Hope all is well in your corner of the world. This week's tale is of the whimsical mushroom you see above, and how it was a case of sticking with it, and listening to intuition.
It all started with thinking about all things Halloween. And then realising/more like remembering, I really, really, don't like spooky things. And that over the last few years, I've stuck (mostly) to being truer to that than the considerable commercial pressures of the season.
And so the first, hand painted version of this mushroom was born...
A work-in-progress shot of "Stay Whimsical"
Being me of course, I seriously thought that might be the end of it. Luckily, the image was having none of it, and I was able to ink in the words, the fairy window, deeper colours more golden light for the mushroom, still stroke by stroke, but digitally (in Krita, if you're into that sort of thing too).
Which just goes to show, it's often the art that dictates when things are finished, not the person making it. (Around these parts, anyway).
So now, there's a cute reminder to, "Stay Whimsical" at any time, *and* (if so inclined) to be able to buy/and/or gift the idea to others on some scrummy things, like the magnet you're seeing just above this.
Thanks for reading down this far. Have a great week...Staying as whimsical as you can, obviously. ;-).
If you're a Northern Hemisphere person, you might (like me) be feeling in need of a bit of a lift as the days shorten and grow colder.
But help is at hand in the form of these gorgeous asters. I originally painted these pink and purple asters as a thank for my mother-in-law, who is growing them in her garden.
By the way, if you're thinking, "I've never seen asters that vibrant," neither had I. But there they were, and just begging to be painted or illustrated in some way.
If you're just looking for a quick floral illustration for your projects, your welcome to download and use the one above, in line with my angel policy.
But...
I'm well aware that I haven't posted the normal amount of resources for lovely craft people recently.
If you prefer to use or craft with ready made items, this design is also on (drumroll, please): fabric (and other items) at Spoonflower, stickers at Redbubble and giftwrap and tissue paper, at Zazzle.
Thanks so much for being here, and for reading down this far.
More soon
PS. If you're looking for details about the infamous "badger auction, I've updated the post here.
Hope all is well with you. And yes, as you can see from the graphic (and no doubt, everywhere else as well), it's October. (And yes, that "October in Apples" illustration above is this month's free download here),
But this year, October is also all about "Brocktober".
Update on October 16th 2026: The online auction is now over, and the little badger in the painting below will be off to his new home. Thank you *so* much to everyone who put in a bid, for my work or any other. Apparently, all the auction items combined raised £3,629.50 for badger conservation and campaigning.
The lovely people at Badger Trust are the ones who will be sending this and all other items to the successful bidders, and they've asked everyone to allow up to one month to receive their item, as their small team has a lot of items to send to their new owners.
It's October 2nd as I'm sending this, which means...the online "Brocktober" Badger Trust auction is live.
There are many more details about this in my previous post, including the auction end-date on October 15th 2026.
That last post was a bit of a marathon. So I promised myself that, for your sake, today I'd just give you October's free illustration, along with the news that the whole auction is finally live (in alphabetical order, so "Young" Badgers like this one appear at the bottom...) and leave you to your day.
But do I hope that you're thriving, and that all's well in your corner of the world. Whether you decide to bid or not, or are just here to look at the art, and my ramblings, have a great week.
If you're enjoying the stories behind my art at Bounding Squirrel, here's an invitation to have them come to you.
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This week, I'm hugely excited. At last, I can finally reveal "Young Badger in the Bluebells," and his very special destiny, in full.
This little badger, getting up to all sorts of mischief amongst the spring bluebells, is going to be a lot in the Badger Trust's online Brocktober auction, beginning on October2nd 2026.
******Excited update on Oct 2nd 2026 at midday:******
(Note to self...Never again will I title anything beginning with a letter so near the end of the alphabet. As my own lot in this auction is called "Young Badger in the Bluebells", it counts as beginning with "Y" and is at the very bottom of the page. Lesson learned :-) ).
More about the painting
Let me tell you why this is so exciting and unusual...
As well as being cute as a button, this is an original watercolour and mixed media painting (approximately 6x8 inches, originally, now also mounted- maybe best in an A4 frame).
The item itself has a Clare L Walker signature in the bottom left-hand corner. Obviously, it doesn't have a BoundingSquirrel watermark on it-that's just to keep the image safe online.
Speaking of online, I freely admit that this picture does *not* do the badger justice. He's much cuter in real life. That might come across a bit better in the video I took when he was being parcelled up...
If you're interested in bidding, I should also mention that this is unusual simply because its an original.
If you're here often you'll know that you'll more usually, my illustrations and paintings become print-on-demand prints and surface designs, rather than ever being sold as originals, let alone auctioned.
(All the parcelling up and ensuring safe transit etc usually puts me off sending or selling originals anywhere).
But nature is the source of my inspiration, and badgers need help. So I decided to make this exception.
More about badgers
If you're reading this from outside the UK (as I know many people do) I should probably also give you a little intro to badgers themselves. They are ancient animals, who have been part of the British landscape for thousands of years. They live in inherited family tunnel-systems called setts, are so fastidious that they even change their own bedding, and generally do good in the landscape as they root around for worms and beetles.
In other words, they're much gentler than some types of animal with a similar name (eg honey badgers) found elsewhere in the world.
However...
For reasons I can't really fathom, and despite apparently in-depth studies saying otherwise, they are also blamed for problems in cattle and subjected to persecution. Rather than mix up all that with an art blog, you can read all about it (and watch some hugely cute badger videos) straight from a better info source: Badger Trust itself.
What I love most though, is that by donating this painting to the auction, I'm actually able to do something to help them.
And by bidding on this badger painting when the auction goes live, you'll be able to as well.
The auction itself
I'm going to update this post with a live link as soon as the auction itself goes live on October 2nd, 2026-October 15th 2026
In the meantime, thanks sooo much for reading down this far. And please do bid on this badger painting (and anything else that catches your eye in the auction), when it goes live.
