Mural of Burslem Riot

This is my mural that I painted to commemorate the Burslem Riot in the Leopard Hotel in Burslem.

On 16th August 1842 Chartists from Stoke on Trent and Leek met to fight for their rights to form unions in Burslem town. The police and army were called out and were based at the Leopard Hotel in Burslem with rioters gathered in the street outside in front of Josiah Wedgwoods Big House. The riot act was read in front of up to 4 to 5 thousand  rioters. Josiah Heapy, one of the protestor was shot in the head and died instantly. Many of the rioters were also beaten and injured.

You can read a lengthy article in Wikipedia entitled the Potteries riots of 1842 which is very interesting. I really enjoyed painting this in about 2007. Just sad the hotel burnt down in 2022 .

Umbrella design

This would have been 17 years old if the Leopard Hotel in Burslem hadn’t burnt down two and a half years ago. I don’t seem to have had much luck with murals. At least three were in buildings that were later knocked down. The risk of being a mural artist I guess is that if they are painted in old buildings they might not outlast you!

My art and friends art.

If you were going to open up a shop, what would you sell?

My digital drawing of an apple

I’ve accumulated a lot of physical and digital art over a lifetime of being an artist. A lot of it is still in my house. I would set up a shop to clear some of it so it could go to good homes. I’m sure friends would do the same.

I realise people like to be clutter free, and now AI is creeping in they could press a few buttons and make something. But wouldn’t it be nice to have a creation made by a human that suits your taste and is created with love and attention? Go on, give an artist a try.

Cat painting

It’s big, about 4 x 5ft? Been on my wall since I painted it around 30 years ago. So I’ve been a crazy cat lady for several decades! I’m sure there are lots of us about. I’ve never been insulted by being a childless cat lady and I’m not starting now. Whatever you look after, be it child or relative or animal your life should be full of caring and supporting those objects of your love. To have hateful words used against you is pathetic.

Cloudy view

This was what I tried to finish painting today. I wanted to paint a cloudy sky and over painted patches with a sponge to give the clouds a fluffy feel . I even tried to paint some Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds above the mountains. They look like rolling waves on the sea. It’s a tiny portion of the painting and probably not that apparent.

Anyway, acrylic on canvas. (cheap canvas, you can really see the warp and weft.)

Our Art group

I forgot to talk about being in an art group because I was interested in what I had painted. I know that talking to people helps my mood, it’s just going that’s the problem….

I knew I needed to get some sleep but after going to bed relatively early I was awake from 4 in the morning until 9am. Then I fell asleep again so I was late getting to the group.

I am glad I went. It was a good session. I managed to work on my green woman painting. I noticed how helpful people are making suggestions and supporting each other. Sometimes I just keep my head down and just concentrate on what I’m doing. But listening today made me feel less anxious. X

Application unsuccessful

I’m sad to say that I didn’t get my painting of Molly Leigh the Burslem witch into the three counties open exhibition this year. (Staffordshire, Cheshire and Shropshire).

I know they had over 200 entries and it depends who is selecting the works of art. I also know that the exhibition has to be cohesive and not too eclectic. So will I enter again? Yes, but I will probably choose to do something less specific. But I’m glad I painted this.

The reason why? I painted something similar to this as a mural in the Leopard Hotel in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, several years ago. The building burned down a couple of years ago and I wanted to try and recreate the memory of it. The painting means a lot more to me than getting it in this competition. X