Rhiannon Wren

Garden Favourite - Rhiannon Wren

The diminutive wren is one of the most loved of all my creatures. Especially at events, the connection people have with her is incredible. People always stop to tell me the reasons they love the wren so much and what she means to them. She also holds a personal connection for me and will always have a special place in my heart

The wren’s call is a joyous indicator of Spring and the garden coming back to life. Their busy, industrious nature and constant fluttering is a sure indicator of nests being built in readiness for new life

I’ve been reading Michael Morpurgo’s book “Spring, the story of a season” and this short passage is a lovely nod to Spring and the awakening of the wren’s song

I listen to you, diva blackbird, I see you flitting wren, I hear you in the trees, drumming woodpecker.

I see you up high, mewing buzzard.

I see you, you hear me.

You sing to me, I sing to you.

We sing in perfect harmony,

For winter is done and spring is come.

Reading this book at this time has hit me in a different way than perhaps it would have done in years past. It made me want to be more conscious and aware of our changing seasons. The comings and goings, the evolution and cycles and the roles and responsibilities we have in the natural world.

Maybe it’s the inevitable passage of time that brings us this calming wisdom and awareness. Whatever the reason, I know our human connection to the countryside and it’s passing seasons is one I want to embrace

And for me, the wren is a beautiful example of how we connect. As I mentioned in the introduction, she is always one of the most loved drawings when I’m out at events. People seem to automatically engage with her, you see a flicker of recollection in peoples smiling eyes or a happy memory brought to mind of a loved one.

My wren is the drawing I’m most proud of, and the one that took the longest. I don’t want to add up the hours she took, all I know is I needed to take my time and do her justice.

My drawing process is always quite drawn out, as it requires so much concentration. Just one split second lapse of concentration and too much pressure on the nib can mean an inkblot and the end of the artwork. So, I took my time

Any of you who’ve followed my work, will know that I always name my creatures. Building their character helps me as I create the drawing and bring them to life. However, this time I struggled to settle on a name. The only name that kept coming back to me again and again was Rhiannon, but I kept dismissing it as it was my cousins name and as she’d recently died it seemed too hard.

But when the drawing was finished there didn’t seem any other name more suitable. Rhiannon was the youngest of three brilliant sisters who had such incredible fight in her. It seemed fitting that this beautiful bird with her powerful voice, exemplifying the Shakespearean quote “Though she be but little, she is fierce” should be named after such an incredible force

So, thank you Rhiannon, we continue to remember you, always with us

You can shop everything Rhiannon here….