New paintings and regular art updates.
I went to the opening of Arts and Minds which is a gallery and support space for veterans today. It is at Middleport in stoke-on-trent. They were selling crocheted poppies for remembrance day, but they also had a few purple poppies for healing. I bought one and am wearing it on my jumper near my heart. It’s symbolic of how I feel. My heart is breaking and needs to heal. I’ve tried to Kee busy today, but somehow feel sadder.
WordPress keeps telling me my phone is full. I know! I keep trying to delete photos but it’s almost impossible. There are thousands of them. There’s lots of other things, I am not sure of half of what’s on here….
So I think I will have to buy more memory. Its funny how real memories are subsumed into a digital memory. If you don’t have a photo of it, it didn’t happen? Case in point, the recent death and funeral of the Queen. People have always recorded their lives throughout the ages, for example look at cave paintings. Then art throughout the ages, paintings for people who could pay, or sketches by people who had the means or ability to draw or paint. Then deguerreotypes (not sure of the spelling) became popular, painted portraits turned into slow motion photos that took time to take and heads had to be clamped in place to get a clear image. Box brownies, single lens reflex, eventually digital cameras, then phones which took a few photos. Now, the mobile phone is a hand held computer… But it still gets full.
The human mind can hold more information, but it’s not stored in a logical order. Links from the past suddenly reach out and grab your attention. Clearing a human brain of memory is not a good thing, and unless it happens through illness, age or injury, causing degradation of the brain structure, it is to be hoped that people can build memories (good or bad?), not lose them.
Wearing a jumper tonight. But I think I’m lucky, I have the money to buy a jumper. I can afford to put the heating up if I want. I have a roof over my head that hasn’t been damaged by the weather or fire or flooding. I have shops nearby I can go to, and a library I could visit if I want to stay warm. The world is a strange place. I am in a situation that a large percentage of the world would love to be in. But eighty men have more money between them than half the world’s population (about four billion). And now the UK government has given tax cuts to the richest here. In fact if you earn less than £100,000 a year you will be worse off.
Does fairness exist in the world? Yes, but not enough to go round. People are mostly uncaring, or worse still, selfish. So if you can, think of someone worse off than you, and try and help if you can. You could do that by physically or mentally helping, or even voting for monetary or environmental benefits.
Nasturtiums like poor soil. They have large seeds about the size of a pea. I think they would be great for children to grow. You can plant them in succession over a few weeks and they first put out tendrils with umbrella shaped leaves. When it rains droplets gather on their leaves. Then in late summer, or early autumn the flowers appear. Trumpet shaped, the flower from pale yellow to deep red, with diffeepatterns and stripes as well as full colour ones. You can eat the spicy leaves and flowers in salads or on cold soups. I think the victorians used to use them as food decorations.
There’s people I need to speak to, but as the days go on I get less likely to reach out. Its like I’m encapsulating myself against the whole world. Retreating into myself, hiding away? So nothing else can hurt me. Keeping busy where I have to, but really all I want is to put my head under the covers and escape from the world. Self protection, I hope it’s not selfishness. I don’t know if I will feel better soon. Am I being lazy? No, definitely not. Just torn apart.
At the moment I’m up and down. One minute trying to plan things, the next remembering what has happened. Disbelief is my main emotion. That and loss. I feel like writing things down is helping a bit, so I’m here, blogging and sharing my thoughts. I hope that’s OK for people. I’m gradually working things out, grateful that I have hubby, friends and family there for support. When you lose a relative it’s a shock. I have cried, I will cry again, how long for, I don’t know. Its turmoil and chaos sometimes, then I calm down for a while. X
On Saturday 24th September 2022, Art and Minds, a new gallery at unit 3 Harper Street, Middleport, will be opening to the public. It is also going to offer support to service men and women.
I was pleased to be offered some wall space there and have five small paintings that will be on display there including paintings of poppies (for remembrance) and two relating to industrial archaeology.
The gallery is in amongst a group of shop units and the Harper Street entrance is directly opposite the entrance of the Middleport pottery in Middleport, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. If you are visiting there why not pop across the road and come and look at the new shops there. X
I’m swimming in a sea of loss
Dashed against rocks
Spinning in a whirlpool
With weeds tangling my feet.
Around me are grey souls
I don’t recognise them
But they reach out to grab me
Hands come close
Trying to drag me down
Must try and float
Look for the surface light
For the blue sky
For a rescue boat.
Today’s #bandofsketchers prompt was public. I did two versions of public baths, a sketch and then added a digital filter. Not sure which is best, pretty scrappy. I’m trying to keep going despite recent events.
The plants are turning red in places, golds too. The rushes by the lake have dark heads. We are just starting to head into autumn. I took a photo through the glass on the balcony of Westport Lake Cafe. The cafe is a few meters above the lake. It is curved wood like a boat standing on massive metal legs. It is built into a slope because of the way the land falls away. The entrance is at ground level on the side opposite the lake. There is a white curve in the just above and to the right of the middle of the photo. That’s a reflection. Not sure what caused it.
Mallaband-Brown