Abstract face

Posted on January 7, 2023 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Abstract face, Apps, Art, Blogging, Digital art, Filters, Memory, self portrait, Sketching, WordPressLeave a comment

Abstract self portrait. I can’t remember how I got to this point. It’s got to be a couple of years since I created this. I’ve got an idea that I used various filters but which ones? My WordPress Media library has some odd images in it and every so often I have to edit them and delete some of them because my memory on WordPress is 99.8% full. I can’t afford to pay more for my blog page so it’s a case of managing what I have.

Saying that, does anyone know what else I can do? I don’t want to delete blog posts, I don’t have the time or the energy to do it. What I am doing is to delete some of the images as they take up more space on my site. What do people think?

Tiger cat

Posted on January 6, 2023 Posted in Cat, UncategorizedTagged Black and white cat, Carving, Cat, Design, Fun, Learning, lino cut, Pattern, Printing, tiger cat2 Comments

Lino cut cat from last year. The curve at the back could be from a snail shell. This is another technique I would like to pramore this year. I think I will try and create card sets, hopefully without cutting my fingers. You also have to remember to carve back to front or letters are the wrong way round. If you have ever tried this you can feel the carving tools slipping on the surface of the lino. You have to push quite hard to cut down into it but not too deep or you can split the lino. The kit I bought had a safety carving blade which is the safest way to carve. I look forward to doing some more.

Still coughing

Posted on January 6, 2023 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Cat, diagnosis, Feline, Odd, Short story, Silly story, Very short story, Werecat?Leave a comment

I don’t want to worry you doctor, but I don’t think the tablets you gave me worked? You see I’m still coughing, and I keep wheezing, and I feel odd…

Thank you for examining me. So you can hear the wheeze? Oh, more like a purr? How odd.

Now look doctor, I don’t understand. What do you mean, feline blood? No my family keep cats, they aren’t actually cats!

But it doesn’t make sense, I am not licking my cat! How can it be? A Furball? That’s what I’m coughing up?….. That’s Mad! And why have my pupils suddenly gone from round to slits? Oh doctor, am I turning into a Werecat!? Is that your diagnosis?

Cyclamen

Posted on January 6, 2023January 6, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Cactii, Cyclamen, Flowers, Growing, Life, Pattern, Plants, Reflected, Seeds, Symmetry, WindowledgeLeave a comment

Apparently reflected (using the layout, symmetry app on my phone). These Cyclamen are flowering really well. As they fade the stems curl over and the flower heads start growing seeds that are then deposited in the soil to grow into new plants. This is a large indoor version but we have small groups of cyclamen growing in the garden. The colours go well with the Christmas cactii next to them. OK I think that’s enough about my kitchen window ledge!

A strange creature

Posted on January 6, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Christmas cactus, Creature, Flowers, Fun, Green, Life, Pareidolia, Pattern, Red2 Comments

A crab? A pouting face? A reflection of a dragon? You can do funny things with symmetry and photos. Christmas cactus turned into something surreal. It would be better if it was less blurred, but my arm shakes so much sometimes that I get camera shake. Still it’s an interesting image and it’s an example of Pareidolia (seeing creatures in a pattern that isn’t actually there). I have posted a few of these on the blog over the years.

Christmas cactuses, late

Posted on January 6, 2023January 6, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Cactii, Christmas cactus, Colour, Flowers, Kitchen, Late, Time, Windowledge, winter floweringLeave a comment

Only a couple of weeks late, but gloriously in flower now. It’s amazing how the tiny tips of flower buds grow swell and then unfurl. We have bright red, and pale pink and dark pink it’s a riot of flowers in the kitchen. Plus we have a cyclamen and a money tree. I like it at this time of year. It disguises the dying hanging baskets outside in the yard.

Close up

Posted on January 5, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Cloth, fibres, macro, magnifying lens, Memories, micro, Photos, Time, ViewLeave a comment

I have a little lens and light that used to fit over my old mobile. I took a few photos while I had the old one which I just found in my gallery, because I transferred the memory card over. I might publish a few more. Is this called macro photography or micro photography? I can’t remember. Anyway this reminds me that you don’t have to stick to one style of doing things. You can experiment and see whether you can do things a different way. Be open to new ideas…..

Down the Rabbit hole

Posted on January 5, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged afternoon tea, Cake, Cup and saucer, Food, Life, rabbit hole tea room, sandwiches, Scones, Stoke, Stoke-on trent, TeaLeave a comment

My friend reminded me today that two years ago we were having afternoon tea at the Rabbit hole tea room in Stoke. We had a lovely meal of sandwiches, scones and cakes and tea in porcelain tea cups and saucers. We had to book a table in advance. Obviously it was closed during lock-down but I believe it is open again now. It was a charming place and suitable for families having birthday parties. I hope it does well despite the cost of living crisis.

Dahlia

Posted on January 4, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Childhood memories, Children, Colours, dahlias, Flowers, Green, growing up, Memories, Orange, Red, White, Yellow1 Comment

Reviewing old photos from a few years ago I came across some pictures of Dahlias. This one of a pompom Dahlia really resonated. I remembered my father used to grow them in the summer when I was a child. He had a whole patch of them, this shape and more shaggy ones. I remember I could see spirals in them. They were all different reds and oranges, whites and magenta and yellows. Striking against the green leaves and stems. They were in a small back garden and next to a pile of soil where we children would play ‘I’m the king of the castle get down you dirty rascak’ not sure how that worked except we competed to be at the top of the pile of soil…. Memories are random and come back infrequently. I just remember the Dahlias and sunshine.

Mandelbrot

Posted on January 4, 2023 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged #bandofsketchers, Art, Chaos, Drawing, fractals, infinite, mandelbrot set, SketchingLeave a comment

For Tuesdays #bandofsketchers prompt Chaos. This is an old digital drawing I did on the computer years ago. I don’t know if this is cheating but I tried to draw the Mandelbrot set, a fractal image that can be viewed at all scales and this shape keeps being revealed. It might be infinite. It is a product of Chaos theory! If this wasn’t OK I said I would try and draw something else.