New paintings and regular art updates.
Red seems to be the theme of my paintings this week. Red poppies and red steam engine governor. Now I need to try and get the poppies painting finished. I want to work on the petals to make them more realistic. I’d also like to get the leaves and stems right. It’s difficult from imagination so I’m going to try and find some reference photos to work from.
I need to get some paintings done by Friday for a new art venue. I should have gone to choir practice tonight but I’d started painting this and I didn’t want to stop. It’s based on a photo I took at Etruria Industrial Museum yesterday and shows a governor spinning. The two round weights govern the speed of the engines rotation. The faster it goes, the more the weights are pushed outwards, but they are pulled down and inwards by gravity which regulates its speed. I will try and get movement into it.
Catching the sun
Up in the sky
Over the trees
Lighter than air you fly
Heat rises up
Into the envelope
Shaped and sewn
A flying sphere
View from above
Seeing the ground
Eventually landing
Safe and sound.
For todays prompt for #bandofsketchers ‘agricultural’ I have drawn a mediaeval style of peasant sowing seed. I don’t think I could attempt a combine harvester or a tractor at the moment.
I have got to delete some of my images again I’m afraid. I hit 100% of my storage at WordPress so if you find any posts without pictures you will know why!
We visited Etruria Industrial Museum today where they were holding a classic car fair outside on the field near the museum. They had many different cars, from this Riley to Ford Fiestas. Old Minis to a touring bus/coach. I took quite a few photos and this was a favourite. The sun was shining and it was quite warm and the sky was reflected in the car bonnet. Had a lovely afternoon.
Sculpture at Trentham Gardens at the North end of the lake. It is the main sculpture and has been there for many years.
Persius killed the Gorgon Medusa by using his shield to reflect the image of her face back at her. Her power was to turn men to stone with her glance. Her hair was made up of writhing snakes. Only by doing this could he save himself.
I think I first heard of the story when I was a child, reading Greek myths and legends in a book for children. But I did not see this sculpture till I was an adult. I think I would have been upset to see this rather graphic image as a child.
One of the fairy sculptures at Trentham Gardens today. She seems to be throwing leaves into the air in a wild gesture of freedom. She is standing on to of a world or perhaps a seed pod. The creator of the sculptures shows a great deal of variety and not only humour but great expressiveness.
UPDATE! XXXX if you read on please note the nylon fibers are ‘Muffler hair’! It’s stuff they use to muffle the sound from the car exhaust. It is because the exhaust pipe is breaking down and the fibers have escaped!
I originally wrote : Someone has stuffed nylon hair extensions into my car exhaust! I went out this morning to a meeting and when I came out I saw what I thought was hair hanging out of the exhaust (tail pipe). I pulled at it and dragged out a whole hank of the stuff! I tried to feel inside the exhaust but couldn’t tell if there was any more.
On closer inspection it was black brown and grey nylon, like a hair extension. It was quite strong and you could see the sheen on it like dolls hair. I decided to drive home carefully. I kept below forty miles an hour so that I didn’t put too much pressure on the system. At home I saw some more strands hanging down, so I pulled them out too.
Then my hubby and I decided to go out to a local garden and lake, as we drove along I saw a couple of Police Community Support Officers, so I pulled over and asked what I should do. Clearly there was no way of identifying the culprit so they said make a note of it and if it damaged the car I should report it to my insurers. When we got to the gardens there was more so we removed it.
I checked again when we got back to the car after the walk. This time I took hubby’s advice and revved the car hard in neutral. More nylon, a really long strand! Finally we got home. No more stuff. Hopefully it’s all out. It really concerns me that someone would do such a stupid trick!
SO I WAS WRONG, IT IS PART OF THE EXHAUST SYSTEM. Also now I know we need to get it fixed!
Etruria Industrial Museum is open this weekend. This is a museum that houses Jessy Shirleys Mill. It houses a steam engine that was used to grind bone and flint to be added to clay to make fine bone china. I want to take some photos so I can do some paintings if the machinery. The mill is ‘steamed’ once a month in the summer. They usually have events running alongside the steaming. I am not sure but they might have classic cars this weekend?
Etruria is a part of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire and is named for Etruscan pottery which copied the Italian style. It was made by Josiah Wedgwood.
It was yesterday? That our queen died. Prince Charles is now King Charles III.
The BBC has been showing wall to wall reports about everything that is happening. I understand why, its TV channels are the face of the establishment. They have to show what’s happening for the sake of history and posterity. But for goodness sake! The same report about the Queen’s life has been shown on the hour at least six times. Rolling news at its worst? I feel sad that she has died, but being reminded constantly is too much, at least try and vary the content. For instance another channel had stories about artists who had created portraits of her, and had interesting anecdotes. The TV stations knew this was inevitable. Stop making a meal of it. How many days will it be before the obsession stops?
Mallaband-Brown