Earlier in the year you might've seen me do a prize draw in my usual waffley manner (sign up for emails about the next one!). This lovely family won the portrait sitting and used it to celebrate their newest family member. There were lots of giggles, singing and silliness (and that was just the adults!!)

For your own record of giggles, silliness and family, you can book your sitting here and get in touch to chat.

It's Opening Night at 'The Bailiwick In Bloom' Exhibition at Sula Framing & Gallery in Guernsey tonight! Great to have Hotspur (a particularly flamboyant Nerine!) in the Exhibition as one of the sixty pieces on show.  ‘The Bailiwick in Bloom' has work from artists of all ages and is being held from 4th - 20th May 2023 with opening night tonight! See a little glimpse of the Exhibition here on Facebook.

Hotspur is for sale in my Art Print Shop, as well as a variety of Nerine Fine Art Prints.  You can see a selection of similar work on the Nerine section of my blog. 

I still have a good hundred or so to go... but my Wainwright list had Fleetwith Pike added to it this weekend!  Such a beautiful and varied landscape - man and nature, but all beautiful.

There's always something a little bit special about a Royal guest at a anniversary or event - it rightly marks out and highlights what a charity, organisation or school has been quietly getting on with for decades.  I've had the great privilege of photographing these sort of events on a number of occasions and I love the little buzz in the air you get before the guests arrival as well as the warmth of celebration that emanates across the event during the visit.  

Hospice at Home Carlisle and North Lakeland is a charity I've been involved with for a number of years.  For their 20th anniversary, we made a number of films with interviews from those giving and receiving Hospice at Home care.  There's nothing more powerful than people sharing their lives and stories with you.  

With all that in mind, the 14th of March saw a fantastic opportunity to capture the 25th Anniversary Celebrations at Askham Hall with HRH The Duke of Gloucester.  What a wonderful day as the Duke greeted and congratulated all the different people who come together to make Hospice at Home happen.  You can see a selection of images below as well as our film from the day.   Congratulations on 25 years Hospice at Home!

To finish off 2022, we are giving away an Art Print from our new shop - winner's choice - and one of our sitting vouchers.  You can choose between the two, or enter for both!  The winners will be drawn on Monday the 2nd of January 2023, let's start the New Year right.  

It's that time of year! Across the de la Mare Creative Instagram accounts and Facebook, I'll be posting my favourite images of the year, one each day for the next 24 days.  There'll be two from each month to take us through the year and celebrate lots of beautiful days, places, collaborations and people.  Thanks to all the people I've had the privilege to spend time with, and creative with, this year.  Here's to a fantastic 2023!

You can see the posts on my Instagram or on the hashtag #delamarecreativeadvent22

Thank you to Plant Heritage Guernsey who gave me access to their beautiful National Collection of Nerines again this year during the annual Nerine Festival in October.  Here are a few of my favourites from this year!  Fine Art Prints of my photographs of the Nerines are now available online.

What a month! Being the Elven Queen is always amazing - the Fairyland experience is hard to describe but you can see from these photos that it's a magical thing to be involved with.  The team (photos below!) have been amazing, from our Fairy Queen to all our fairies, pixies and Wizards who make Fairyland so much fun for the hundreds of fairy families who visited.  A special shout-out goes to the team who made our beautiful Dragon (I only did a few scales here and there!) - isn't he gorgeous and he actual purred wisps of smoke! Thank you to everyone who came! 

A few phone photos from the Opening Night at my Nerine Exhibition at Sula Gallery - you can see some of the Nerine Prints on my Gardens page and there's a little article from the Guernsey Press on another blog.  Thank you to everyone who came, thanks to Hayley and the team at Sula and to Plant Heritage who loaned a Nerine Corusca Major for Opening Night.  

A little write up on my Nerine Exhibition in the Guernsey Press - though I think I waffled a little confusingly about where I live and the fact I wasn't over for a baby shower this time, must be less bumbling in future!! Thanks to the Press for the article and to Sula for hosting my Exhibition!

Goodness what a shoot this was!! Having run up and down Haystacks (apparently Wainwright's favourite fell), I was well warmed up by the time I met Kenji and Georgia on the shores of Buttermere for their engagement shoot.  Having met overseas, the couple were visiting Georgia's childhood home over the summer and decided to have a shoot during their visit.  We wandered along the shores of the lake, and I had a whale of a time letting them celebrate being them (and clicking away in the process).  Their joy and love for each other is so evident in the photos.   It's been a pleasure spending time with these two (from the shoot to their little messages on their slideshow!) and their prints are going to be boxed up soon.  I love my job!

Back in June, it was a privilege to meet this little lady and her parents. Isn't she gorgeous! 

