New paintings and regular art updates.
A line of gulls on posts, all pointing south. They say birds have a way of using the Earth’s magnetism as a way to navigate. But these were acting like a compass needle! Next time I’m trying to find my way I might watch which way the gulls are facing!
I have no idea where Shardlow or Preston Brook are, except they were 54 miles and 38 miles respectively from this mile post. Shardlow is South, Preston Brook is North. There is another one of these on the road where I live. Why? because a branch of the canal used to run from the town of Stoke-upon-Trent by the Spode factory, alongside London Road and think it went through Newcastle-under-Lyme. In fact a man called Timothy Trow jumped into the canal to save a child from drowning, but got into difficulties and drowned. There is a stone memorial about it on London Road.
History is strange and interesting. I must find out about Shardlow and Preston Brook and what parts they played in history.
For daffodils
For tulips
For helibores
And hyacynths
Start with snowdrops
And irises.
Crocuses
And primrose.
Pushing up through
Bare. Cold ground
Warmth arrived
Each. Flower head
Brings. Spring
Closer.
When do Cygnets become Swans? When their feathers turn white. We saw this one swimming up the canal yesterday. It had its wings slightly up and the wind was pushing it along like a small sailing boat. Every couple of seconds it’s legs sculled the water, giving it a little buoyant push along. When it saw me trying to get my camera out of my pocket it headed towards me. But sadly I had no food for it. If we walk that way again I will take some food along with me. As we walked along we saw two more and two adults. I don’t see too much wildlife in the city so this was a pleasure.
This time of year is custard pie or cream pie time….. Oh yes it is? Oh no it isn’t!
What I mean is that usually it would be time for Pantomimes (pantos) in theatres across the land. Last year we were rehearsing Aladdin in our local village hall. We went on to perform it in February of this year. 180 people in a small room for for performances! Impossible now.
Sadly so many theatres are closed and shuttered. There is great concern that they will never open again. Instead of fun there is tragedy.
I hope custard pies are back soon! SPLAT!
With oone filter. I used this to show how you can change a photo using just one filter. In this case the cat was transformed into an apparent oil painting abstract by using the second style filter in the Photodirector app. This smears out the details into swirls and patterns. It also makes the edges of the areas of colour more obvious.
X
Tree or trees? One limb broken. The grey path reflects the grey sky. Water rushes down the river, brown and muddy. In speight, almost overcoming the banks. The rain is trapped on the pathways, the grass sodden and squelchy. I walked along there this afternoon as part of a long walk. I can feel the wet mud between my toes overtopping my shoes, pulling at their soles. Water is like glue. Stronger than gravity. My feet lift out of the shoes as they lift from the ground. My feet still feel cold and are aching hours afterwards. Perhaps I need a bowl of hot water to soak them in. I wish I’d got some bathsalts! Time to rest.
Toowit toowoo
Male and female
Singing to each other
Across the night.
Tawny owls
Once I heard them
Up, beyond the house
In the trees.
Calling
Toowit toowoo!
Ow gone
Sad memories
Lost
My purple coat that I walked nine miles in. It’s still wet! #bandofsketchers prompt was purple. Sitting on the settee with a stripey cover on it. I’m surprised how mant purple felt pens I’ve got. It is one of my favourite colours. X
Bibendum is the name of the iconic symbol for Michelin tyres. There was a large factory near us run by Michelin. Sadly the factory has mostly closed now, its mostly a training facility. The one improvement is that the smell of vulcanising rubber no longer hangs over the city. Like many of the factories and manufacturing in Stoke-on-Trent the jobs have gone. Potteries have been badly affected. Steel manufacturers have gone and other jobs like coal mining went in the 1980’s. Northern areas of the United Kingdom have been badly affected over the years of the late twentieth century and twenty first.
Mallaband-Brown