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In: art

Sarah Simblet’s concentrated work drawing tree leaves and fruits for The New Sylva was interrupted this week with the invasion of hundreds of young toads (Bufo bufo) hopping past the open door of her Oxfordshire studio. This time of year the young toads leave their watery birthplaces to start a terrestrialContinue Reading

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In: art, quote, woodland visit

Earlier this week the authors visited a very unusual and special woodland. Lying at the heart of the UK Prime Minister’s official country residence at Chequers is a woodland of box Buxus sempervirens. Box is known to many as a small shrub that is used in finely clipped hedges andContinue Reading

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In: art

Regular readers to this blog will have noticed that we have not posted for a while. Gabriel Hemery has been immersed in writing, while artist Sarah Simblet has been working flat-out trying to keep pace in drawing the dozens of species coming into leaf and flower during April and May.Continue Reading

On:
In: art, woodland visit

The authors visited Devon recently on the search for a number of trees and forestscapes for The New Sylva. Followers of The New Sylva on Twitter (@newsylva) will know that our first stop was the ancient oaks of Wistman’s Wood on Dartmoor, followed by a successful search for one ofContinue Reading

On:
In: art

In a recent post we wrote about Sarah Simblet’s work in progress, drawing an enlarged alder catkin (see post). Here is a sneak preview of the finished drawing. Far right of the photograph of the drawing (out of focus) is the female flower of Alnus glutinosa.Continue Reading

On:
In: art

Sarah Simblet has been making the most of the cold weather, retreating indoors to illustrate some of nature’s tiny hidden wonders using a microscope. Exploring the collection of materials at the University of Oxford’s Herbarium, Sarah found a cross-section of a female cone from a Scots Pine Pinus sylvestris. TheContinue Reading