An aztec bar was multi layered, as Wikipedia explains:
Aztec was a chocolate bar produced by Cadbury’s from 1967. It was made of nougat and caramel covered with milk chocolate and was sold in a deep purple wrapper. The Aztec was created by Cadbury’s to compete with the Mars Bar, but it was discontinued in 1978. Wikipedia
I think they were actually tastier than Mars bars, if they were in the shop it was what I spent some of my 50 pence pocket money. That and comics like the Bunty and Judy. Life was so simple then. Only exams to worry about I would time travel back if I could!
Drawn on my Wacom tablet in photoshop 12 years ago. Based on the Escher drawing. I think I was drawn to the idea of a hand holding a reflective ball. This was a real challenge and was mainly drawn from imagination, but I looked at my hand held up in this position to draw it accurately.
The room in the reflection is based on what was in front of me but with added curves to try and recreate the spherical feeling. The room had been ‘edited’ removing some of the clutter. The view is not what would have been reflected in a globe which was a wall behind me. Only my head and shoulders were truly imagined.
Do you remember your favorite book from childhood?
I loved the school book about Greek Myths and Legends we had to read. I remember short stories about Pandoras Box, when the box was opened all that was left was Hope. Then there was a story about Jason and the Argonauts, and his quest for the Golden Fleece. I think there was a tale of the Titan Atlas being sentenced by the god Zeus to support the heavens on his shoulders.
Each story had lovely illustrations, and the inside covers of the book were equally well decorated.
Getting the attention of children with artwork aswell as words is a way of catching them at an early age. I know a lot of books are now online, but I think real books are wonderful treasures.
I’ve just been to Growthpoint, it’s a place where you can go if you suffer from anxiety or mental health issues. I was pleased that the bee paintings I did on small circles of wood have all sold. I managed to buy some plants, they are for sale all the time but today was an open day. So I got eight plants for 50 pence each. I’ve got to sort the yard out, I hope to do that this weekend if the weather is OK. Then I can plant the ones I bought. Today is a good day.
List three books that have had an impact on you. Why?
My list are:
The first: Old Yeller (can’t remember the author)
I read this when I was about 10 or 11. I had only ever read gentle children’s adventures and Old Yeller is the story of an old dog that has caught rabies. I remember being shocked by the story, by the descriptions of what happened. It was the first book that felt realistic and not safe. I’m glad I read it as it opened my mind to the world.
The second : The Plague Dogs, by Richard Adams.
Set in a laboratory where dogs and other animals are experimented on, two dogs join forces and escape. Lost on the Cumbria fells they eventually meet “the Tod” a fox, a wily character. All three animals are being hunted by the lab and the police who have dubbed them “the plague dogs” because of scaremongering by the press. Will they escape ?
(Richard Adams also wrote Watership Down.)
The book influenced my style of writing, there is a section in one chapter on how to write a newspaper article. The book also gave me an idea of how animals can suffer at the behest of mankind.
The third book is: The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Attwood.
I read it in the 1980s before it was very famous. I’ve seen the TV series which is far more in depth than the original book. As a young woman I was shocked by the mysogeny of the world the women in it lived in. I saw it as a warning and never believed that anything like it could happen in the real world? And yet so many things have happened that seem to want to drag women back to the home and dispel the rights they have fought long and hard for.
I would recommend all of these books if you want to open your eyes to different ideas.
Every week Esther Chilton posts a limerick challenge. This week’s Monday limerick word was “luck”.
Sometimes these are easy, other times hard. This week’s wasn’t bad.
Basically a limerick has two rhyming lines of a longish length, then two shorter ones that rhyme using a different pattern and then finally the last line is longer and goes back to the first type of rhyme. Have a go yourself on Esthers page?
A busy abstract pattern that evolved in a couple of apps. Not very neat and tidy and only done this because I couldn’t think of anything else on the busy theme. For prompt “busy” #bandofsketchers
Drawings for the Stoke-on-Trent urban sketchers group. I was sorry not to see any other urban sketchers there at Etruria today but I was just there to sing with Clay Chorus and the Boat Band. I was getting a lift there and back with someone so I couldn’t stay. First drawing, The Forge with someone sitting on the wall. The second was across the canal on the car park looking back at the festival while waiting for the Shuttle bus. Hampered by a stiff breeze and my hat blowing off twice!
Describe one simple thing you do that brings joy to your life.
I love singing.
When I’m anxious it helps regulate my breathing. Concentrating on the music makes my heart swell with joy when we get it right. Time seems to flow. Music and song are so simple, so inate to being human. It brings joy to my friends too. We got together to sing for a friend recently. I’ve not included my friends faces because I haven’t asked their permission to use their images.
That’s the thing about anxiety, so many rules to remember and think about. What can I do? What should I do? But singing calms me, pulls my mind up and out of bad feelings. I would recommend it to anyone thinking of coping with anxiety. If you can take the first step and keep singing. X
Mallaband-Brown 