Forty

Posted on February 27, 2022 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Digital filter, Fine Art, Forty, Life, Painting, Photoshop, self portrait, Time passesLeave a comment

A self portrait I did aged forty but filtered to obscure it. It’s twenty years old and I can’t remember why I did it. I think I was experimenting with photoshop at the time. It’s me wearing a reuse, recycle, repair tee shirt (which I still have somewhere). My hair was in a short bob and I painted the book covers on the bookcase with the titles of all my favourite books. Maybe I will use a different filter and see how that affects the painting. I seem to do a self portrait every ten years, so a while to go till the next one. X

Staring into space

Posted on February 27, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Breeze, Drifting, gentle, Lake, Landscape, Reflections, Relaxed, Sleeping, Staring, Time, View5 Comments

I asked my hubby what he was thinking about when he stood at the edge of the lake. He said, just the distance, the weather, how calm the water was. The cool breeze, the reflections.

It sounds lovely and calm. No fears, no worries. I said to him, think of it again at bed time. Let it dispel any anxieties or worries. Just picture yourself on the bank, looking out. Let your mind drift away to quiet thoughts and gentle sounds. I might just try and do the same myself tonight.

Mirror mirror

Posted on February 27, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Face, Fun, Humour, Life, Mirror, Poem, Poetry, Rhyme, SillyLeave a comment

Mirror mirror, on the wall

What do you see, the room at all?

Do you see the world around

Clearly see where you are bound?

Into night, away from day

Where your owner learns to play

Music on the piano.

Making every hour go

So when a face you finally show

The thought is there

A face so fair.

Destruction

Posted on February 27, 2022 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Burslem, destroyed, Fine Art, Gone, Memories, Mural, Stoke-on trent, The Leopard HotelLeave a comment

Today’s #bandofsketchers prompt was destruction. The Leopard Hotel in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, was destroyed by fire just a few weeks ago. This is a sketch from a photo by Stokie Bloke (I can’t face visiting the Leopard Hotel). Not very accurate. You can see the roof has gone. There were more photos including the room where my murals were. The walls are still standing, but there are just blank ashy grey spaces. So sad.

Seedpod

Posted on February 27, 2022February 27, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged fern? Seedpod, Green, houseplant, Indoor plant, Life, Plant, RedLeave a comment

I have grown this plant in my bathroom for years, it sometimes has tiny white flowers. I think it’s a maiden hair fern but I’m not sure. Then a month or so ago a small green seed capsule appeared on it. Now its turned from green to red. I wonder if it does contain seeds? I might try and discover what it really is.

I’ve just checked Google and its not a maiden hair fern. Does anyone out there know what it is? I need a plant checker on my phone… Not enough memory!

Daphne

Posted on February 27, 2022February 27, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Bush, daphne, gardener, Gardening, Google, Growing, Life, Plant, Rode hall, StaffordshireLeave a comment

I didn’t know what this bush was but it has a lovely scent and was growing in places around the grounds of Rode Hall.

I has to ask one of the gardeners there what it was. She was very helpful in explaining what it was. When I got home I looked it up online: Daphne odora, winter daphne, is a species of flowering plant in the family Thymelaeaceae, native to China, later spread to Japan and Korea. It is an evergreen shrub, grown for its very fragrant, fleshy, pale-pink, tubular flowers, each with four spreading lobes, and for its glossy foliage. Wikipedia

Please note. I’ve been told they are extremely poisonous.

What next?

Posted on February 26, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Future, imagining, Life, Memories, Photo, Thought, Time2 Comments

I want to know the future, that people will be safe in their homes, that war will not escalate. I try and be positive, but a few men (and it is mainly men) have most of the power in this world. The rest of us are not involved in those decisions, we are just along for the ride.

What can people do? Protest, take action, or is acquiesce all we can do to save lives? Who can tell?

Pier

Posted on February 26, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Beauty, Blue, Llandudno, Ocean, peer, Pier, Poem, Poetry, Sea, Sky, victorian2 Comments

I peer from the pier

At the sea

Look at the blue

Waves and sky

The handrail mimics the ocean.w

White clouds the balustrade.

Llandudno pier

Victorian beauty.

Dunked biscuits taste better

Posted on February 26, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged aroma, beverage, biscuit, Cocoa, Coffee, Drink, dunking, Food, Hot drink, Life, Taste, TeaLeave a comment

It has been proven that biscuits taste more biscuity when they are dunked in your favourite hot beverage, tea, coffee, cocoa, (maybe not bovril or that kind of drink!) apparently it releases more biscuit aromas. I think it makes them easier to eat too!

Some biscuits like ginger nuts don’t soften as much as ones like rich tea biscuits. The worst thing that can happen is that the biscuit/ cookie falls apart and bits fall into your drink. You can either fish the bits out with a spoon or wait till you have finished drinking and then scoop it out. Have a go if you haven’t dunked before… Enjoy!

Snowdrop drawing

Posted on February 26, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Drawing, Landscape, Life, Orme Art group, Sketching, Snowdrop, WinterLeave a comment

I went to our Orme Art group today and as I only had limited time I decided to draw from one of my photos from yesterday. It had to be a patch of snowdrops. So evocative of winter. It’s a felt pen sketch. I drew the light areas first then filled in around them. Probably took 90 minute’s.