A bird's eye view of our countryside through the seasons

As with last year’s calendar, my lovely husband has made a video of the artwork which I’m now able to share.

The artwork of each month in my 2021 Nature Calendar joins up to form the continuous image shown in this video. This smooth transition from month to month and season to season affects a fantastical walk through the countryside - something many of us need now we are stuck at home…

The 2021 Nature calendar theme is "Above and Below" - offering a 'bird's-eye' and 'worm's-eye' view into the natural world. This is partly to shift our human-centric vision and encourage us all to look beyond what is immediately in front of us. There is plenty happening above our heads and below our feet which is both important and beautiful.

This video shows the illustrations from the top half of the calendar, the "Above" or 'bird's-eye' view. You can buy the calendar here and have it shipped anywhere in the world.

Why Spring is such a hopeful month

Lent-Lillies. or wild daffodil

Although there is still snow on the ground, the signs of spring are all around with buds and shoots appearing. Spring brings a welcome gift of colour, transforming our surroundings suddenly and swiftly until you can no longer remember the monotonous winter landscape we jokingly call the ‘brown and sticky’ season.

Of all wild-flowers, many of those that appear in early spring rank among my favourites. They seem so unlikely in the midst of such harsh weather, but are immensely powerful and resilient.

Mostly small and delicate, their presence is fleeting as it is imperative for them to grow, flower, and set-seed before the canopy of leaves may shut out the light or larger plants overtake them.

Aconites, which came up in early December this year.

Among the earliest are the Aconites, Snowdrops and Lent-lillies (wild daffodil). Followed by Barren Strawberry, Coltsfoot and Celandine. The humble daisy (‘day’s-eye’) flowers all year round but a carpet of them in early spring is still a joyous sight.

By the beginning of March, primroses, violets, and Wood-Anenomes can be seen as well as Golden- Saxifrage and Speedwell that grow in short grass.

Under the trees, you can find elegant Wood Saxifrage and delicate Wood Sorrel (the petals of which always remind me of old men’s pyjamas, and the lemony leaves of which are delicious). These are more likely to appear in April and into May when bluebells grace the woods and Lady’s Smock flower in fields and pastures.

Excerpt from ‘A Celebration fo Nature’, showing many of my favourite spring flowers - speedwell, violet, celandine, primrose, golden saxifrage, daisy and wood anenome.

A Sense of Home

The sense of home: feeling at ease, comforted, and being part of the rhythms of a place, was at the heart of what moved me to make the kitchen calendar. To me, that sense of home seems a universal human need, although everyone expresses it in different ways, and sadly, due to all kinds of different circumstances and injustices in the world, many are not able to find such a thing in their lives.

Home doesn’t have to be tied up in bricks and mortar, nor does it have to be the place you were born or one single place throughout your life. But having a place you can always return to, to recharge and check-in with yourself, is so important. 

I’m incredibly lucky to have lived in the same house for over 35 years, and we have worked hard to turn what was a very basic cottage, into a small but wonderful home. It’s ‘home-ness’ isn’t about the stuff we have, or the way it looks. It’s something we create on a daily basis, and the desire to do that is something I think I’ve always had. Even when I first left my family home and lived in a pretty grotty bedsit, I still did things that evoked the sense of home to me – I had a little window box and grew things in it, or I’d put out a vase of flowers to feel a connection with the outside world (which, living in the city, I didn’t have much access to otherwise). Little personal things like that can be very meaningful and make all the difference.

The paintings throughout the Kitchen Calendar are shaped by memories, moments and things that I associate with that feeling of home. For example, sitting on the back doorstep shelling peas, or the hot steam rising from the boiling marmalade contrasting with the wintery world outside. In our house, and in many of the houses I know and have known, the kitchen is the beating heart of the home. It’s the place where we gather to get warm, to be fed and to share food. In our house, our tiny kitchen is often a chaos of messy cooking, the sink full of vegetables from the garden, conversation happening over the noise of the radio, and muddy boots (and sometimes a dog) blocking the doorway. It’s also the place where we share meals and discuss the day. You can probably see how much our kitchen has influenced the illustrations in the Kitchen Calendar!

Another key element of what home means for me is the hearth. It’s something that appears a lot in my paintings and in the calendar. Throughout history the hearth has been very important, both practically – as a place where you gathered, cooked, dried clothes, and got warm, and also symbolically - as the place to reflect, converse, be restored and be still. I wanted to emphasise the importance and celebrate the beauty of both hearth and home in the calendar and I hope you find joy in them as much as I do.

Co-authored with my daughter, Charlotte Maberly.