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Lily
Read more: LilyI saw this rather handsome plant in a local garden centre whilst looking for something else entirely, so naturally I bought the specimen and it is now trying to survive (and I hope thrive!) in my garden. It is a rather different shape to the lilies that I drew many years ago when I first…
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Galata Tower
Read more: Galata TowerThe Galata Tower in Istanbul is now almost 700 years old. Today it dominates a hillside otherwise covered in a jumble of more modern and more modest buildings, the tower still offering the views it was designed to give over the city and the surrounding crossroads of land and sea routes. In my head (weird…
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Wooded Path
Read more: Wooded PathSome places seem to me quite special, magical even, and this is one of them. This path leads up to Reigate Hill, and I sometimes follow it when I walk up that hill from my house. I don’t always take this path however, partly so as not to lose the sense of wonder that this…
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Mayflower
Read more: MayflowerMore properly known as hawthorn, but if you use the proper name it is just that bit more difficult to remember exactly when this plant flowers! This picture was intended to look rather like one of those very arty photos where the object in the foreground is in sharp focus and the background is just…
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Hagia Sophia
Read more: Hagia SophiaThis is a remarkable building. It is almost 1500 years old, which is not bad for a building sited in the middle of an earthquake zone! It was for a long time the world’s largest interior space, and the design of this building, in particular its large central dome, effectively became the archetype for the…
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Pergamon
Read more: PergamonThis is a view from the Asclepion of Pergamon towards the Acropolis, which true to its name is on the top of the hill in the background. We visited Pergamon as one of the seven churches mentioned in the Revelation to St John, found at the end of the bible. However, to me one of…
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Primroses
Read more: PrimrosesThe plants which grow best in my garden are those that are often labelled as weeds! I’m not sure whether primroses are normally classified by others in this way, but given how vigorously they self-seed and then grow in my lawn they seem to fit the bill. However, they have the advantage of being colourful…
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Sandpit
Read more: SandpitThere are many quarries near where I live. A few of these sites are still being worked, but most are now inactive. In this region (and quite possibly elsewhere too) a disused quarry will tend to turn into a lake, so we have several man-made lakes around here as well. The lake that I have…
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Chion-in (知恩院)
Read more: Chion-in (知恩院)I find it rather odd that the less paint I put on the paper the more effort it takes me to do so. I have long admired those who can seemingly capture the essence of a scene with just a few broad and (apparently) lazy brush strokes, rather than getting caught up as I often…
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Toque Macaque
Read more: Toque MacaqueThese monkeys are quite common in Sri Lanka, particularly near Sigiriya where the original photo of this character was taken. These creatures look very sweet and endearing when you first see them, particularly with their quirky hairstyles, but there is a good reason why monkeys have a reputation for mischief. Just a few minutes before…











