Accordion

Can you see this… Sketch of an accordion.. On the back of an envelope in pencil. I loved the curve of it. The way the lines flow up through the instrument and into the knitted jumper. Yes I loved drawing the hands as he played. There is a round table with a half empty glass of bass beer (with a triangular trade mark), a notebook and his mobile phone. Plus a bass beer mat. I am not advertising though. It was lovely and welcoming at the Beehive pub in Honeywall, Stoke-on-Trent.

Meet a dalek..

One day at a train station we bumped into a dalek. It was trundling backwards and forwards along the station platform… A police telephone box was inside the ticket office. My hubby had mighty fun and enjoyed meeting one of our favourite TV characters. Unfortunately Dr Who was not in attendance.

The Dalek was remote controlled and was a replica of one of the original models of the space monsters. Apparently they were pedalled around by people sitting inside them on the BBC TV series. I just loved the cheek of my hubby holding on to it….

Clutch gone

My car is old! Tonight the clutch went in it. I was revving the engine and creeping forward in 1st gear, smoke billowed out from under the bonnet.

I had to park at an angle sticking out into the road. I called a break down service and after an hour and a half got through. An hour later some just came. They managed to park the car safely. But the clutch has gone. Goodness knows how much it will cost to fix. I really need an automatic.

Asterix the Gaul

What’s your favorite cartoon?

I loved the Asterix books when I was a child. I think I read most of them. All the characters were so funny, getafix, obelix. The chieftain who walks around under a shield because he’s afraid the sky will fall on his head. The tiny dog.. The magic strength potion.

They live in the North West of Gaul and are constantly fighting the Romans or the British. The artwork is tremendous. The books by Goscinny and Uderso were translated into English from French I think. It was the first time I had seen swearwords depicted as symbols. Like. X&@#!? £X! For example. I didn’t know about swearing at the time so I assumed it was a coded language!

I learned to draw cartoons by copying the characters. I think that helped develop my hand eye coordination, I was happy.

Missing fine weather

A few months after our driest summer in years we are constantly getting wet weather gales and storms. The rain gets through holes and doen chimneys and overflowing guttering.

I want brilliant white clouds floating in azure blue skies. Sunlight on my head and shoulders. Soft breezes, not howling gales. Scents and smells that lift the spirits, not mould and fungus.

So, the spring will come again. I hope to enjoy the rest of winter and then greet spring with open arms.

In from the rain

My Cat is like an otter. He loves the rain. He came in from the storm Bram earlier today and I took this photo. He loves standing and staring at me. Generally this means “feed me”, so I did.

I know he has at least two other “homes”, although he has been back here more recently. He comes up amd sleeps on the bed but gets off if I have a disturbed night. (which is most of them these days). He’s just snuck upsts now. Sleep well pusscat.

Violin sketch

At the Beehive pub in Honeywall on Wednesday night. I don’t go very often to listen to the Boatband and their cajun and folk music. But it was the day before the 2nd anniversary of a very sad occasion and I wanted to take my mind off it.

The thing was someone had given me a pencil to make some notes with and I had some scraps of paper in my bag, so I decided to try and do some drawings. This was one of them.

I loved the sinuous shape of the violin and the way the musician held it and the bow, and I was transported back 40 years to my younger self drawing and sketching. I’m rather pleased with the result despite my shaking hands.