New paintings and regular art updates.
Vladimir Putin seems to enjoy flattening countries. He helped Bashir Assad destroy Allepo in Syria. He attacked Georgia and Crimea and now he continues to mercilessly attack cities and towns in Ukraine. He says his troops are withdrawing but the shells keep raining down on innocent people, children, babies.
If any Russians read this please spread the truth. Do not listen to state propaganda. I’m just a person hoping that this can stop and peace and compassion can happen.
Draco, the dragon constellation and Ursa minor. Draco writhes up the northern night sky from the constellation Hercules up to Lyra. It sits near the north pole of the ecliptic. It was first identified by Ptolomey in the 2nd century. It remains one of 88 modern constellations.
I’ve found out a lot as I’ve written my college report. Eastern dragons are wise and benign, western ones evil and dangerous. They have lots of different appearances that vary depending on where they are were from or the time they were imagined. No legs, two legs, four legs, winged. Dragons seem to have evolved through time and now a more standardised anatomy seems to have emerged. I wonder how dragons will change in the future?
One of my glass pendants, beautifully photographed by @transishots on Instagram. They are for sale at the Waiting Room gallery in Longport, Stoke-on-Trent. They are glass cabochons made of dichromatic? Glass. I really loved making them and @shivamoonhippybizaar did the wireweaving. X
We had a few yellow flowers last year. Now they are mounds! I think it’s lesser celandine. Apparently they are grown from little bulbules? They can get on your shoes and get transferred around the garden. I used to be on a natural history website where you recorded the date when the flowers come out. It’s clear that spring is getting earlier each year even though it is only changing slowly. Anyway I like these plants. Our garden is quite wild and it’s good to add different wild flowers.
Golden eyes staring up at me. Sitting in the sunlight. Is that love or ‘feed me’ in his eyes? Predator, but well fed. He doesn’t chase birds thankfully. But he does chase other cats, and gets chased in return. I think they are playing ‘tag’. Long whiskers twitch, he’s ready to rub up against my legs. Enjoy the sun and warmth today. Tomorrow maybe snow is on the way!
We were going out yesterday when a car pulled up outside the house. Is that your garden? The driver asked us. Yes we said. Oh great. Can we buy it? No, I said. It’s not for sale! The man looked disappointed. Why do you want it my hubby asked. We are thinking of buying the old pub across the road to turn into apartments. We would use it as a car park. A car park alongside our house? No way. People coming and going at all times of the day and night. Destroying our wildlife garden. Also we would need a large fence to keep people out who could just walk onto the carpark…? NO! I was polite but said no.
My college project is about dragons. I have to write a report and I’m getting bogged down with all the information I’m trying to put together. From dinosaur fossils that could have been mistaken for dragons. To their ancient mythological history. Then I looked at Bestiaries and the bible. It’s surprising how many places they appear. There is a dragon or group of dragons for every continent. So much so that I cannot talk about all of them. They seem to split between benign and protective beasts or evil and sly. Then I look at the symbology of them. I tried to include some semiology within the report. Finally I’m looking at modern imagery, novels and children’s stories. I’ve also started to write a children’s book and I’m using my illustrations for it. I hope to finish writing soon but each time I think I have finished I find more to put in and more to edit out. I think I have too many quotes and I need to put more in my own words.
Lines added to the sketch of my friend using a sketching app on my phone. Then I used a flood fill to colour the background and used the photodirector app to add texture. The drawing is still visible underneath the digital doodling. It’s interesting to play with images. It might not be very artistic but I enjoyed working on it.
Friend sketch. I try and remember to take a small sketch pad with me and when I have the chance I will draw for a few minutes. My sketchpad is like a visual diary, I might use a drawing as a basis for another piece of art, or simply as an aide memoir reminding me of what happened on a particular day. This day was a visit to the Waiting room gallery to see a Spanish Exhibition and tile workshop.
We had a starter each of Thai fishcakes then I had Thai Noodles with squid, prawns, fish balls, spare ribs and chicken. This was mixed with spices and vegetables. As usual the portion size was a bit too big for me. But I really enjoyed it. Not to spicy not to mild.
We were at Sawadee Thai Taste in Stoke. We go there about once a month because its nice to try new flavours every so often. But I’m also not going out very often because of Covid. I have to feel safe to go out!
Mallaband-Brown