In addition to the lovely spread of our photos (and brilliant article by Woodlands Country House & Cottage) in this month's edition of Your North West Wedding magazine from Naomi and Darryl's day, the magazine kindly carried an article all about the Hospice at Home Carlisle and North Lakeland 25th Anniversary Raffle.  You can see it the article here.

I've had the absolute pleasure of working with Hospice at Home for a number of years – from promotional films and photography to helping to sell sunflowers at Kendal Calling, and I’m always amazed at the wonderful work they do. I'm so pleased to contribute a sitting voucher and one of gorgeous Nkuku frames as one of the prizes in the raffle.

The raffle runs until the 24th August, 2022.  Get in contact if you want to know more or you can buy raffle tickets here.

​It is part of a Guernsey childhood to grow up with tales of shipwreck and salvage.  The story, potentially apocryphal, is that nerines arrived on the beaches of my home island in this very manner.   Along with their South African sister the Agapanthus, they have thrived in Guernsey and it was a thrill to photograph The Guernsey National Collection of Nerines care for by Plant Heritage Guernsey.

They say that Guernsey folk are always on a rubber-band pulling them back; in a stolen moment before the November Covid-19 lockdown, a flight to Guernsey was possible to be amongst the people and places of home.  In this time of crisis and unknown trajectories, there seems to be a great need for that feeling of home and belonging.  For me, these nerines – and their greenhouse - are a representation of that very thing and I was keen to capture a moment of their beauty at the end of the season.  Fittingly, they were on the cusp of their winter fade with some in full splendour and some submitting to the change of the seasons.  The Collection beamed with timeless beauty whilst giving a reassuring nod to the cycle of their growing year and the year to come. 

It was a joyful thing to walk amongst the plants with my camera, being drawn in by the Collection as a whole and at a more intimate, individual level; photographing the character of these plants, both delicate and flamboyant, and the peace and beauty of what they represent. 

Last May, I had the pleasure of meeting this lovely lady when she took part in the Kaleidoscope Devoted Film.  She is an artist and I filmed her creating a pastel piece based on the idea of celebration and 'party threads'.  After meeting, we organised to get together along with her husband in Astley Park in Chorley to shoot some maternity photos and then again when their gorgeous little boy was born.  

I'm so passionate about the power of photos, and their memories, being in peoples hands and homes that I was thrilled when I was able to create an album for them.  Working together, we designed one of Graphistudio's beautiful 'Baby Book' album and box sets to house their photos so they can go back and enjoy these precious moments again and again!   I feel I say it a lot, but it really is always a pleasure to share and celebrate these life events with people.  We have a 20% discount offer running for our sittings booked in January and February, use the code 'WINTEROFFER20' when checking out one of our Gift Certificates for a Sitting or get in touch to book a sitting!

In October 2021,  I had the immense pleasure of spending the day with Darryl and Naomi - along with family and friends - as they celebrated ten years of married life by renewing their vows.  By my height and my name, it's very clear that I'm a Guernsey girl (not a relative of Walter though!) and this beautiful family moved to the Lake District just before Covid from Guernsey too.  There's a small but strong group of islanders who have made Cumbria their home!  I'd not crossed over with Darryl and Naomi before (unusual in Guernsey circles!!) and so it was a double delight to meet them and record their day.  

The service - which was filled with celebration and warmth - was at St. James' Church followed by a fantastic reception at Woodlands Country House in Ireby.  The Etoile String Quartet played beautifully at both locations and after months of little or no live music, their playing added to the emotion of the day which was already full of so much joy and love.  If anyone is considering how to celebrate a marriage milestone, I can think of no better life and love-affirming way to do so! Congratulations Darryl and Naomi!

A quick blog update, with a phone pic, from the Nerine Festival in Guernsey - what a pleasure to be over shooting the National Collection once again.  You can find out all about the Festival on the Guernsey Plant Heritage website.  Photos coming in the coming months!  

I've tried - somewhat unsuccessfully! - to maintain a seasonal update email over the years.  It's time to try again... if you'd like to see little reminders on upcoming events, offers and photos then feel free to join our list! Wit and regularity isn't promised! 

Earlier this year I was involved in directing a film for Kaleidoscope art network and tonight it goes live at the online Devoted 2021 event! The film, which is based around a spoken poem, focuses on social justice and was made to partner with the event's keynote speaker Natalie Williams who is Chief Executive of the poverty and social action organisation Jubilee+.  It basically saw we filming across the North West and collaborating with lots of artists - it was a great joy to be involved with this project!

