Black bird
Swooping down
from the sky
Wings tucked in,
Falling fast
Ready to grab
A morsel
from the ground.
A bit of grain.
Or a tasty snail?
Swoop and flash
It’s gone up high
Searching
Again.
The bird
Author: artbychristinemallabandbrown
I'm an artist based at the Spode factory site in Stoke on Trent. I paint, draw and create digital art. Contact me at mallabandbrown@aol.com
Easter flowers
Can’t stop playing with my phone apps. I don’t know where I get all my ideas from. I hope you enjoy them. I like using multiple apps to get different results. Then you can use various filters. I really like the freedom of finger or stylus painting. I have only ever “built” an image with CAD when I did a course in computer aided design several years ago. Yes I could build boxes into a house, or circles and elipses into a face, but it’s not the same as the freedom of drawing. Yes I’ve used flower templates here, but I had to change and add to it. I get bored otherwise!
Happy Easter
Eggcellent Easter wishes!
My sister bought me a mini egg Easter egg. It’s been years since I’ve had one. I opened the foil wrapping and made a small hole in the chocolate eggs side. I tipped a few of these pretty patterned chocs out, took a picture and slowly ate them (very sweet!) then rewrapped the treat in its covering, there was still a gap so I’ve turned it so the front looks untouched. I have fastened the box up. Put it back on top of the fridge. Hope hubby doesn’t notice or he might snaffle the rest if it!
Pets….
What animals make the best/worst pets?
First of all, best or worst is a hard question. Basically it will depend on the owner and their capabilities.
Live in a big house with a big garden? The best pet might be a dog or a cat, or even a horse if you have fields for it to roam in. Live in a small flat or a single room apartment? Then your best pet might be a fish or a small snake.
Then it depends on whether you can afford to pay for their food, vets bills or vet insurance. Can you get a pet sitter if you go away on holiday? Someone who is able to come in and check everything is OK? You might have to pay for kennels.
Then you need to think about the pets needs, can it cope with being isolated if its on its own? Does it bark or make loud noises, are you able to exercise it or clean up after it? Will it shed pet hairs, does it eat live food? Are you allergic to it? What is its lifespan? Some small mammals only live a few years, others, like parrots or tortoises might out live you!
The number of pluses and minuses you need to weigh up are important. Don’t get something you won’t want to care for if it gets too big, complicated, old or ill.
Think before you buy (or adopt) it’s your responsibility at the end of the day!
Sweet pepper abstract
I really like that the collage app I have gone for has shaped templates so you can create a design, maybe modify it, then fit each individual image to a shape in the template. That’s what I did here…. Abstract sweet pepper x
Cat drawing
Digital drawing using Artrage. I’ve found the tools to change the background so I used the canvas option. You can also chose a background colour. It looks as if I’ve drawn on canvas board but it’s totally digital. A bit rough round the edges but I like the way the cats eyes have turned out. Off to play some more….
I’m late!
Time, delay, late, always late.
I can’t sleep due to insomnia. So when and if I do sleep I can’t always get up.
So I’m late, it takes me time to get ready, I have the best intentions, but by the time I’m sorted out its sometimes too late to get things done or go somewhere. I do hate it, thank goodness I don’t have early starts at work like I used to.
My car clock broke (I think its mechanical mechanism froze this winter), so I don’t rush to appointments any more, I’m not trying to beat the clock as it isn’t there. I have to try and work the time out by listening to the radio. If the shipping forecast is on I know it’s either very early or late at night!
Mural painting.
What job would you do for free?
One of my old murals. I would love to still be doing these and if I had enough money to live on I would volunteer to do things like this for free. Maybe in a children’s ward, or some landscapes for a community centre. I have actually done one or two for free as a volunteer in the past. My first was painting the scenery at my senior school a few decades ago. I wish I’d got photos of it.
My only problem is my health. I can’t move as well as I used to and my balance is not good. I sake a lot so I can’t paint as smooth a line as I did in the past. Age seems to be catching up with me. It’s frustrating because this is the sort of thing I love doing. I get great satisfaction from it. I cannot remember when I didn’t paint or draw. It has been my life when I’ve been able to do it.
Favourite blossom
Magnolia blossom about to open, the ones with the dark pink/purple outer petals and pale pink insides. They are expensive to buy, so this one stayed at the garden centre last weekend. We do have a small magnolia stellata in the garden, but as its been cold here it is yet to flower.
Light
What a strange thing light is. It gets into corners, shines brightly and illuminates. You can see it at a distance even if it’s millions or billions of miles away. It might be made up of packets of energy (photons) or waves. It has different wavelengths for different colours and is part of the electromagnetic spectrum. It moves at the speed of light in a vacuum. But slower in an atmosphere or travelling through another medium like water or glass. It can be refracted (bent) depending on the wavelength which is why Sir Issac Newton found it was made up of a spectrum of rainbow colours when he passed a beam of daylight through a prism in a darkened room.
Apart from the scientific details which I only have a sketchy knowledge of, there are lots of phrases that are used in English :
Shed a light on it, light of my life, light at the end of the tunnel, thunder and lightning, the light fantastic, by the light of the stars.
Light is a fascinating subject.
Mallaband-Brown 