Spring forward

Posted on March 25, 2023March 29, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged British summer time, Change, Clocks, Daylight saving time, Spring, spring forwardLeave a comment

The clocks in the UK go forward tonight so we lose an hour in bed. The good things is that there are less accidents in the summer. When I was a child in the 70’s I think? They bought in three years where the clocks didn’t go back in autumn. It was darker in the morning but children who were tired in the evening were going home from school in brighter light. They had less accidents according to Rospa (royal society for the prevention of accidents).

The idea of extending British Summer time was not taken up because the sun didn’t come up in Scotland until after 10am I think. It was suggested again in the nineties but was not accepted by parliament. It also saves energy because people use less lighting and heating. Maybe the idea should be revisited.

Pastel drawing

Posted on March 25, 2023 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Art, Drawing, Fine Art, Land, Landscape, Life, mounted drawing, Pastels, Sea, Sketching, Sky2 Comments

Pastel drawing of sea, land and sky. Came up on my Facebook memories from four years ago. Where does the time go? It was one of the drawings I did during a pastel workshop a while ago. It was framed and has a mount over it so any loose pastel dust falls behind the mount and not in front of it. I think I’m going to take it over to a gallery where I have some work so I can try and sell it.

Clear sky

Posted on March 25, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged asteroid, Astronomy, aurora borealis, BBC, Clear, Science, Sky, Spaceweather.comLeave a comment

It’s a clear sky tonight, the clocks go forward in the UK today. I would love to see the Aurora Borealis which has been visible in lower latitudes over the last few nights, while it has stayed stubbornly cloudy here. The information about Auroral displays and asteroids etcetera you could check out a website called https://spaceweather.com

There is also a large asteroid passing between the Earth and the Moon tonight, but as that distance is around 250,000 miles and it’s about 264 meters across there’s no danger. I guess with a clear sky astronomers will be able to watch it.

I always watch the BBC programme ‘The Sky at Night’ every month when it’s on. But they seem to have stopped showing it. More dumbing down? How do you find out information if its not shared.

Three new?

Posted on March 25, 2023 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Art, Autumnal, Fine Art, Life, Painting, reference, Umbrella, Weather4 Comments

Enjoyed starting a few paintings today at the Orme Art Group after turning up with no reference photos, I forget to take my phone and it has some flower photos I was going to use! Thanks to a lady called Steph for letting me borrow her pictures.

These are only daubed in… I will go over them and add details later. I started one little canvas but I didn’t want to muddy the colours so I started another picture, then another. I’m hoping these all have a feeling of atmosphere. I want them to look misty and damp.

So long ago?

Posted on March 25, 2023March 25, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged dailyprompt, dailyprompt-1885, Geography, influential, Life, Memory, School, teacherLeave a comment

Who was your most influential teacher? Why?

My most influential teacher taught Geography. He was very good at explaining the subject, but he was also very humane. He would put information in context, and talk about how the world was changing. I think he talked about the population explosion. How people were being exploited, and how countries were growing cash crops despite their populations needed food for themselves. So as well as learning about oxbow lakes and contours on maps we learnt a lot about the world. I don’t think we would have been taught like that today.

Mirror.

Posted on March 24, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, bevelled, Branches, Colour, Mirror, Rainbow, Reflected, Shop, Spectrum, TodayLeave a comment

Seen today, a mirror in a shop, reflected branches. And the bevelled edge was shining with the spectrum. I had walked to the shop and on the way it poured with rain. The sun broke through behind me and I took a photo of a rainbow. But the camera did not save the image because I turned my phone off too quickly. So when I saw a similar effect in the bevelled edges I tried to capture those colours. Lots of things inspire me x

Farewell feathery frost

Posted on March 24, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Cold, feathery, Frost, frosty, Ice, Icy, Memory, Snow, Time, Weather, Window, windscreen3 Comments

I just found this photo and remembered the morning I sat in my car and saw these spectacular frosty fronds inside the windscreen. I think it was when the heater in the car was broken. It was a few years ago. I don’t think we have had such a cold spell in a few years. Yes it gets cold, but not this cold. It’s due to get cold again this weekend, a few snow showers, maybe some rain.

I remember when I was a child having frosts like this on the inside of our bedroom windows, Jack Frost really did visit in those days. We even had snow in June one year. We had been on the train and when the sky turned orange grey and the snow fell. But that was fifty years ago. Times change.

Eye news

Posted on March 24, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Age, Art, cataracts, dazzled, Eyesight, Fuzzy, Life, Light, Opticians, optometry2 Comments

Oh dear! I thought things were getting a bit ‘fuzzy’. I just had my eye test and they are. So far things are not bad, just a blurring round the edge of my lenses, like fogged up glasses when you come in from the rain, or being dazzled by the sun. My central vision is clear. But it’s something to keep an ‘eye’ on literally and metaphorically.

I need to eat healthily and have anti-oxidants in my diet. I will try and do everything I have to. I just don’t want to lose my eyesight, art means so much to me, reading too. I just hope this is a gradual process. I know it can be treated, I hope when I need it, it is.

Arrived today

Posted on March 24, 2023 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Art, Beauty, Fine Art, Nature, North America, note cards, sand cranes, Sensitive2 Comments

Note cards from my friend Martha in Colorado. She’s a brilliant artist and loves the Sand Cranes that migrate through her valley twice a year. She has cards for sale through her Etsy shop I think.

I hope she doesn’t mind me using her image. I think it’s so atmospheric. I like the different positions the birds are in, so well observed. And the sky is blustery and lively. It’s great to have something like this from such a talented artist. I’m definitely putting one of them in a frame. Is so sensitivley painted, I love it.

Painting and drawing

Posted on March 24, 2023March 24, 2023 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Art, Blocked, dailyprompt, dailyprompt-1884, diagnosis, Fine Art, Life, Painting, Prompt2 Comments

What do you wish you could do more every day?

I used to paint and draw a lot more than I do now. I feel though that recently I’m quite blocked, stuck, nervous of creating. Yes I sketch every couple of days, but my easle is resolutely empty. The paints in their boxes, the brushes lying fallow. The trouble is my physical health. My left arm keeps shaking and I have pain in my elbow. I’m still waiting for a full diagnosis. I don’t think it’s anxiety, but not painting makes me anxious….

I just saw a painting/art competition online, but the entry needs to have been created after 1st January 2023. The painting I had in mind, and it was a good one, was from a couple of years ago, so it was not suitable. Also the entry date is tomorrow, I’m not going to have time unless I get my paints out NOW and paint all night..

I have a list of paintings to do for friends and family. I feel oppressed by that. I should feel glad. I need to break the block.