Nostalgia

A Clarice Cliff pottery pattern that I painted as a mural in the Leopard Hotel in Burslem, Stoke on Trent. The design is called umbrellas. It’s one I would love to own.

Nostalgia is that warm feeling you get when you see or remember old or ancient images or things. I haven’t looked up the actual definition. But things like this, or even old TV shows like The original series of Star Trek, give me a warm fuzzy feeling. I know somehow I’m safe, like I have gone back in time, as a memory or a thing I learned about in the past.

I get the same thing with the James Stewart film It’s a wonderful life. I think nostalgia and being nostalgic must be good and calming for the mind. The equivalent of a mental sigh.

If you are celebrating

I know that not everyone celebrates Christmas or even the new year at this time of year. Different religious traditions, different calendars and different beliefs or non beliefs mean that we all think and act differently.

But I hope that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t wish goodwill and peace to everyone. Life isn’t always easy, and I realise I have been lucky for most of my life. The luck of being born in a first world country, having a good education, being able and allowed to work, even freedom of speech. I wish we all had better times and lives. I profoundly hope that humans get their act together and work to save the planet and its animal, plant and human populations. Living through a pandemic sharpens your thoughts.

So I really do wish you as much joy and happiness as possible in your life.

On the naughty list?

Is big brother watching us? Sometimes posts get put on social media that are wrong or mistaken, not deliberately but by lack of knowledge perhaps. . I’m in a group that has had warnings about misinformation a couple of times. No indication why. The mistaken Post was about the colour of reindeer eyes?!? Not political or racist, not anti one religion or another, just a shared post with a misleading photo. It’s strange, it’s as if the police are taking action for someone lighting a sparkler on bonfire night when the Houses of Parliament are about to be attacked by Guy Fawkes on November the 5th. So what can we do about it? There’s no information what to do? Delete the post? Yes, but does that remove any threat to take further action? I just don’t know. But it feels like being on Santa’s naughty list!

Poinsettia

A beautiful indoor winter plant, the red bracts are modified leaves not petals. Its often used as a centerpiece for Christmas decorations. This is a painting I did of one. I remember my mum had one growing in the spare room. I don’t think it likes too much heat? The indoor gardeners here will have a better iidea than I do. It seems to have been taken over in popularity by Amaryllis buls which also flower around this time of year.

Picnic sketch

Oh to be able to go out in warm sunshine. To be able to sit on the ground (I can’t get up if I try and get down). This is a sketch I must have done a few years ago. The picnic blanket colours are probably made up to show up against the grass? The hands are a bit odd, but it is quite a speedy coloured pencil sketch so I guess that’s the cause. I think I was drawing on oil paint paper? It’s got quite a strong texture. You can see how the pencil has got gaps in it where there are dimples in the surface.

Nice memory, can I go back in time please?

Questions

Funny questions, why do they ask. Looking at social media I see questions like this quite frequently. Some people answer, others say it is a way of gathering information. I’ve started giving weird answers. My answer to this was: the rightious indignation of honey bees.

I like words so it’s fun to make up strange answers. Why should people know what I ate for lunch? Or which side of the bed I sleep on. Or how long ago I ate a biscuit? An hour ago…. There I go sharing personal information again… And my password for everything is not drowssap either!

Panto hat

This large papier mache hat was made for out pantomime a few years ago, it was about a meter wide. Painted to look like an old Spode pottery design. With roman or grecian patterns round the cup. I wish we could be certain that the pantomime we are rehearsing at the moment. This is a photo I found on my phone because I’m trying to clear off some of them to make more space, but I’m keeping this one.

A year ago

I wrote this poem on Facebook a year ago. The Wassail which would have been in January, had been cancelled so I wrote this poem. It might be cancelled again in January 2022.

Drink mulled cider

Dance and turn

beat the apple bough

Sing and burn

Fires to fight

And defeat the dark

Bring good fortune

To the bark.

Wassail the folk

Who sing in praise

A happy new year

And prosperity raise.

Remembered wassail

But not this time

Socially distanced

Won’t be the same.

What is it?

I think it’s a crab eating a shell? I want to do a painting of a crab as a late Christmas present. Basically I didn’t get my act together in time for a birthday present and then I promised to do it as a Christmas gift, and now look what’s happened! It’s been a hard year for me physically and mentally and I don’t seem to have the capacity to do things like I used to.

I must stop moaning and get on with things. But if you get a Christmas card off me in mid January, let me apologise now! X