On the bottle oven art trail.

I delivered my varnished bottle oven planter to the BID Art-trail today. Here’s the photo to prove it. See their website : https://thestoke2000.co.uk/artisan/?v=79cba1185463

I don’t think my photo is on yet but there are some really good images of around fifty bottle oven planters.

There is enough space in the top of the planter to fit a small pot. I think once the art trail display exhibition is over and I get it back I will plant it up with a strawberry plant or some trailing lobelia.

Potbank shaped planter

Based on the Falcon on the Goss works, Stoke-on-Trent.

My planter painted up for the Stoke BID Art-trail. It’s based on the Goss works Falcon plaque on the outside of a derelict pottery in Bath Street, Stoke-upon-trent, Stoke-on-Trent.

Several artists were given these potbank shaped planters to be painted up for the BID project. They should be on display this summer, all I need to do now is varnish it x

Possible sculpture

We went for a walk last week and saw a fox carved into an old tree stump. Unfortunately the photo I took didn’t turn out (memory problem on my phone). I spoke to the person whose garden it was in and he told us the artist who had done it.

I decided to enquire about a carving, I have an idea of either an owl, a fox, or even a green man being carved into it. I’ve passed on my details and the size of the tree. Maybe in a few weeks I’ll be posting photos of a sculpture.

Idea for a map?

Blurry old photo based on celtic art. I’m trying to decide what patterns and textures I can use to create a map for college. I’m thinking of using photoshop to turn something like this into a maze / map?

Next step will be to upload it and try and change the colours and sharpness. Also to work out a route and decide if there will be celtic or saxon patterns. Will there be a treasure trove of coins or ornamental armour?

Paula Rego

I was watching a programme on Paula Rego on BBC four last night, tried drawing her, I think I got a likeness…

She is a Portugese artist who has such a varied style of art. Full of abstraction, passion, exuberance, but also figurative, sad, emotional, incredible. I wish I could explain her art. I urge you to find her work online.

Discussing abstract art

I was just discussing abstract art with a fellow blogger. I liked the person’s art because it was a self portrait but done in a very loose style.

I said I thought it will give them freedom of thought. I think of Picasso. He went from realism to abstraction, he had all the knowledge of both in his fingertips…

I don’t know if this makes sense but I’ve selected a few Picasso images to try and show what I mean. I’m not sure I understand Picasso but I do think it’s something to consider. When I was younger I was dismissive of his art , then I learned about Guernica, a village in Spain that was bombed and that Picasso memorialised in his painting of the same name.

On the easel?

Forty years ago at college. I liked painting objects that were not necessarily beautiful. I did a series of oil paintings on board of tin cans. Sometimes on the desk, even propped on an easel.

I think I might have these stored upstairs somewhere. I still have old folders of drawings too. Being an artist is not just about selling things, or fame, it’s about trying to understand your mind. The trouble is, being a mind, it can change. One day I will think about a subject. The next I will have a new idea (or two or three or four?!). I can’t help it. I love it

Self (60)

I was up till six am painting a self portrait in the hope of entering it for the Sky Portrait Artist of the year competition. By Five thirty I was shattered so I only vaguely painted in the background. It’s not really finished, but I thought it had a bit of something about it… But when I tried to register later the site wouldn’t accept my email address! I ended up contacting their enquiries but when I tried to resubmit I was passed the deadline! I might think about more work on it and enter it for a local open exhibition….