Hopefully still alive!

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Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

I’m out of my studio, and I’ve lost my partner, but I don’t want to give upon life just yet. I’d like to future proof my life, make it more stable again. I don’t know how I’m going to do that but I’ve got to try.

I’ve always said I want to be around when Halleys Comet comes back. That’s not till 2061! I know it’s a big ambition to last such a long time, but why not? I’ve got to have some goal, yeah, the next ten years will be hard but I want to last longer than that!

Digital art 8 years ago

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Another semi abstract digital drawing that popped upon my Facebook memories, long enough ago that I can’t remember the apps I used.

I’ve noticed that if I draw profiles of faces I usually draw them facing left. That might be because my right hand might obscure the drawing of they faced right. I did ask some other artists and concluded the left handed ones draw profiles facing right? But the sample size (3 or 4 people) is far too small to draw an accurate conclusion. I also draw horses heads and other animals facing left. I do wonder why.

Clutter

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Artist ‘stuff’, paints, paintings, canvases, brushes, boxes, sketch pads, heaters, all my ornaments on the mantelpiece. Carrier bags. I’ve never been this cluttered. Some of its going to have to go. But it’s cheaper than renting the studio. I not letting many people in till I sort it out! But it’s storage not hoarding (yet!)

3 cats and…

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What are 5 everyday things that bring you happiness?

Three cats, birdsong, books.

My family is my cats, they keep me company, amuse and irritate, sometimes in equal measure. They are loving but also bonkers. Chasing each other around the house, up and down stairs, jumping up and sleeping on my chair when I’m out of the room.

Today I heard birdsong from the garden, the sun was shining and the wind had settled down, suddenly a blackbird started singing loudly. The song was thrilling, musical, lyrical. Complex and melodic. Blackbirds songs increase in complexity as they get older. It was beautiful.

Finally I’ve included books. I bought back some lovely art books from my studio. One is about Women Surrealist Artists, another about The Faery Garden by someone called Beatrice Phillpotts. There are more, images from Nasa about space exploration, micrographic images of plants, and other books.

These five things are everyday things that bring me great happiness.

Empty studio

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All that’s left is a small bag of rubbish. My studio was a small space but I fitted a lot in it. Now my living room looks like one of those TV programmes about hoarders! I didn’t realise how much space it would take up and a lot of my paintings have gone to a friend’s studio for a while. I’m going to have to learn to throw things away. It’s not an exciting photo but it means a lot to me. Maybe one day I’ll be able to afford to go back. I’ve got to have some hopes!

Good question

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Describe something you learned in high school.

I’m not sure what high school is? When I was at school we went to primary, then secondary school. The top (final year) was the sixth form where you took your final exams.

One of those was biology, we studied a lot of information, photosynthesis, stomata in leaves (the holes underneath leaves that allow gases in and out. Things like the function of the kidney (was there something called a glomerulus?), the layers of skin, probably the structure of the eye? I think liking art helped because I could draw diagrams.

I enjoyed biology and am glad I chose it as one of my subjects.

Mirrors removed

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Portrait of my friend.

Today was a sad day, leaving my studio at Spode is a real wrench. I have had to gather up my belongings including paints, canvases, an easle. Even the mirrors on the walls and the nails that supported my paintings over the years I’ve been there.

How do you remove hexagonal mirrors that are glued to a wall? With a claw hammer and very carefully is the answer. Now some paintings are at a friends studio and others are here in my living room. Hopefully I will soon get sorted out.

Eclipse painting sketch

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Sketch of an eclipse on canvas in acrylic paint. I challenged myself to just paint with red, yellow, blue, white and black so I had to mix new colours using the primary colours on the pallette. I added a tiny moon surrounded by the corona of the sun visible against the darkened sky. It might be something I paint properly in future.

Holidays, Esther Chilton prompt.

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Holidays, more memories of adventures long gone by. Camping in a tent at Easter thirty years ago.

We’d cycled up to Clitheroe in Lancashire and used our cycle trailer to carry our camping gear.

The holiday started out sunny, but the wind picked up and by the time we had the tent up the snow was blowing sideways at it. I even wrote C 4 R on the snow on the side of the tent.

We went off for a cycle into town and stopped off at a tiny cinema. It was very posh, there were photos of the Queen in the ladies loo! I remember we got a bit of warmth while watching the cat from outer space.

We had dinner at the local pub and cycled back to the tent afterwards. Luckily it was downhill but we were slipping around on the falling snow. We ended up putting on extra clothes, three jumpers and an extra pair of trousers each. We found out in the morning it had been minus 11°C.

The rest of the week was almost as cold and we cycled back in deep snow!