New paintings and regular art updates.
Last week when I saw these on the local allotment they were hardly in bud. Not anymore! They are glorious. The red pops against the greens. The sunlight splashes down onto the plants and paving. A cool breeze made light shimmer over the heads of the poppies. What a warm sunlit spring it’s been. But we might have a drought!
Latest photo of my self portrait. I think its getting better although it might be a bit too peachy coloured. I need to sort out the hair, it’s hard to decide when to stop. Acrylic on canvas. I have done a few self portraits over the years. This might be my last! I think I’ll call it portrait of the artist as an old lady!
#earlywork a portrait I did of my then boyfriend, later husband when I was about 20 at college. It’s oil on canvas. I haven’t managed to photograph it all as there’s stuff in the way. The green dot on his face is a beam of light from a crystal glass mobile I’ve got up at my window.
Sultana scones with cream on a Calico Burleigh Ware plate for tea.
It was very tasty and filling. I decided not to have jam on them, it would have been to sweet. But I did butter them.
Burleigh Ware is a type of pottery made at Middleport pottery in Middleport, Stoke-on-Trent. Calico is one of many pattern types made by transferring the pattern onto the pottery with transfer prints. It’s a skilled job to line up all the prints. They are mounted on paper and stick to the pottery when they are wetted, the print sort of slides off onto the piece. If you turn over pottery it will usually have the makers name and other details printed on the base. People who do this say they are in the ‘turnover club’ .
I don’t do many of these anymore. I find it harder to hold my phone when I’m sketching and drawing. My fingers cramp up round the phone and sometimes round a stylus if I’m drawing with one. Anyway got to keep my hand in as the saying goes. Ten minute digital drawing in my Artrage app.
Hubby played a prophet in one of the Mystery Plays a few years ago. It was outside but his big booming voice could be heard by the audience sitting on the green. He could project his voice over the traffic noise. If he had been bought up in a more middle class environment I’m sure he would have been an actor. But mental health meant he struggled to remember all his words. We also did the local amateur panto together. He got a pretend Oscar one year for most enthusiastic entrance (or something like that). He was a marvellous, memorable man.
I wanted to explain sarcasm, then I saw this sign! British people are quite sarcastic also called ‘sarcy’ ‘taking the pis*’, ‘taking the pee’ ‘taking the mik’or ‘mikky’. We often love to make a sarcastic joke of things. For instance pointing out trump means to fart loudly (break wind) in this country. We find that amusing.
I think some countries just don’t get it, their humour is more literal. That may go to explain why it can be harder to understand each other’s languages and empathise with each other.
Some parts of Britain can be even more sarcastic I think the Midlands are particularly like this? They play with word sounds and make puns and skits that will cause fits of laughter for some but not others. It’s good to have a laugh!
Snug as a cat on the bed
Happy paws
Claws tucked away
Sleeping all day
Moggie dreams
Of chasing butterflies
Twitch and race
Across the garden
Happy and comfortable.
What does freedom mean to you?
Freedom should go hand in hand with equality. The right to speak out about problems in society, to try and eradicate things like torture and violence and wars. To reduce poverty and share resources and responsibilities more fairly. And also allow religious freedom as long as it doesn’t discriminate against others.
I know it’s impossible. Human behaviour makes selfishness and greed almost impossible to avoid. But we should try. Some rich people create foundations to make their wealth go to the poorest, the most needy. They show up the other wealthy millionaires and billionaires as people stifling equality and freedom.
Freedom is the ability to learn. To understand, to share knowledge. To show we are more than bluntly uncaring primates. Perhaps our anticedents with simpler lives may have been happier than modern humans can ever be. I am a naive idealistic person but I do care.
I do like drawing in my little sketchbook. It’s getting full of pictures and poems and some short stories.
This morning a friend took me out so we had a cappuccino and a muffin. It was lovely to have a chat. I decided to draw what was on the table so here’s the result. I like crosshatching to add shape and shade to make it more 3 dimensional.
We were talking to the waitress and and she saw my sketches. She said that she used to be good at art and sometimes shows her children how to do things. I suggested she get a little sketchbook to start drawing in again, I hope she does.
Mallaband-Brown