New paintings and regular art updates.
I’ve just been to Growthpoint, it’s a place where you can go if you suffer from anxiety or mental health issues. I was pleased that the bee paintings I did on small circles of wood have all sold. I managed to buy some plants, they are for sale all the time but today was an open day. So I got eight plants for 50 pence each. I’ve got to sort the yard out, I hope to do that this weekend if the weather is OK. Then I can plant the ones I bought. Today is a good day.
List three books that have had an impact on you. Why?
My list are:
The first: Old Yeller (can’t remember the author)
I read this when I was about 10 or 11. I had only ever read gentle children’s adventures and Old Yeller is the story of an old dog that has caught rabies. I remember being shocked by the story, by the descriptions of what happened. It was the first book that felt realistic and not safe. I’m glad I read it as it opened my mind to the world.
The second : The Plague Dogs, by Richard Adams.
Set in a laboratory where dogs and other animals are experimented on, two dogs join forces and escape. Lost on the Cumbria fells they eventually meet “the Tod” a fox, a wily character. All three animals are being hunted by the lab and the police who have dubbed them “the plague dogs” because of scaremongering by the press. Will they escape ?
(Richard Adams also wrote Watership Down.)
The book influenced my style of writing, there is a section in one chapter on how to write a newspaper article. The book also gave me an idea of how animals can suffer at the behest of mankind.
The third book is: The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Attwood.
I read it in the 1980s before it was very famous. I’ve seen the TV series which is far more in depth than the original book. As a young woman I was shocked by the mysogeny of the world the women in it lived in. I saw it as a warning and never believed that anything like it could happen in the real world? And yet so many things have happened that seem to want to drag women back to the home and dispel the rights they have fought long and hard for.
I would recommend all of these books if you want to open your eyes to different ideas.
Describe one simple thing you do that brings joy to your life.
I love singing.
When I’m anxious it helps regulate my breathing. Concentrating on the music makes my heart swell with joy when we get it right. Time seems to flow. Music and song are so simple, so inate to being human. It brings joy to my friends too. We got together to sing for a friend recently. I’ve not included my friends faces because I haven’t asked their permission to use their images.
That’s the thing about anxiety, so many rules to remember and think about. What can I do? What should I do? But singing calms me, pulls my mind up and out of bad feelings. I would recommend it to anyone thinking of coping with anxiety. If you can take the first step and keep singing. X
In a gallery
But looking outside
Fresh green against brick red
Daylight catches the wall
As sun starts to set.
Always look outside the box
The view might change
Your thoughts too….
Chances are
You’ll see something new.
A large spiky thistle growing outside a terraced house front door. Why? These are student lets’ and a lot of them are empty because the students have already left. I guess the landlords will come back and refurbish the houses or rooms. There was a lot of rubbish in the street, black plastic bags, litter and bits of old furniture. If they don’t clear away the plants their roots will take over and get into the foundations. I think its worse because everything has grown rampant because of all the rain we’ve been having.
Some of my tiny miniatures hung at the cafe at Etruria Industrial museum, for sale at the Etruria Canal Festival in Etruria, Stoke on Trent, this weekend, 1st and 2nd June, 2024.
For reference these paintings are about 2×3 inches.
What quality do you value most in a friend?
What would I have done without the caring nature of my friends? Each time I have been down there have been caring words that have helped to bring me back up.
No one turned against me, no one ignored me. They were all there in one way or another. Life can throw bad things at you and your family and friends, so we all need to care for each other. And why not? No one should think they are superior to others. What would life be like if people didn’t care for one another? I don’t want to find out! Support and kindness are two other great qualities to value.
What jobs have you had?
But..
I’m not saying what! A few of the people here know what my jobs have been, but I am not willing to share with everyone, and as these prompts are viewed by more than my friends those other people do not need to know.
I’m not a secretive person but I think we all have a responsibility to ourselves to keep our information safe. There is an increase in the amount of phishing on the Internet.
I will say I have had full and part time jobs, I’ve worked with people and on my own, also with machinery. I’ve never been a manager, thankfully. I enjoyed working with most of the staff although I could tell some tales about the bad behaviour of some and the wonderful things others have done beyond what was necessary.
Prompts are interesting, they make you think, but some are easier to answer than others. Work gets you money to pay bills and pay for housing, the ability to use sports facilities and other entertainment. I am glad I had responsible jobs but I’m glad too that they are behind me now.
Sunlight on birches
Silver and brown.
Spring is a blooming
In woods and on ground.
Bluebells are over
Now comes the new
Garlands of roses
Covered in dew
Clematis climbing
Lilac are blue
Purple and white
Flowers scented too.
Remember the birches
Other trees shine
Oak tree and walnut
Hornbeam and lime
Oh lovely summer
In you come soon
When sunlight is brightest
At wondrous noon.
Do you remember life before the internet?
They didn’t exist, then the green light started blinking… The cursor came later, they were glorified typewriters. I don’t know if they came with a mouse?
I wasn’t a member of the computer club. But about five were lined up in the science lab at school. I sometimes saw green text on them.
One day I went to an exhibition about computer art. There was a pc set up and on the screen it said type something, a phrase, can’t remember. But I typed the words… Nothing happened,,, I typed again, and again and again.. Nothing. I typed till the screen was full and the original message had gradually disappeared off the screen!
I wonder what the people running the exhibition thought? It was only a few months later that I found out about the ENTER key!
Mallaband-Brown