New paintings and regular art updates.
Artrage oils and photodirector used to make these slightly worried faces in a crowd. Perhaps I should have given one of them a mask? They certainly feel crammed together. And what are they watching? Why are they there? Is it something pleasant or unpleasant? Who can say. From the depths of my mind to the page. I sometimes don’t know what’s coming!
Last night the cats stayed out till dawn. I called them every hour but they were not bothered. The two indoor cats are fine, they love being out now. They sit on garden walls and seem to stick together. They follow the outdoor cat around and the dynamic between them all has really settled down. They are being very loving when they are in. Lots of purring and cheek rubbing. They seem to be staying round the back of the house and garden, keeping away from the road.
If I can find them in all the foliage I will try and post some photos of them.
At least I think it’s a Coot dabbling away at the water. I always get Coots and Moorhens mixed up. One sort has a white patch on its head, the other a red patch. They look very similar except that Moorhens are slightly smaller? The weird thing about the chicks is that the have a slightly red patch of feathers above their beaks. The parent (not sure if it’s male of female) certainly seems to be keeping an eye on the chick.
Photo taken at Westport lake a couple of weeks ago during a walk round the nature reserve.
This was one of the portraits I did in a student led portrait group at college during the last few months.
The face was mostly drawn with one of those ink rollers you can use to blank out your address on letters so that you can throw them away without anyone seeing your details and stealing your data. Its quite hard to use because you have to sort of turn and twist your hand and press firmly to sketch curves. AfterId done that I added colour using pastels and the thick black lines were done with black calligraphy pen (most of these have run out so I need some more).
I quite like the strong feel to this. I am trying to find my illustrational voice. I have been told to look for illustrators that my work resembles, but I think mine is different? Is this a good or bad thing? I’m definitley developing my analogue skills. Digital work is more difficult for me.
Four sketches I did at the Dorothy Clive Garden. The view from the hill it’s on over to Shropshire and Cheshire. The Quarry garden with the waterfall. Sculpted woodpecker in the bark of a tree stump and my hubby sitting in the cafe garden.
The one thing that did disappoint me today was the pool, usually there are mounds and shapes of lots of different plants, but with the cold wet May we had things haven’t grown yet. Hopefully on our next visit it will be burgeoning with flowers and foliage.
Still we think we saw a couple of newts in the pond, together with goldfish and dark carp. The waterlilies are growing up and starting to spread. All in all it was a lovely early Summer day out.
Blue sky
warm water
goldfish swim lazily
mayfly dart across the surface
waterlilies open pale petals slowly
the world is calm
clouds float in an azure sky
contemplate
and relax.
I saw this today on our visir to the Dorothy Clive Garden. I really like it. Not much more to say really.
So many flowers in one place, the Quarry garden at the Dorothy Clive Garden was particularly beautiful. There is a waterfall feature there and the sight of it amongst the Azaleas and Rhodedendrons was lovely. The water cooled the air and the colours in the sunlight were like jewels.
I took far too many photos, I will share more later. There is a laburnum walk which I will post about seperatley.
This trees flowers make Chesnuts when they are fertilised and mature.
Chestnuts are big brown nuts or seeds. They have hard shells and children gather them up in the autumn to play the game Conkers.
The local children throw sticks up into the tree to knock the chestnuts down. Then they make holes through them and thread them onto string tying a knot at the bottom so the Chestnut (or Conker) doesn’t fall off.
They take turns to swing one conker against the other until one of them cracks and breaks up. There are various tricks to try and make the chestnuts harder, like for instance soaking them in vinegar.
The more conkers a child hits and breaks, the more important the child’s conker is. If it’s only broken one it’s a ‘oner’ a six would be a ‘sixer’ the winner is the person whose conker does not disintegrate and beats all the other ones.
Probably not a game played much these days. But I remember playing it until my friend conker accidentally hit the knuckles of my hand. Ow!
Sunshine, a stick of rock, sandy beach, bucket and spade to make sandcastles. The cool feeling of wet sand as you wiggle your toes in it…or the hard ridges of sand rippled by shallow water. Memories of collected shells, long thin razor shells, cockle shells, mussels, spirals and smooth. So many types.
All these memories were made on various holidays and day trips to beaches, looking out over the sea, walking through seaweed that littered beaches, sand flies and sand hoppers.
Remembering catching various trains, some of them were steam trains. Watching the countryside fly by, a river running on one side of the train, then the other. The train running past the caravan site we stayed at.
Sunshine, rain, home made cooking in the caravan on a tiny stove. Sleeping on a bed made of boards and cushions where the table had stood. Gas mantles that hissed when mom lit the lights at night.
The tiny crab that escaped from my plastic bucket and spade and hid in my shoe… And it’s pincers snapping on my little toe!
Memories and the wish to make more. Missing the seaside.
Mallaband-Brown