Got up just before 7 to draw a magnificent dawn? It was still gloomy when I started and because of the low cloud it got lighter, but no sign of the sun!
This is the view east of the house. Willow Bush still in leaf but turning yellow, beyond that the rooves of the shops on the main road and the skeleton of a new building that stopped growing in March. The telephone pole, the Walnut tree we planted twenty five years ago and a Holly Bush below the willow. Used a calligraphy black ink pen and Spectrum Noir metallic coloured pencils. Took about twenty minutes in semi darkness.
Being together is supposed to be better than being by yourself. Not as lonely. But when you live in a small house it’s not that simple. A narrow galley kitchen means you struggle to pass each other. One persons shooing is the others dislike. You bought four huge pork pies? The potato salad is full of sugar? Why can’t you put waste food in the bin, instead of letting it float in the sink….. Then there is TV. We don’t have Netflix or anything like that, so we watch terrestrial TV. But do there have to be so many steam train programmes? Tools is another thing. Yes he has a shed, but this time of year he takes over the kitchen, there are batteries, middle boats, cable ties, screwdrivers… The list is endless, all over the place. He doesn’t like shopping and washing up. So the food is weird and the water splashes everywhere. My new cupboard door is loosing it’s surface because its always wet… So I do things myself. The most irritating? When I buy things for both of us and he eats it all first.
If I asked him to write his irritations, he too would have a long list. He would be right! Living together isn’t easy.
Interesting statistic. Married men I’ve five years longer than single men on average, whilst married women live five years less than single ones!
Based on the Florence colliery this is a mural I painted on panels several years ago. It’s emulsion on marine ply and it was covered in perspex to protect it from the dirt and fumes from the road. I think it’s been relocated from here but I’m not sure whether it’s now inside the building. I haven’t been there for a few years. One day I will go and have a look.
Hubby ‘rescued’ this, but I think there is no chance of survival. Its a blackened mess of sagging stems. The result of a particularly cold night and a very tender plant. I’m afraid it’s going to be relegated to the compost bin tomorrow after rescuing some spring bulbs that have started to grow even before the winter arrives. I have even seen blossom on the apple tree a few weeks ago. Gardening is tough at this time of year. The day length and cold kill the annual plants and shut down perennial ones. Can’t wait for spring……
Just a photo from my bedroom window including a flower mobile that hangs in it. ( I do like taking photos of random objects.) The cat sometimes reaches up and bat’s at it because of the noise it makes.
The camera was zoomed in so it affected the exposure and left light around the edges of the twigs and branches and the other dark areas on the photo. In this case there was no need to use filters on it as the phone added its own effects.
Playing with filters again. I started out with a photo of the back of my writing pad that is covered in dots. I duplicated it in layout app, then changed it in Instagram and Photodirector. The effect is like reverb in music, like a feedback loop I think, where patterns that are hidden are revealed by the filters.
It went really dark earlier on. Heavy dark grey clouds heading this way, overwhelming the sun. Later a golden ray of sunshine snuck underneath the layer as the sun started to set. The wind was blowing strongly for a few hours but this has now settled. If the sky clears it will get cold as the wind is blowing from the North East.
Why are we so bothered by weather here? Because its almost always changing. You can buy postcards that say if you can see the view wait half an hour and it will rain, and if you can’t see the view it’s already raining!
My photoshop program is over ten years old. I keep using it but it no longer communicates with Adobe so I think it’s on the way out. I have the opportunity to get the new version, but I’m dithering. Is it worth it? Will I understand it? Has anyone got experience of it? Answers on a postcard please…. I guess I will have to bite the bullet because I do like my old version and I would like to keep using some form of it.
Painting by Bonnard. The art group I’m in are taking squares from this image and producing copies to be linked back together. I think the plan is to get it finished by the end of December. Plans are also being discussed to collaborate over a Christmas card. It’s good to be doing this despite being in lockdown again. At least we get to share artwork even if we don’t physically meet.
I think this is the third or fourth one we have done. I’ve already completed square 2 but I’m doing square 6 as well. I’m going to try and get it done soon.
