Nature and Art

I expect you are looking at the photo above and thinking "there's Bertie idling away the afternoon on the sofa again, how many naps does a dog need?"

How wrong you would be.

In fact I was deep in philosophical contemplation of the relationship between art and nature, thoughts prompted by a new picture on the wall behind me in the Torridon cottage. 

Let's have a closer look at it.

And even closer.

Leaving aside the obvious shortcoming that it does not feature a handsome fox terrier posing in the foreground, I think it's rather a fine work of art, don't you? 

It is a 'feltscape' which Gail commissioned from Torridon-based artist Sheila Bates last year. Sheila worked from one of Gail's photos of Loch Torridon.

You might wonder why we would need a picture of the natural beauty which surrounds the cottage when we could just step outside and look around us. But Gail says she loves the colours and texture of the feltwork and she reminds me that in winter when it is dark and cold, having this evocative interpretation of the landscape to look at inside our cosy warm cottage (the renovation included an extra layer of insulation) will be no bad thing.

You can learn more about Sheila's felted pure wool creations on her website, 'Florrie Felts'. 

I wonder if she ever does dogs?

Happy Nature Friday friends. Thanks once again to Rosy and the rest of the LLB Gang for hosting the blog hop.

Only six photos?

So Gail and I were doing a wee circuit of the neighbourhood the other afternoon when we ran into our friends Martin and Freda. 

Freda has been shielding and only now that she's had her vaccine is she starting to venture out and about. She and Gail had a long chat.  A very long chat in fact, and to be honest most of it passed me by as I focussed on sniffing the base of a nearby lamppost. 

But my flappy little ears did prick up when I heard Freda (who is a keen amateur artist) remarking on my extreme handsomeness and then saying she's been experimenting with drawing animals and she'd like to try a sketch of 'Bertie in repose'. She asked could Gail perhaps send her some photos as a starting point. 

Freda said she'd requested the same of another friend and commented, with a note of surprise in her voice, how this friend had emailed her twelve images of her wee Jack Russell terrier Freddie. 

Well I was surprised too. I mean twelve images seems scarcely enough, I would have thought. Why then did Gail reply thus? "Don't worry Freda, I won't send you that many".

Below are the six (yes, a mere half dozen) photos which Gail sent Freda.

I am hoping I get to see the final result of Freda's endeavours.

And of course, if none of the above images provides the necessary inspiration, we can always send her a few hundred more...

New doggy in the park

We're not sure when he appeared as we only noticed him when walking round Duthie Park in the opposite direction to the usual route.

He s a bonny wee chappie, don't you think?

Which of course makes two of us.