Persius and Medusa

Posted on September 10, 2022 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Art, Fine Art, Greek myths and legends, History, Lake, Persius and Medusa, Sculpture, Trentham GardensLeave a comment

Sculpture at Trentham Gardens at the North end of the lake. It is the main sculpture and has been there for many years.

Persius killed the Gorgon Medusa by using his shield to reflect the image of her face back at her. Her power was to turn men to stone with her glance. Her hair was made up of writhing snakes. Only by doing this could he save himself.

I think I first heard of the story when I was a child, reading Greek myths and legends in a book for children. But I did not see this sculpture till I was an adult. I think I would have been upset to see this rather graphic image as a child.

Pleasant day

Posted on September 10, 2022September 11, 2022 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Art, Day out, Fairy, Life, Sculpture, Staffordshire, Stoke-on trent, Trentham Gardens, Wire weaving2 Comments

One of the fairy sculptures at Trentham Gardens today. She seems to be throwing leaves into the air in a wild gesture of freedom. She is standing on to of a world or perhaps a seed pod. The creator of the sculptures shows a great deal of variety and not only humour but great expressiveness.

Industry

Posted on September 9, 2022September 9, 2022 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, History, Ideas, Industrial archaeology, Industrial heritage, Jessie Shirley's bone and flint mill, PaintingLeave a comment

Etruria Industrial Museum is open this weekend. This is a museum that houses Jessy Shirleys Mill. It houses a steam engine that was used to grind bone and flint to be added to clay to make fine bone china. I want to take some photos so I can do some paintings if the machinery. The mill is ‘steamed’ once a month in the summer. They usually have events running alongside the steaming. I am not sure but they might have classic cars this weekend?

Etruria is a part of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire and is named for Etruscan pottery which copied the Italian style. It was made by Josiah Wedgwood.

Work in progress

Posted on September 8, 2022 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Art, Fine Art, Green, Painting, pale blue, Poppies, Red, Work in progressLeave a comment

I did a bit of work on this long thin poppy painting too. I need to finish it by next week. I do seem to like putting myself under pressure! I imagine this hung on a narrow section of wall. I want to add a lot of detail and make the poppies stand out against the pale blue background. I hope it has an art nouveau appearance.

Horse painting

Posted on September 8, 2022September 8, 2022 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Abstract, Acrylic on canvas, Fine Art, Horse, Life, Painting, Pattern, technique, TextureLeave a comment

As I listened to the continuing news of the Queen’s death I decided to recreate a digital drawing a couple of days ago as a painting. It’s not exactly the same, but yet again I’m focusing on pattern and trying out the experimental style that I have been using recently. See what you think?

Barn Owl

Posted on September 8, 2022 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Barn owl, Bird, Fine Art, Finished, Flight, Night, Owl, Painting, StarsLeave a comment

I’ve wanted to alter this painting for a long time. I had a grey blurred background before but it just merged in to much with the Barn Owl. Now it stands out against the night sky. I also added many tiny stars. I could have flicked splashes of paint but I wanted more control over where they went.

Green memory

Posted on September 7, 2022September 7, 2022 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Art, Fine Art, Gardening, Green, Green man, Hubby, Memory, Planting5 Comments

Three years ago I painted my hubby ‘my green man’. It came up on my Facebook memories today. He is a green man, gardening does him good, helps him to try and relax. He is a bunging in gardener, there’s no rhyme or reasoning to his planting, and he just plants things where he likes, but he must have green fingers. That’s why I painted him as a green man. Acrylic on canvas.

My favourite poppy painting

Posted on September 6, 2022 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Art, Fine Art, Flower, Gardening, Life, pale centre, Poppy, Red, Ten years ago2 Comments

Ten years ago I painted this beautiful flower. I think it’s a type of poppy called Shirley, I grew some from seeds. What I like is the pale centre instead of the usual dark, or black pattern in the middle. I deliberately used a pale background to compliment the light reflected on the petals. When poppies unfurl from their buds they look papery but they are quite strong, not delicate, its just a shame they don’t last very long and soon fade.

Craft fairs

Posted on September 6, 2022 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Canvases, Craft fair, Eclectic, For sale, Fun, Paintings, Tiny paintingLeave a comment

Something has happened! I’ve decided I need to try and do craft fairs again. I have asked to do a couple, over two weekends. I don’t think I’m ever going to make money at it but I hope to cheer people up with my little paintings. I only charge a few pounds for them, but they don’t take up too much space and they can get placed on shelves instead of having to be hung on walls… Now I just need some more small canvases.

Chapel window

Posted on September 3, 2022September 4, 2022 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Art, Bethesda Methodist Chapel, Glass, Hanley, Staffordshire, Stained glass, Stoke-on trent, WindowsLeave a comment

In Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent is a place called Bethesda Methodist Chapel. It has been being restored over several years now. I have visited to sing there in performances with our choir. The building has gone from a crumbling shell to a much more robust structure. It is currently still being restored. One thing I have noticed are the spectacular stained glass windows. Methodist chapels are usually plain and simple. The wooden pews are unadorned. But the glass windows make me smile. It’s just beautiful art.

Mallaband-Brown

Category: Fine Art