New paintings and regular art updates.
#earlywork a portrait I did of my then boyfriend, later husband when I was about 20 at college. It’s oil on canvas. I haven’t managed to photograph it all as there’s stuff in the way. The green dot on his face is a beam of light from a crystal glass mobile I’ve got up at my window.
Sultana scones with cream on a Calico Burleigh Ware plate for tea.
It was very tasty and filling. I decided not to have jam on them, it would have been to sweet. But I did butter them.
Burleigh Ware is a type of pottery made at Middleport pottery in Middleport, Stoke-on-Trent. Calico is one of many pattern types made by transferring the pattern onto the pottery with transfer prints. It’s a skilled job to line up all the prints. They are mounted on paper and stick to the pottery when they are wetted, the print sort of slides off onto the piece. If you turn over pottery it will usually have the makers name and other details printed on the base. People who do this say they are in the ‘turnover club’ .
Hubby played a prophet in one of the Mystery Plays a few years ago. It was outside but his big booming voice could be heard by the audience sitting on the green. He could project his voice over the traffic noise. If he had been bought up in a more middle class environment I’m sure he would have been an actor. But mental health meant he struggled to remember all his words. We also did the local amateur panto together. He got a pretend Oscar one year for most enthusiastic entrance (or something like that). He was a marvellous, memorable man.
I wanted to explain sarcasm, then I saw this sign! British people are quite sarcastic also called ‘sarcy’ ‘taking the pis*’, ‘taking the pee’ ‘taking the mik’or ‘mikky’. We often love to make a sarcastic joke of things. For instance pointing out trump means to fart loudly (break wind) in this country. We find that amusing.
I think some countries just don’t get it, their humour is more literal. That may go to explain why it can be harder to understand each other’s languages and empathise with each other.
Some parts of Britain can be even more sarcastic I think the Midlands are particularly like this? They play with word sounds and make puns and skits that will cause fits of laughter for some but not others. It’s good to have a laugh!
I do like drawing in my little sketchbook. It’s getting full of pictures and poems and some short stories.
This morning a friend took me out so we had a cappuccino and a muffin. It was lovely to have a chat. I decided to draw what was on the table so here’s the result. I like crosshatching to add shape and shade to make it more 3 dimensional.
We were talking to the waitress and and she saw my sketches. She said that she used to be good at art and sometimes shows her children how to do things. I suggested she get a little sketchbook to start drawing in again, I hope she does.
What is your career plan?
Playing mahjong
I’ve worked long and hard
Given work some welly
Retirement would be fine
I mean resting and learning
New things.
I’m semi retired now
But I’m below retirement age
Which keeps moving on
I would have retired four years ago
Except they changed the rules…
Ah well at least I can.
80 years ago, on the 8th of May 1945, Hitler was defeated in the second world war. But that was only in Europe, the war actually ended on 2nd September of the same year when Japan surrendered.
It’s significant that it is the 80th year as it is probably the last time that many veterans from the war will be able to celebrate it because if they were 21 (start of adulthood) when they joined up they would be 101 or older now.
Memories fade but this is a way to remember the joy of the ending of the conflict, although not for everyone. We should remember those that were injured or wounded, either in the military or civilian. Those that were made homeless or those that lost relatives and friends. I’m glad and sad in equal measure.
Do you vote in political elections?
Yes I vote, voting is important. If people abstain or spoil their ballots they leave the opportunity for a different party to be elected. In one byelection this week someone won by 6 votes, overcoming the other party’s majority of 15000 votes.
Unfortunately Reform, a right-wing Trump style party won several council seats and a MP position and a few mayoral posts.
Reform is a bit like the republicans in America, they want to set up a Doge department to cut back spending in the UK, make people pay for health insurance (we already pay national insurance to fund the NHS). Our health care is currently free at point of contact, they would take that away.
I’m obviously telling you how I feel, I don’t know how my readers will react. I feel very strongly that people should vote, it lends stability to the country. I also want to honour suffragettes who fought for a woman’s right to vote.
At today’s rehearsal we didn’t go to the end of the play because we ran out of time. We were blocking scenes to get some idea of how to stage it. We think it will take about an hour of running time. We need to agree about staging it and what props and scenery we need. The makers who help design the sets looked at how to create the tree costumes, sorting out a wig for the witch, and have got a broom and papier mache stars, we need a cave with a canvas flap to show a boulder being rolled in front of it. Also whether people will come on and off the stage area or more sensibly to share half of the acting area as the witches cottage and the other half as the wood and cave. We definitely need people. One of the people was good as the witch and another did a good Greta (the witches assistant, I’m not sure if those people will be final characters we still need to look at who is available and happy to do it. I helped by playing a woodsman that was turned into a tree because of trespassing in the witches wood and also a girl who is helping to look for names of the six towns of Stoke-on-Trent. I’ve got my fingers crossed that we can literally get our act together!
The world was simple once. No one had smartphones. If you wanted to find something out you either looked it up in a book at home, in the library or looked in an encyclopedia at school. I’m remembering my school now.
Lessons were many and varied. We had a choice of Art, Biology, Human Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, History, Pottery, Woodwork, Domestic science, Technical drawing, Sewing (can’t remember what it was called), Geography, French, German, Spanish, Music, Sport science, English language, English Literature. At “O” level or CSE.
These were the days when Comprehensive schools had recently been created and our school had been amalgamated from two other senior schools. I found out later that our area was well thought of and the money used gave us standards equivalent to London and Edinburgh! We had an orchestra and other clubs. Computing was just coming in but I never used one. We still had exercise books and biros and pencils.
The school had a swimming bath, sports hall, science and art blocks and a music block later on.
We were just normal council house kids, we were really lucky to have a wonderful school. I remember my time there with mostly joy.
Mallaband-Brown