Green woman?

Posted on May 29, 2020May 29, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blogging, Challenge, Fun, Garden, Green, Inspiration, Life, Photo director, Rainbow, SelfieLeave a comment

I love green. I’ve done a painting of myself as a green woman, and this is a selfie I did in the garden today. I was trying to complete a challenge with a group of friends to post an image of myself with different colours of the rainbow. Today the colour was green. I started out wrapping a pale green scarf round my head, but it didn’t work very well, so I went outside and stuck my head through the leaves of various bushes.

Are you doing any strange challenges or being prompted to do things you wouldn’t normally do?

Art you enjoying doing some crafts or art work. What occupies your time in these odd times?

Lockdown being lifted?

Posted on May 28, 2020May 28, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Concerned, Ending lockdown, Is it safe?, Life, Lockdown blues, Mask, Meeting in a garden, Six people, Stay safe, Stress, Thinking, Worry2 Comments

I’m going to keep my distance and still wear a mask.

The latest in the UK is that from Monday six people can gather in a garden as long as they keep two meters distance. You can even use the bathroom as long as you thoroughly clean the toilet and wash your hands.

So that will be everyone running round looking for barbecue charcoal and burgers. Buying beer. Drinking, hugging, having a laugh. It’s already happening near us. A closed public house has people meeting in their beer garden. Hidden behind a fence, but you can hear four or five people laughing and joking. No I’m not against fun! Please don’t think that. But there are a lot of vulnerable people about…

One, asymptomatic or presymptomatic person meets five friends, they share a beer or three. The next day he visits his mate and the mates elderly parents in their garden. Then he pops down to the shop for some food for tomorrow’s barbie. He doesn’t bother about keeping apart, he’s relaxed because he’s been able to meet friends and relatives, different people on each day.

Barbecue day arrives, the sun is shining, but our friend feels under the weather. He’s got a bit of a fever and a dry cough. His partner is cooking breakfast but he can’t smell it. He decides to dial 111 (our health telephone line), and is told to book a test. He needs to drive himself to the test center, which is forty miles away, or they will post him a kit out. Eventually it arrives, but he’s too ill, his partner has started feeling under the weather and they are worried about their parents.

Track and Trace can’t find out all the contacts because of the number of people involved.

So I’m keeping a distance and wearing a mask. It may not be much of a defence.

Stay safe

Fairy fair

Posted on May 28, 2020May 28, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Fairy tale, Fun, Garden, Life, Poem, Poetry, Random, Wire fairy, Wire kit, Wire sculpturesLeave a comment

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The wire fairies dance together,

flying in a fair,

Twisting and switching

through the warm air.

Flitting through the flowers,

chasing errant bees,

hiding in the trumpet flowers

of convolvulus and weeds.

Little silver fairies,

made of twisted wire,

forged by clever, loving hands,

metal from the fire.

Flowers

Posted on May 28, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blogging, Colours, Environment, Flowers, Gardening, Geology, Life, Photos, Plants, Random, Spring, WaterLeave a comment

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A few flowers from the garden today. The flowers are starting to develop, the big summer plants are a bit swamped with ivy and scrubby bushes and so we have cut back branches and peeled ivy off trees a bit today. Only what you can do with a pair of secateurs and a small pruning saw.

We need to lay some pathways, and where a spring has erupted in the garden we are going to put a few pebbles to simulate a stream flowing down under the hedge. We live on a hill which is a very old Volcanic plug. The water percolates out further up the hill and we think because that was built on a few years ago it might have got diverted down towards our house. I don’t know….

Gold finch on the feeder.

Posted on May 28, 2020May 28, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Animals, Back yard, Bad photos, Bird feeders, Birds, Blogging, Garden, Life, Photos, Pictures, SpringLeave a comment

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I tried to zoom in on this goldfinch but the colours are really bad. It’s got a bright red head and yellow flashes on its wings. I tried to enhance the colour and exposure but didn’t get very far. If I try and enhance the red the whole picture goes red. So I can only post these images.

There were also blue tits, house sparrows and blackbirds feeding this morning.

I misidentified it as a zebra finch. It is actually a goldfinch

Artrage and photodirector

Posted on May 28, 2020May 28, 2020 Posted in Cat, Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Artrage oils, Black and white, Cat, Drawing, Fun, Illustration, Life, Photodirector, Picture, SketchingLeave a comment

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Drawn in artrage oils and edited in photodirector changing the colours and style.

This is what I mean about playing with are, yes this is a scrappy sketch, but it’s my scrappy sketch, amended and changed how I want. I would love to illustrate a book using a style like this. I could imagine creating pictures about a crazy cat in a children’s book.

I was once offered the opportunity to illustrate a book but the publishers woukd only allow the author to use an in house illustrator. I was very disappointed as I think I could have created a different atmosphere by working with her. Oh well….

Memory, one year ago.

Posted on May 27, 2020May 27, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Falling out of love, Farewell, Love, Photo, Poem, Poetry, Rhyme, Sunset, Time, WordsLeave a comment

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I wanted to write a poem that rhymed more. A lot of what I write is in blank verse (a poem where words don’t rhyme). I tried to do something more flowing here. Don’t know if it worked. (Could be a song?)

Different time

different place in space,

we’ve moved on,

you and I,

its a different sky.

My time is here,

your time has gone,

my life moves on,

you are almost forgotten.

Don’t force a smile,

you will be fine,

just let me go,

the stars say so.

Do say farewells,

and stay a friend,

but our sweet love,

must have an end.

I loved drawing horses.

Posted on May 27, 2020May 27, 2020 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Animal, Art, Constrained, Digital art, Digital colouring by numbers, Digital drawing, Horse, Idea, Painting by numbers, Sketchfu, ThinkingLeave a comment

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Probably drawn around 2011 or 2012. Drawn at sketchfu. There was something very satisfying about being able to draw what you want, and not being constrained by ‘colouring book’ style websites where you add pre selected colours and everyone’s pictures are the same except for the speed you do them. I am on one of those sites, and although it’s good to see what the image turns out to be, it’s really just like painting by numbers, except you can’t go mad and add different colours to jarring effect.

In fact what I might do is buy some painting by numbers kits when all this is over, and fill them in with different colours, just neatly completed, or try and do a time-lapse film of it.

Ideas….

I’m sure other artists have already thought of this….

Woody

Posted on May 27, 2020May 27, 2020 Posted in Cat, UncategorizedTagged Black and white, Black and white cat, Cat, Fun, Garden, Holly, Hotos, Humour, UnderneathLeave a comment

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Here he’s under the holly

Happy cat, jolly.

Black and white,

Yes that’s alright.

Golden eyed,

He has pride.

He’s a stray

Who won’t go away.

But I don’t mind

He’s a real find.

Cute and sweet,

He’s real neat.

Steps holding the pear tree up.

Posted on May 27, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Blogging, Cherries, Crop, Garden, Gardening, Green, Life, Pears, PlantsLeave a comment

We have to put a piece of wood under one bough of the pear tree but in the strong winds last week we had to put step ladders under the other limb. Surprisingly there are lots of pears setting on it. It may be that it’s because it’s more horizontal and fruit does tend to set (develop) on horizontal branches. Thats why some fruit trees are tied onto walls. Is it called espalies?

The cherry tree behind it is also covered in fruit. Looks like it might be a bumper crop! The bush/tree cut in step shapes is an old evergreen we have had for years. It grows slowly and I practice topiary on it. The rest of the garden is very leafy. I’m going to have to get someone in in the autumn or winter, to cut things back slightly and let a bit more light in.

Mallaband-Brown

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