Brushes (new)

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Just got some new brushes, they usually cost a lot, but these were not expensive. They are value brushes, £3.99 each pack. I bought one lot of smallish round headed brushes and one pack of flat ones. That’s eight brushes (nylon) at about £1 each.

Apart from these I must have about twenty or thirty old brushes. I must go through them, maybe throw a few away. But they are like old friends, I use them till all of the bristles have worn away!

Using different shapes gives you different mark making. Round, pointed ones can describe the shapes of petals or leaves. Flat, chisel shaped ones can be used for painting things like bricks, or to fill in larger areas.

These brushes are ‘golden taklon’ by Royal Langnickel. I like them because they are nylon so the bristles last longer and don’t tend to snap or fall out. Also they have rubber grips so they are non slip and easier to handle. They can be used for acrylics, watercolours, oils, temperas and glazes.

I got these from a craft shop in a local garden centre.

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Raffle prize

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You know the world has gone mad when you offer a single loo roll as a raffle prize! That wasn’t my idea but I went out and got a bottle of hand cleanser to go with it.

My hubby has a cold (not The Virus), but I decided to help set up for the Mystery Plays Barn dance tonight. It’s an annual thing we do to help raise funds for the Mystery day in the  summer. However I’m not going to the actual dance because I don’t want to catch anything else after having the cold myself for the last couple of weeks.

I did go to buy toilet roll later, the local shop was empty of it, so I walked round the corner and guess what? The local convenience store is full of the stuff! What a strange world…..

Painting I did a few years ago.

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I think it says 2005.

There had been a massive Tsunami on Christmas Eve in the Philippines. Our offices decided to do an auction I think for a fundraiser and I offered to do a painting for whoever bid for it.

The winning bid wanted a painting of three dogs. I think they are French bulldogs? They were named after characters from Buffy the vampire slayer, which was a popular TV programme at the time.

It’s funny the little details you remember. But yes, I used to love doing pet portrait. Contact me if you are interested….

Must get my brushes out

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I admit, this week I should have painted. But I’ve found a colouring Web site where you sit and ‘colour by numbers’.

I want to get on with things, but with everything that is going on in the world I think I’ve got a bit down again. I need to paint.

So tomorrow, I’m going to try and get my act together and start painting again.

Thinking about the universe and all that..

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‘space’, digital drawing’

I was sitting thinking about dark matter and dark energy today as you do. I’m not sure exactly what they are, but scientists are trying to find out.

To explain, normal matter only takes up a small percentage of the amount of matter in the universe. The rest could be ‘dark matter’ which cannot be measured by normal scientific measures. Also there is dark energy. A type of energy that is repulsive. The universe is expanding and this dark energy is apparently speeding that process up.

Then I thought about the idea that there may be more than one universe. The multiverse. In some theories each decision we make could create a new universe. But we can only see the one we are in? My mind started to boggle. Maybe the dark matter could be from the universes we can’t see, and the dark energy from the creation of each new universe’s.

This is the trouble with speculation, I don’t know whether any of this makes any sense. But I like thinking, and if it takes my mind off the world at the moment, then maybe it’s a good thing.

How did we get here?

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A few weeks ago no one had heard of Corona Virus. Now the world is panicking. From an illness that started in the East, it has spread across the world. At one stage we were told it was less harmful than seasonal flu. Now people are self isolating. The problem is that there is no immunity in the population to it. It’s new, so humans haven’t had the chance to get used to it. Vaccines will be created, but that takes time. They have to be tested before they can be used safely. Now governments are setting limits to how many people can meet, shutting down sports events, and stocks and shares are dropping in value. Its as if the world has gone mad. We’ve watched too many zombie movies and people are trying to make sense of what’s going on. Hopefully things will improve soon.

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Glass hanging

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I would like to do some more glass art. This hanging piece was made last year. It’s made from fused glass. I would like to find a better place to hang it, so that more light can shine through. I’m also not  quite happy with the yellow in it. It slight clashes with the other colours. It’s made with lengths of glass placed horizontally and vertically. It is almost like a plaid pattern.

Fused glass class with Angela Ashton, glass artist. Now based at South Sheilds.

Cat in a box

I have a cat that loves boxes. Currently he’s sleeping in two that I’ve put together and put on top of the oven because it’s warm there. He looks so happy and cute. He can’t resist curling up inside.

Can you see he’s smiling? I think that cars eyes show you emotion. As he is happy his eyes are slightly closed. If I slowly close my eyes when I look at him he does the same thing. Staring at cats is not good, they tend to feel it is aggression. But once you know them they don’t mind as much.

Stare at a cat and it will probably walk away, but if you look somewhere else, away from it, then it might even jump up on your lap. That’s why they pay more attention to eople who don’t like them, they are looking away and the cat sees it as non aggressive, passive, behaviour.

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