Work at Arts and Minds

Posted on December 3, 2022 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Art, Arts and Minds Gallery, Fine Art, Harper Street, Middleport, Middleport pottery, Painting, Stoke-on trentLeave a comment

I’ve just dropped off a few paintings to the Arts and Minds Gallery at Harper Street in Middleport opposite Middleport Pottery. I have asked them to do some cards from them and they have also taken the pictures to sell for me. It’s really pleasing to have my work included there. The galley has a wide range of beautiful art work. It also is part of a network that supports local veterans and their families. I have been able to show and sell work there because my hubby has a link to the military.

The gallery is warm and friendly and are always supportive. I think it helps that it doesn’t feel exclusive and snobbish. It’s in a great place too, helping to expand the creative area around Middleport pottery in Middleport, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.

Dotted line?

Posted on December 3, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged 'cut here' scissors, Blue sky, Clouds, dotted line, Photo, Sky, Sunlight, SunsetLeave a comment

Sunset with dotted line. (top right corner). I think it’s a telephone line not a glitch on the photo. I wanted to get a shot of the winter sky and terraced houses so I stopped to pull over the car on the way back from the gallery at Middleport. It was good to see some blue sky today, but the wind that cleared away a lot of the clouds was quite cold and cutting. And the dotted line? I feel like I should add some text ‘cut along dotted line’ and add a ✂ scissors icon! Even the world can have random glitches, I could literally have cropped it, but no, more interesting like this!

Whiskers

Posted on December 3, 2022 Posted in Cat, UncategorizedTagged Black and white cat, Cat, Feeding time, hungry cat, Scratch, Tuxedo cat, WhiskersLeave a comment

Sitting at my feet, staring up, whiskers showing me how keen he is for me to feed him! He looks thin in this photo, but he’s a really big but soft cat. His nose was scratched by another cat outside because he’s not a fighter. He does let other cats bully him. His nose is healed up now. But I keep an eye on him because sometimes he will get a bit battered. Now he’s walking past me and purring. He wants breakfast…

Digital earth and moon

Posted on December 2, 2022December 2, 2022 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Blue and white, Collaboration, Digital drawing, digital tablet, Draw, Earth, Moon, Sketchfu, Sketching, Sky, SpaceLeave a comment

This was an old drawing I did online a few years ago. It was at the website called Sketchfu (closed about five years ago). I’ve always loved astronomy and this was a good challenge to try and get a reasonably accurate drawing using very simple tools. The hardest thing was getting the image blurred enough to feel realistic. Colours were chosen from a couple of hundred choices. There were only five sized circular pens and a slider to alter the opacity. Plus an eraser to clear away mistakes. You could add layers so you could show your progress, or do a collaboration with other artists, the only real problem was the images took ages to load.

Abstract Christmas tree?

Posted on December 2, 2022 Posted in Fine Art, Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Colours, Digital art, Digital manipulation, Felt pens, Fine Art, Fun, Life, SketchingLeave a comment

Art is complex, it can mean anything. Art can be good and bad, but one person’s good art is something someone else might loathe. I just edited this image to crop a smaller area and add a circular frame. Now I look at it I can see a series of stacked triangles that look like graffiti. It could represent a Christmas tree, or a forest, or rain on a window distorting an image outside it. It could also be a Christmas tree bauble. The digital filter distorts my linework, and adds textures and pattern to my drawing. The colours were originally felt pens but they to have been altered by the digital filters.

Outside

Posted on December 2, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Flowers, Leaves, Red, Green, Plants, Life, Outside, geranium, Gsrdening, pelargoniumLeave a comment

Yesterday, 1st December, a pelargonium (sometimes known as geranium) outside our front door. It’s still in flower since we planted it this summer. In flower for almost six months. We have other plants in the garden like nasturtiums. But today is probably going to be the coldest day and night this winter. I will be sad to see everything wilt and die. We can only look forward to next year. We will be planting more of these and some manage to survive the winter too.

Late for Panto…

Posted on December 2, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Comedy, Fun, Life, Memories, Panto, Pantomime, Penkhull, Robin Hood, TheatreLeave a comment

Well I decided to go back and join in our local penkhull panto because I need to start getting out and stop moping about. So… Its been in rehersal for weeks, so I’ve not been cast as anyone but I should be helping with the scenery. Maybe some props, it’s bringing back good memories…

The production is Robin Hood and we already had a script from a couple of years ago. It’s not on until the new year. It should be a laugh…. Oh yes it will be… Oh no it won’t.. Oh yes it will

Where are they now?

Posted on December 2, 2022December 2, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Poetry, Weather, Sleep, Time, Plants, Poem, Cold, Summer, Nature, Butterflies, Moths, disruption, over wintering, migrationLeave a comment

Butterflies, summer creatures

Hide in crevices

Overwintering

Blood like antifreeze

Or lay their eggs

Somewhere safe

To form a chrysalis

That will emerge next spring

Or flutter south

To warmer places

Migrating to survive

And moths?

Do they do the same

Flitting to darkened spaces

To wait out the cold?

Mild winters fetch them out early

Cold and hungry

Where can they feed

If plants are dormant

Not in flower

No leaves to eat?

A delicate natural balance

Disrupted

Combined?

Posted on December 2, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Custard, don't try this at home, Food, Imagined, Microwave, Milk, Odd, Porridge, Sweetner, WeirdLeave a comment

Somewhere in my warped mind last night I thought I could make my porridge nicer by adding custard powder! I have no idea why. But instead of dismissing it I decided to try it… Yuk!

I mixed up the oats with water, then added in a spoonful of custard powder, remixed it and added a bit of milk and sweetner. Probably not enough milk, as when I microwaved it the result was rather like yellow cement that hadn’t set but was close to doing so. I added some milk and Ate It! I must be mad. The taste of custardy oats is lingering. Yuk….

What odd combinations of food have you tried or created?

Radio

Posted on December 1, 2022 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged #bandofsketchers, Art, Battery, Bush radio, car boot sale, Drawing, Life, Old, Radio, Sketching, WorkingLeave a comment

Today’s #bandofsketchers prompt was radio. A bad and wobbly drawing of my old bush radio. Bought it at a car boot sale years ago. It was covered in emulsion paint that I managed to scrape off. It works, takes a huge battery. Can only get long wave.. Which is OK when there’s a test match on.