Behind our Victorian terraced house, we have a tiny little garden, only approx 24ft by 12 ft, but I do love it and miss sitting out in that patch green when it gets to Winter. When the weather becomes cold, I do start buying more cut flowers and planted bulbs, to recreate that sense of 'green'. I love every stage of potted bulbs - from the unassuming, mossy bulge before anything appears, to the sudden, almost shocking, burst of colour and scent. And they are cheap and so easy to grow and seem to make a tangible difference to my mood. So this blog post is in homage to the humble hyacinth bulb.
For lots of mainly boring reasons, I have had less drawing time and energy lately. But as the bulbs sit on my kitchen table and there are the inevitable domestic minutes waiting for washing, cooking, baking to finish, I have done a couple of drawings in those idle moments.
And these funny little drawings have made me happier than a lot of other things this week. I think it is partially the simple act of drawing, getting still and concentrating. But there is also a small, quiet sense of achievement. Often, it matters less whether I am happy with the end result and more I made the time, I looked and really saw something clearly and was creative.
Anyway, I remain for the foreseeable future (with all this UK snow) a happily committed hyacinth bulb grower.
