New paintings and regular art updates.
These three pieces are unfired. I made them a couple of years ago but never got them fired. The coloured one is painted in metallic acrylic paints. I need to hollow them out so that they can go in a kiln. The problem is they are fully dry so it might be difficult to do it. I think I need to dampen them but I don’t want them to dissolve. Made them at Etruria, at the warehouse.
Bit busy but just took quick photos of some flowers in the garden. Used my phone on magnification.
I still feel ill but I was pleased to go to the Art Lunch held at the Etruria Warehouse today.
A lovely lunch was organised by my friend Chris, with mostly vegetarian options. One thing that was really unusual was beetroot hummus. This was made with boiled beetroot and potato with walnuts, all whizzed together with garlic and a bit of vinegar. You could use lemon juice instead.
Sitting in the sun listening to musicians, with a beautiful lunch. Lots of cups of tea. Birthday cake because a friend is due to celebrate his birthday. Plus drawing some of the people who came. It was great fun. Both of us have come home exhausted but I’m glad we went.
X
Oh dear, a pigeon just flew into the bedroom window. I heard the thud and saw a feather flutter past the window. Richard went out and found it upside down on the ground. Sadly it must have broken its neck when it hit. It’s always sad to find something like this. It must have thought it could fly through as there is another window on the side of the house.
The hanging baskets were fine last week but when we came home two of them were upside down on the ground. The screw they had been hung on had given way under their weight and with heavy rain they had collapsed down onto the ground. Now they are hanging forlornly lower down the fence. They might grow and recover. I’m feeding them and watering them. Anyway the photos are of the growth of the other ones. Some are doing better than others. I really need to dead head them (take off dead flowers). It will have to wait till I feel better.
Here’s some patterns I did from them…
Wish I was there
Sitting in the sun
Exloring the ruins,
Having fun.
Wish I was there
Looking at the view.
Seeing whats new,
Sky and sea blue.
Wish I was there
Eating ice cream
Watching gulls scream
A lovely dream.
Wish I was there.
Not sitting at home
Feeling quite down
It’s making me frown….
Wish I was there.
One thing I’ve missed this year is life drawing, but I’ve been too busy to go to my usual group and things were just happening at the same time. So I’m looking to go to another group perhaps.
This painting was done in watercolour several years ago. I’d been doing life classes and decided to exhibit some of them at Burslem School of Art before it was taken over.
I felt really please with the interest in the show and was amazed when one person wanted to buy 10 of them. Other people also wanted the same pictures but we decided the person wanting so many of them could have them. But at the end of the exhibition it turned out he didn’t have the money to pay. I was so disappointed and felt very let down.
Life has a tendency to do things like that. You just have to roll with it.
X
We decided to go up the Great Orme on the tram. There is a tram station at the bottom of the mountain (reached by a steepish road) one half way up and a final one near the top of the Great Orme. You transfer from one tram to another at the halfway point or you can walk up if you feel fit. There is also a chair lift which runs from near the toll road at the base of the mountain to the top. The carriages for this are quite high up in the air. I was a bit to nervous to ride on it!
These photos are from the bottom half of the ride. As you can see the track is a single line hauled up and down on a cable embedded in the road, but there are passing places with two lines where the trams pass. They run about every twenty minutes, although when you are in a large queue you may have to wait a while longer.
The halfway station is quite large, you can see some of the workings and tools of the trade. There are also display boards with information about the teams. If you walk down slightly from halfway there are Roman copper mines that you can explore.
Whan you reach the top tram Station you are greeted by a statue of a magnificent mountain goat. There is also a visitor centre with a piece of land with wild flowers growing there. The top of the Orme has a trig point which has a stone to line up with other prominent points on the map. There is also a restaurant, cafe and bar with other attractions at the top. There are paths all over the mountain, and as well as the access road that you can use following the team line there is also a steep and winding road up from the toll road side of the Orme.
If you go to Llandudno for a visit and you fancy a gentle adventure try going up the Orme.
X
Sometimes I want to go home.
Not this house, home,
But the one I grew up in.
The family home and hearth.
The place I knew so well
It’s nooks and crannys
The garden and the tree I climbed.
The old swing and the rockery.
Doors I shut forty years ago
Creak open in my mind.
I wish I could shut my eyes and go.
See our old pets, the roses by the back door.
Dad’s motorbike, mom’s hair in rollers.
Little memories make me homesick.
I would drive there now at 2am
But a new family live there.
I feel lost.
I wish…
I miss
Home.
There is an art project /exhibition coming up at Spode. It’s based on the question ‘what does spode mean to me?’
As I only recently got my studio there and it has been a pottery site for many years it’s hard not to feel the industrial archaeology means the most to me. I did not take a factory tour when it was open so what I see is flaking paint, rusting iron and damaged brickwork and furniture.
I painted a tiny picture several months ago of peeling paint round window frames and the glass next to it. I think I may do something abstract along those lines.
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