Credits:
Creative Directors = Ali Mac and Jez Chalmers 
Production and Direction = Rachael de la Mare
Music = Andy Lowe
Narration = Clara Mukuria and Blessan K Babu
Spoken Word Contributors = Clara Mukuria, Rose Cooper, Emma Elliott, Lydia Ritter, Jez Chalmers
Dance = Sharon Cameron
Pastel Artist = Shadi Rhm
Potter = Matt Cameron

​With weddings feeling a little bit closer every day, it's a good time to celebrate them!  If you haven't seen it yet, the new edition of Your North West Wedding magazine is out and de la Mare Creative features on quite a few pages!  You can see images from the styled shoot I was involved with at Calthwaite Hall, a feature on the new Polaroid options in our wedding collections and a few of our favourite photos! 

Last September I had the privilege to be involved with a styled shoot at the beautiful Calthwaite Hall, shooting the 'behind the scenes' film.  It was a fantastic day and a great opportunity to be wedding'y' in the midst of this strange year!   Thanks to Annabel Candler and the whole team.

It's with great pleasure that we can say that de la Mare Creative is featured in this month's edition of Cumbria Life alongside the wonderful Liz Newport from Buzy Lizzie Garden Design as well as coverage on In-Cumbria, Cumbria Crack and the Cumberland and Westmorland Gazette.  It's been one of the highlights of the year to work with Liz to capture a few of her gardens.  I can't recommend her work enough - do contact her to have her work her magic on your outdoor space!  You can read the full article below, written by Sally Seed, and if you are interested in recording the seasons of your garden, please do get in touch. 

A shared love of gardens is picture perfect
When garden designer, Liz Newport, and photographer, Rachael de la Mare, met at a Dacre yoga class, they didn’t expect to have gardens in common. Today, Liz is supporting Rachael in a new business venture to capture and record the glory of Cumbrian gardens through the seasons.

Liz, who trades as Buzy Lizzie Garden Design, loves the challenge of creating planting schemes and gardens that look good throughout the year. Rachael, who recently worked with Penrith Town Council and the Penrith in Bloom team on a celebratory film, has always enjoyed capturing the personality and life of plants and gardens on camera. Together, they’ve developing Rachael’s concept of creating very special photographic keepsake journals of clients’ gardens.

Rachael, who is originally from Guernsey but now lives near Penrith, has been a professional photographer for over 15 years. “I love to capture stories in my images and gardens have that element of narrative and continual change. They’re also very personal to the gardeners who’ve worked so hard to create them and there are often special memories, particular plants and other nostalgic elements that give the garden character. I want to preserve those memories and moments and reflect the life and personality of the gardeners and their gardens in a way that can be kept and shared. A book is ideal but I’m also aware that some people may prefer a keepsake box of prints or a framed selection instead.”

To make the concept a reality, Rachael was looking for gardens that she could photograph and capture in this way. She wanted to test and hone her ideas and get feedback from the owners and gardeners before launching the idea as a commercial option.

“That’s where I could help,” says Liz, “as I’ve designed and developed over 500 gardens in and around Cumbria during my 15 years in business in a variety of styles, each one fitting a particular client’s brief and the specific location. I was pretty sure that some of my clients would be happy to let Rachael and her camera in through the coming year to capture the different seasons. So far, the response has been really encouraging and it’s definitely looking like something that could develop into a new strand of work for Rachael.”

The pilot project for the new venture covers five different Buzy Lizzie gardens, including a couple at Manor Park in Penrith. “I’m thoroughly enjoying visiting the gardens,” says Rachael, “and I can see that, over the course of a year, I’ll get to know the owners and their gardens really well and learn a lot about how this idea could work out. I am sure there are proud gardeners out there who will see the value and appreciate the pleasure of having a photographic record of their garden through the seasons. I’m already getting interest in commissions to do this sort of work elsewhere so working with Liz to fine tune the ideas has been invaluable.”

Liz is also very conscious of the challenge to design a garden that has something special to enjoy right through the year: “Spring bulbs and June flowering are quite easy but having the evergreen structure in place for the winter frosts and planting for the late summer into the autumn need careful thought. Seeing Rachael capture one of my gardens on camera is giving me new ideas too!”
“For instance, later flowering clematis species are worth including on any trellis or pergola so that there’s flowering later in the year once the roses and honeysuckle are fading,” she says, “and I also love the daisy family (Asteraceae). Rudbeckia, Echinacea and others are at their best in the autumn and bring vivid colour to a garden at this time of year.”

A shared love of gardens and mutual support is definitely creating a flowering business relationship.

For further information about both businesses, please see www.buzylizzie.co.uk and www.delamare-creative.co.uk

It's Christmas Offer time! Something beautiful for under the tree and something precious to come... Plan for future memories with our Christmas 2020 Gift Certificate and Frame. Included is your choice of ethical and sustainable Nkuku frame (to be delivered before Christmas) and a Gift Certificate for a sitting in 2021 for £65. ​