Lizard RIP

A sad footnote to the previous visiting common lizard post. I came downstairs the very next morning and there was the little guy in the middle of the floor again but this time stone dead. How had he got there, how did he die? Who knows...I thought initially it might have been our dog but the lizard was totally unmarked, hadn't shed his tail and was simply deceased. Maybe it was just his time to go. A mystery.

An Unusual House Guest

Had an intriguing visitor in our front room last night, a little common lizard sat on the slate floor. I didn't see him myself(although I have several times before and once nearly stood on him in the dark!) but my wife did. She watched him for a while but didn't fancy the idea of picking him up and taking him outside so he eventually sneaked under our sofa and vanished. As far as we know he's still under there, so we await his next visit...

Under the Bridge

Interesting little discovery the other day. A friend of mine who lives just down the road(about 200 yards) in a place called Berrio Bridge, directed me to an interesting little nest he had discovered under one of the arches of said bridge(a very picturesque and several hundred years old granite structure). It was made of moss, domed with a little entrance hole and perched just above the fast flowing waters of the Lynher. Ironically as I clambered down the bank to have a look, a dipper flew out from under the arch and sped down the river. Sure enough, it turns out this little chap was the owner of the nest. My mate assures me the nest has been there for a good while, so I can only assume a bit of a renovation was taking place in preparation for the new breeding season to come. Wouldn't be my ideal choice of location for a home hanging over the surface of a fast flowing moorland river, but dippers are made of sterner stuff than us, so long may they remain there I say.

Polar Bear Prints added

My oil painting "King of the North" has just sold, however I am planning on producing a series of limited edition giclee prints of this painting which will be available soon. If you are interested in purchasing email me at joelmerriner@hotmail.com

Giclee Prints Available

I've just recently started producing some limited edition giclee prints of my artwork. They are all fairly small editions ranging from 25-75 prints initially. At the moment sizes will be A4 but I'm planning on larger scale prints in the future.

Images available include -

"The Summoning -Timber Wolf"

"Sunset Lion"

"Afternoon Sunlight - Fallow Deer Buck"

"Among the Ruins - Short Eared Owl"

"Timber Wolf"

Every print is titled, signed and numbered by myself, and printed on heavyweight matte art paper. Framed prints can be purchased upon request.

If you would like to purchase a print email me at joelmerriner@hotmail.com

More of that snow

Fantastic winter conditions have just hit us here in Cornwall, snow started about 4ish yesterday afternoon and resumed this morning. We even had a bizarre thunder and lightening incident which strangely didn't appear in any local weather forecasts (so maybe it was all in my head and I just imagined it....) Took a foray down the woods with the camera but the road was blocked outside of our little row of cottages so a trek up onto the moor would have been a major day-long -expedition so had to leave that again.

Note small furry critter in distance

King of the North

Here's the latest image of my polar bear oil painting - "King of the North". Little bit of finishing work to do on it yet but I'm pleased so far