol but I know her & she has seen how much I have grown. I needn't have worried...as I met my fellow retreatees I relaxed, we all had something in common...other than art. Link upon link between our lives & our thinking emerged. We all appreciated the natural space we had, such a wonderful & inspirational environment. They were understanding in knowing I'd LIKE to try swimming in the lake but am scared of the water - they encouraged & they celebrated as I conquered my fear...or rather overcame It! Most of all though...they oohed & aahed over MY work...what?! They admired specifically & genuinely. "YOU actually draw in pen? Straight into the paper?"..."I love your writing around your bugs"..."How long have you been doing this?"..."You ARE an illustrator"..."I love your tree" ( me...not so keen". I loved THEIR work but I wasn't intimidated by it I enjoyed celebrating with them. It was like a mutual appreciation society...& guess what? EVERYONE had bits of their work that weren't 100% happy with. They just evaluated & thought about how they'd do it differently next time. I learned so much from the retreat...this is but a small snapshot...I also enjoyed it...TREMENDOUSLY. No doubt that the effects are going to remain with me & keep me growing.

Art Retreat Treat I had the most restorative, magical experience yesterday, though for someone as wordy as I this is a poor description of Kate Woodley-Smith’s retreat day. You see I’m relatively new to this art lark & a few months ago it would have taken her half an hour to draw a butterfly wing so scared was I of making a mark on the paper that would look stupid! I couldn’t ‘Commit to shape’ & free lots of lines in different places hoping that one of them would be 'Right’. The first of three lessons hauled me out of my cocoon- kicking & screaming at first. But Kate nurtured me as she 'taught’. Her holistic approach & perception of how to guide me without the merest hint of criticism encouraged me to try, to keep on going, to practice & learn from what I did & didn’t like on my work. To my amazement Kate stopped me beating myself up when things weren’t to my satisfaction - much the same as she did with the children at our nursery - though never patronising to either party. She fosters a belief in self, a growth mindset. Moving on a few months to Kate’s retreat…I didn’t know if I’d feel intimidated by 'Real’ artists…I know Kate is real lol but I know her & she has seen how much I have grown. I needn’t have worried…as I met my fellow retreatees I relaxed, we all had something in common…other than art. Link upon link between our lives & our thinking emerged. We all appreciated the natural space we had, such a wonderful & inspirational environment. They were understanding in knowing I’d LIKE to try swimming in the lake but am scared of the water - they encouraged & they celebrated as I conquered my fear…or rather overcame It! I loved the way that Kate warned us up first...I often go for the bull in a China shop approach! We did a bit of brain gym, some loosening up exercises.. .some swapping of work to add our own...yikes...I'll ruin it but no...just made it different. One retreater even tore the paper adding her essence! But nobody minded, we had fun, we got to know each other & shook off our cloaks of inhibition...so to speak! We got our left & right muscles moving, including our brains. Most of all though…my fellow retreatees oohed & aahed over MY work…what?! They admired specifically & genuinely. “YOU actually draw in pen? Straight into the paper?”…“I love your writing around your bugs”…“How long have you been doing this?”…“You ARE an illustrator”…“I love your tree” ( me…not so keen" " Your bugs are amazing"... I loved THEIR work but I wasn’t intimidated by it I enjoyed celebrating with them. It was like a mutual appreciation society…& guess what? EVERYONE had bits of their work that weren’t 100% happy with. They just evaluated & thought about how they’d do it differently next time. They looked at the work of others & decided they liked a particular technique to express bark, water, grasses or whatever & decided to give it a go. And everyone SHARED their techniques, willingly & generously. So much of this world we live in is selfish, competitive, & guarded - so refreshing to just share. This made my well being soar & I feel that I've made friends for life. We all chose different things to focus upon & for me it was that open water & the swooping sand martins I videoed them but it doesn't convey the feeling of actually being there...& yet I feel like I'm closer to sharing that feeling through my painting despite the fact that undoubtedly the birds I created are less 'Real' & more of an essence. I learned so much from the retreat…this is but a small snapshot…I also enjoyed it…TREMENDOUSLY. No doubt that the effects are going to remain with me & keep me growing.

I want to share some exciting news...I'm off to an Art Retreat on Saturday. Our tutor, guide, host...& in my case therapist...is Kate Woodley-Smith. Kate & I met whilst camping...it was soon apparent that we had much in common & are kindred spirits. I think that this meeting wasn't by chance...we were meant to meet. I was reading a book at the time about a young girl with Autism who is the most amazing artist & inevitably conversation turned to art ( I had no idea that Kate is an artist!) I talked about how much I love art but that I'm more of an art appreciator than artist. My creative vent is through words. Little did I know that our worlds would go on to join up in the most magical way. I write children's books but have never had the confidence to illustrate them myself. My daughter's have been kind enough to do that for me...until recently. I jokingly dreamed aloud on my blog ..."If only I could illustrate my own work". I didn't know that Kate tutored...she got in touch & suggested some lessons. For someone such as myself.. with a reputation for talking & writing, word play & a broad vocabulary...I find that the results of these lessons are almost impossible to describe. The effects have been, & remain profound, powerful, magical... I began as a caterpillar...shut away, inhibited, & completely unaware of my potential. I wanted to learn how to illustrate my work, I was so hooked up on my desired 'Look' that I was terrified to even make marks, embarrassed by my efforts.. I wanted to find a hole & climb into it. But within literally minutes Kate got me to loosen up, cut myself some slack & look at process rather than product. I gained confidence, I learned to play, I learned about techniques, materials & SO much more. The experience of just three lessons has released me from my cocoon & I do truly feel as free as a butterfly! Although the aim is to use my art to illustrate my books it has become therapy, relaxation (never in a million years...!) & empowerment. Kate's approach is holistic, she sought to understand me & knew how to draw out my confidence & creativity. These days I can accept that some things work out, others don't, some work turns into something entirely different, it all takes practice...& that the look & product are not the be all & end all after all. I have fun, I play & enjoy art like a child might. SO, understandably...I'm just a tad past myself to be joining forces again with Kate, with like minded people in such a beautiful environment.