New paintings and regular art updates.
https://marthakennedy.wordpress.com/portfolio-of-available-paintings-by-martha-ann-kennedy/
My friend Martha Kennedy has created a portfolio of her work that’s for sale.
She’s a talented artist and writer who lives in America. I love to see her paintings of ‘the big empty’, with mountains in the distance. And a ‘refuge’ for Sand Cranes and other birds and animals.
Living in a city in the UK I can only imagine the wide open spaces she sees. Or what I would call wilderness. X
Take a look…..
We had lots of aqualegias and tulips, geraniums, and alliums. The photos just popped up on my Facebook page. I forgot how much the trees have grown up in the intervening years. We are cutting some of the branches back, to let more light in. The photos were a bit blurred but it was good to see them. Gardening is a lovely pastime. When you get results like this it makes the work worthwhile.
Booster shot time for the cats….
One was fine, the other one not so much. She hid in a cupboard, ran under a cupboard, ran behind the armchair, ran in the kitchen then out again. Finally I managed to grab her at the top of the stairs because we had shut the bedroom doors. Then, well walking downstairs when you are a bit wobbly on your feet and cannot hold the handrail because you need to hold onto the cat… To say I had a feeling of vertigo, scary. Hubby came halfway up the stairs so I could deposit her into the cat carrier.
Then off to the vets, female cat was miaowing all the way (The male was much quieter on his trip) . I kept gently telling her she was OK. The vet was lovely, he was very good with both cats and gave the inoculations while my cats were still in the carrier. A quick check of each cats hearts and we whisked them home again.
Now two hours later I’m being headbutted and purred at by the female. A sprinkling of catnip seems to have helped.
What is your career plan?
My life is like an open flower
Petals may soon drop
A career I had
But it is gone
Retired and tired I am.
Work over now
Unless I have
To seek
A few hours here
A few more there
To keep going on.
I wish I could restart time
And make a change to life
Perhaps the years
I toiled at work
Would have been better spent.
My life was dull
To some extent
I played the game of life
The early morns
The evenings dark
When I came home again.
I’m glad that I escaped to art
And life began once more.
Flowers today, I thought they might be forget-me-nots but I’m not sure. The camera on my phone seems to be quite good if I can avoid shaking too much, so they are quite detailed in this photo Perhaps they are a type of Cranesbill? I like the way there is a reddish purple flower developing in the background. I love the bright green of the foliage, so luscious and fresh.
Today’s #bandofsketchers prompt was drop. Drop or drops. Tried to imagine how water drops fall and splash… I know drops fall like a flat oval, not the pointed ones that kids draw, and water splashes back up like a crown…. I didn’t use a reference picture, just tried to remember…
If I could spread flowers
Beneath my feet
And perfume the air
If I could make manna
From heaven, fall
If I could grow fruit
With taste and tang, sweet
Surround myself in clouds
Of lovely hue?
I’d STILL
Be fed up!
Hmph!
What was the last live performance you saw?
Our choir members sang at a celebration for the completion of a project a few weeks ago. We were involved with a performance at The Potbank hotel at Spoke in Stoke on Trent, which also included the Boat Band (above). Our choir leaders are members of the band. We sang sea shanties and some interesting pieces, like the Eerie Canal and A Wonderful World which Louis Armstrong sang.
Being part of a choir is something I would recommend for helping your mental health. I only sing a couple of times a week and wish I could do more. Singing takes you out of yourself. Singing at a performance boosts your confidence. I’ve sung many times over the years and I don’t get overwhelmed with nerves anymore. OK it’s usually only to a few people, but if I’m giving pleasure to other people then that’s good.
As to an actual performance that I saw, but was not involved in? That goes back a few years I think. We went to the theatre and saw a play about suffragettes. It was interesting, it brought out a lot of the issues women were affected by in those days. I wish I could remember what it was called? It’s so long ago that I’ve forgotten! I don’t know if it was during or before the pandemic? Life can be hard to remember!
Drew over yesterday’s monster to create something else. A little parrot or budgie? If I don’t do anything else artistic I’m still doing doodles. Still using Artrage app to draw interesting images. It’s just an imaginary bird. Tomorrow is a new day, perhaps I can do something more than a sketch. X
My life is quite chaotic at the moment. Lots of things to do, plenty of time, but lack of inclination to do things. Procrastinating is my favourite pastime!
Everything is tangled up. I’m trying to organise and assess things, but failing. Thinking and worrying is not helping. I think I need to meditate or do some relaxation. It’s not that I don’t want to do things, but I think I’ve had my head in the sand for so many months, I don’t know how to drag it back out. I know this is self reflection, and I hope its a good thing. Writing it down might give me a push.
Grief has not helped. And now other people I know have died and that has knocked me back. I don’t want to think of the end of things. But I guess we should all make some plans? Sorry this is a bit random, maybe talking will help though.
Mallaband-Brown