1980’s self portrait

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Oil on canvas

Forty years ago I was at college learning how to paint. I had lots of fun and did some painting too! I used to paint in oils until I discovered how fast and clean acrylics were a decade or so later. I’m a fast painter but acrylics go off very fast so my style changed somewhat. Instead of mixing colours wet in wet on the canvas I ended up trying to get my colours right on the palette. I think I probably ended up with a more splodgy style until I learnt to blend layers on the canvas.

Prompt ‘hanging’

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Back yard colours. The Usk Stoke-on-Trent challenge today was ‘hanging’ so I got my new permanent markers out. I tried not to do any black outlines to make the colours jump more!

The picture includes our hanging baskets and a dream catcher that hangs in our back living room window. There is a little glass angel hanging in the dream catcher. When I asked my hubby what he thought he said it was a bit amateurish!

The only problem with permanent markers is that they dry up quickly. You can be half way through shading something and they run out. More in a couple of days.

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Moving paintings

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I really must get all my paintings stored down at my studio. These are a tryptich of Jupiter. I need some work doing on the house, but I’ve got things hanging around that could be put away safe, they are up in the bedroom where I’m doing college work and everything is crammed together on one side of the room. Plus I actually have a commission. Someone contacted me. My first real job this year! I need to start getting things sorted out…. Spring cleaning – in late July. Perhaps I will get it done by September! In the meantime I need to get the college work done. The date for handing in work is soon. Help!

Wishing I was on holiday.

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A little bed and breakfast, or a caravan, somewhere quiet where I can hear gulls calling early in the morning. The smell of salt air and the sound of crashing or gurgling waves. I’m not bothered which.

Waking up to sea breezes, maybe opening the door to a beach view. Somewhere to chill. Feel less stressed.

Going to bed as the moon rises, looking out at dark skies glinting with stars. Maybe a small glass of wine.

Oh, I would just would love to safely get away from it all. Lockdown and life are getting me down.

How to depict cuts in arts education?

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I thought I would try and share my idea about possible cuts in art education. It’s along the lines of the hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil images. In this case the image is of a school child. Maybe with one eye peeping out. Covering his head are the hands of other children, stopping him seeing art equipment, or hearing music or poetry. Stopping him speaking things like lines from plays or novels.

Art and creativity are so important to the world. Maybe you can push a button and get a car design? Maybe not. At the moment it still takes the efforts of designers, artists, illustrators, musicians, and much more to bring out the creativity of the world.

What are we doing if we consider removing Art from the curriculum? If we make it just the perogative of the rich? What happens if normal, ordinary people aren’t taught to have a critical eye, to have the ability to see beauty. I see a world which is almost turning into a 1984 situation. Dumbed down and quiescent?

 

God preserve me from student funding!

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Or how to get very annoyed in five months!

I applied for funding.

They said ‘we need more proof’

I said ‘I sent it in?’

They said, ‘you missed a word’

I said, ‘here is that word’

I rang.

They said ‘the word was wrong, please re-send in CAPITALS’

I SENT THE WORD BACK.

I RANG.

‘We duplicated your account’

‘I can’t answer that, it’s on your other account’

I said, ‘I have two letters one reference 123456789,

The other 987654321,’

‘we will merge them’

A letter arrives, ‘we confirm you identity,

but you need to put in an application’

I ring ‘you had that in April’

Later ‘we have approved your finance,

Please ask your university to confirm you are on the course’

The university did.

This week.

No money yet

Emailed university

They replied ‘student finance say problem with your bank account’

I couldn’t make it up!

Grr!

 

 

Keyboard problems

I got my computer back today from the repair shop. The computer was fixed and they could find no real problems. We put it down to a bad extension cable that was now dead. Great. It took me ages to plug all the wires in. Screen, yes, video camera, yes, speakers, yes. My mouse was working, but no Internet? Oh, forgot to plug it in. Now I could check my emails. But when I came to typing my responses? No joy. No letters! No words! No number lock or caps lock. I tried all the different USB ports. Nothing. I tried updating Windows, nothing. I tried re-booting, nothing!

Grr! Just a message each time I tried to type.  Something along the line of your USB connection failed the last time this device was connected. Windows does not accept it….. No! This was after the computer shop had closed! NO!

Walking!

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A couple of hours and about four miles. Up hill and down dale. My feet hurt. I haven’t been that far for years. By the time I walked down our hill at the end of the walk my legs started wobbling underneath me!

It started as a gentle walk up our steep hill. Left along a slightly flatter road to meet (at a social distance) a couple of friends. Then we walked around the contour of the hill we live on. This photo is looking out over the Trent Valley across the school fields. Then right up the hill and saying goodbye to our friends. Me, my hubby and our friend we usually walk with carried on down a side street. Down hill, then up a pathway between roads, I didn’t take a photo but there is a high wall with a huge crack in it. It felt like it could topple and fall. We came out of the pathway onto another road. Downhill towards the old hospital site, past the local cemetery. We walked through side streets, past terraced houses, slowly wending our way towards home. We stopped off at a corner shop to sit and rest on a brick wall under the canopy of a large street tree. We bought ice creams to cool down and sat for a few minutes. When I got up I was feeling very stiff and my feet hurt. From there we went down a hill with a view over the south if the city, enjoying a cool breeze. We left our friend there and we walked up a side street, then down our hill to the house at the bottom. I had to hold my hubbies arm as my legs had started to wobble!

I feel tired but happy to have done another walk!