New paintings and regular art updates.
The cat came in crying!
A sudden thunderstorm
Had spooked her
Flash and thunder together
The road, like a river!
Frightened cat
Eyes wide
Fur soaked.
Now she’s washing
at my feet
Still seeking comfort
Drying her back
with her tongue
Grooming the fear away.
I’m not sure if I’m allowed to use this image of last night’s big thunderstorms. Blitzortung.org shows the movement of thunderstorms across the world with almost live graphics of lightning strikes. I looked a while ago and there is another group of storms coming up from the southwest tonight. I guess we really need the rain, I’m not complaining. I just feel hot and my glasses keep steaming up!
It’s interesting to watch other parts of the world but I wish I could also see rainfall radar at the same time as the thunderstorms may just be showers with rain covering only small areas, like microbursts.
Excerpt from an email to my local councillor about flytipping on our alleyway :
“Dear Councillor
Over the last few weeks the owners of xxxxx and the owner of xxxxxx London Road have dumped all this waste on our alleyway that includes access to the rear of our property at xxxx and also number x and x effectively blocking access for all three properties. The waste was originally moved from behind the xxxxx shop, they removed some of it but dumped the rest behind the flats. The owner of the flats or his workers dumped it on our alleyway. It is four or five feet high and at least twenty foot long. I have spoken to various people at the flats who promised it would be removed a fortnight ago. Instead the heap is getting bigger.
The owner said he was told to dump it on the alleyway and the council would remove it, he says he has chased it up with an officer called xxxxxx who assured him it would be removed by last Friday. I gave him my email address but don’t know if he will do as he says.
Will you please visit to see the problem. I am concerned that we will be left in a situation where we have to remove it which I cannot afford. It was rubbish on the left of the path including fly tipping and buddlea that had grown there over several years.”
I went on to add some personal details explaining why I cannot deal with this without my councillors support.
Yours sincerely
Mixed up. Abstract digital drawing. Drawn on top of another image. I like the fact that digitally you can keep adding and erasing parts of a drawing, covering areas with new effects. Changing the opacity of tools so you can see through to previous layers. You can also change the colours of your image to that you totally alter the mood of your artwork. This abstract could become a whirlwind or a rose? Who knows. I might do more to it.
Our PM is finishing tomorrow. Another PM will replace him. He or she (probably she) is being chosen by 160,000 Conservative party members not the British electorate. We might have a general election until next year or the year after. Our old PM has been found to have lied and broken laws. His popularity meant his party got an 80 seat majority in the 2019 election and are changing electoral boundaries to make it difficult to defeat them. It also seems Scottish voters may try and go for independence making it virtually impossible to get the Conservative government out of power.
I think of our PM as a Trump mini-me. He even thinks he can get back in power! The new PM will probably be Liz Truss. She does not seem to know what she is doing. It seems the rich and entitled rule. The rest suffer.
Look up Whitby steps on the Internet and you find out there are 199 steps from the town up to Whitby Abbey at the top. Dracula by Bram Stoker was set there. The town has many tourists visiting because of this. There is also a history of jewellery making in the town because it is the home of Whitby Jet. This is a black, fossilised substance that was originally ancient monkey puzzle trees. The steps or stairs offer a spectacular view down over the harbour and bay.
For #bandofsketchers prompt today ‘stairs’
I’m getting some help with my mental health and one of the things I’ve taken up is to do a gratitude diary. Basically you write down three things you are grateful for every day. I do it before bed, and I remember small things that have made me happy during the day. Not big dramatic things (today was a bit of an exception because two things were slightly more important) on other days I’ve included the cat on my lap, or standing in the garden full of flowers.
So why do it? It appears to rewire your brain, cutting down on negative thoughts and turning them positive. I have been advised to do it for at least 28 days. I’m not suggesting anyone else does it, but it’s helping me.
In Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent is a place called Bethesda Methodist Chapel. It has been being restored over several years now. I have visited to sing there in performances with our choir. The building has gone from a crumbling shell to a much more robust structure. It is currently still being restored. One thing I have noticed are the spectacular stained glass windows. Methodist chapels are usually plain and simple. The wooden pews are unadorned. But the glass windows make me smile. It’s just beautiful art.
Wonderful to see new flowers on one of my orchid plants. They are behind this glass Robin. I didn’t want to try and move it out of the way incase I knocked one of the flowers off. They are a bit brown on the edges, I think the orchid had dried out a bit so I need to get a mist spray for them. My other orchid plants are green but not flowering. I think they need new growing medium and to let their ariel roots get some freedom.
Opposite the new art venue in Middleport is a small unit called Nickiebees Cupcakes. I popped in to see what they had. I asked about cakes without frosting (too much sugar in it) and we had a chat about whether it’s possible to use a sugar substitute to make the butter cream icing. Afterwards I went back and bought a couple of freshly baked cupcakes. They looked like perfect Victoria sponges. When I got home I went and got some clotted cream and blueberries. I cut the tops off the cakes, cut the tops in half, spread the cream over the cut surface. Then I put the tops back on like butterfly wings. I spooned a little more cream on top and studdied the cream with fresh blueberries. What a tasty treat! Had with a cup of decaff coffee. Tasty and not as sugary as fully frosted!
Mallaband-Brown