Melanie Phillips and My Photo Album

Welcome to my about me and my photo album! Nicholas and I moved into our little 300 year old welsh cottage 17 years ago. It was surrounded by a big overgrown garden with mature trees and plenty of wildlife. We were home. With beautiful walks on our doorstep and the coast half an hour away, it has been the perfect place to lay routes for our life together.

Nicholas and I met at art college in 1993 and studied wildlife illustration. We lived in the south of the UK for a while, however we longed to be back in the countryside so came back to my home town in west Wales. We have been renovating our cottage gradually over the years and built a dedicated art studio in our woodland garden. It's now pretty much complete and this space is our dream place to live and work. If you would like to see photos of our cottage and read about the renovations we have been doing, take a look at my Cottage and Garden page.

We are lucky to have such amazing scenery on our doorstep with such a vast differences in the landscapes within only a few short miles. From coastal walks and beaches, to mountains and woodland walks with an abundance of history at every turn. 

My freinds and I have done a couple of paddleboaridng jaunts and this was a photo of my first go. I had stood I promise! I loved it and as yet havent fallen in! Looking forward to hvaing another go soon.

It was both of our dreams to make a living from our art. Nicholas isn't happy unless he is standing at an easel painting or sitting on a mounting splashing watercolour in his sketchbook. I love to sit at my desk drawing animals for clients, I'm in my element. I love heading out and about on adventures exploring the never ending countryside taking photos as I go.  We are thankful for today's technology to allow us to live where we do, run a successful art business and still be able to send our paintings and drawings to all corners of the world. 

Love Somerset and here we are at Tar Stepps. Over 3000 years old, this bridge is made of 17 large stone slabs weighing up to 2 tons each! It held both myself and Lilys weight....!

I grew up on a smallholding which was very idyllic and it was perfect for a child who loved animals, playing outdoors, climbing trees, damming up streams and running in the fields. We had lots of animals including chickens, ducks, geese, cows, pigs, goats and sheep. It was fantastic for me as I befriended them all. I named the chickens and one in particular would wait for me to come home from school to be fed. The sheep would follow me in the fields and would run over to see what lovely treats I had in my pocket. I bottle fed the baby lambs and piglets and even had my name in the local newspaper as our goat Heidi had quads. I had a love for animals from a very early age and that’s all I wanted to draw. Even today in our little cottage and garden we have a Tibetan Terrier called Lily and a clutch of hens.

The photo below is from a friends weddings, on the coast in west Wales. It was the perfect day, blue sky and wonderful surroundings.

I have worked for the London Art College for many years, I used to teach art courses and create their website and now I look after the students on the Facebook groups and set art challenges for them. This was a photo I took of myself for one of the art challenges - take a photo of yourself in a mirror. It came out really well and shows a nook in the inside of our cottage with the beams and stonework reflecting in the mirror.

In the summer we enjoy climbing mountings, taking picnics with us and generally exploring our little corner of the world. The photo of of Lily and I on a pit-stop for sustenance in between these beautiful Pembrokeshire rocks. There was a large settlement with at least 12 round houses in the Bronze Age near where I was sitting.

We love coastal walks and the photo below shows me in Looe, Cornwall. Nicholas' family live in Cornwall so we visit a few times during the year when we can.

The photo below is us in the Pembrokeshire mountains on a cold February day with friends. Not quite sure what Nicholas was explaining in the distance but love the photo.

We sometimes visit clients homes when requested to take photos, particularly if they are nearby. This was a photo taken by Nicholas when we were photographing the horses of the owners of Baylis and Harding for an oil painting. They were very friendly and enjoyed their carrots!

I hope that you have enjoyed the photos on my page and feel you have got to know me a little better. If you would like to ask me any questions you are more than welcome to email me or use my Whatsapp button at the bottom of the page at anytime.

My Photo Album!

I love to explore and take photos along the way. With Covid, 2020 was not the year for exploring however I found beauty in places right on my doorstep. I walk Lily along the little lanes near our cottage and walking her early in the morning or in the afternoon sun, enabled me to capture the scenery in all its glory. I am far from a professional photographer and although I use a Fujifilm XT2 in the studio for all of our artwork, my iPhone 11 Pro Max is what accompanies me everywhere. All of these photos were taken using it, the camera is outstanding. I hope you enjoy viewing them.