This Enchanted World

A magical nature journal describing the country life of a well-known artist who lives in a beautiful, isolated nature reserve. What is inspiration and where do artists find it? In this enchanting book Ann Blockley describes her life in her own artist's world, in which inspiration is another word for magic. It charts a year of her life in and around her home, set in the idyllic Devon countryside with its own large lake, and shows how the nature she is surrounded by finds its place in her ethereally beautiful paintings. In dated entries throughout the year it describes how she lives within her natural environment, constantly inspired by the comings and goings of birds and animals, the beauty of trees and flowers, and the turn of the seasons. The book is a fusion of nature observations and artistic inspiration, with an air of folklore and magic, that forms a record of an artist's creative ups and downs alongside fascinating insights into how her paintings are created. Alongside Ann's evocative text is a rich selection of her paintings and sketches that distil the essence of her surroundings into art. Ann says: 'My own corner of the world is a six-and-a-half-acre wild garden near the South Devon coast. There is meadow, wood, ponds, stream and swamp. There are owls, bats, woodpeckers, robins, fox, deer, squirrels, snakes, newts, bees and many trees and flowers, both wild and garden varieties. There may be water and tree spirits here too, although they are very secretive. Our spring flows through woods to a magical estuary and coastline. There is silence and birdsong. As an artist, I find it inspiring to connect with these natural surroundings. There is a strange, sometimes mystical quality to this sanctuary where we live and our daily life has become immersed in it, with all its seasonal changes and weather patterns. The wild garden has lured me into writing about it, not just about nature but the happenings and stories that weave around that and how it feeds my artwork.'