At the Waiting Room Gallery

Posted on May 16, 2021 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Art, Art gallery, closed station, Fine Art, Gallery, LMS, Longport, Railway, Station, Waiting room gallery2 Comments

We visited again today to see how things are going at the Waiting room gallery. Things are happening, there are new people helping to organise the gallery spaces and it looks like they are going to have a sales /shop area and seperate exhibition space both downstairs and upstairs. The Gallery is still linked with the work going on at Longport Station to restore it. I hope that it all happens soon and without delays to their plans. I will write more as I find out what is happening.

Longport Station isn’t open to the public at the moment but it is a small station between Stoke and Manchester. It was once part of the LMS line (London Manchester and Scottish line).

Coots and chicks

Posted on May 16, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Calling, cheep, chicks, coots, Environment, Feathers, Longport, Nature, Photos, Poem, Poetry, Stoke-on trent, Westport lake2 Comments

A joy of Coots

Baby chicks

Cheeping and calling

Rushing across a pool

Blue footed parents

White shield on their heads

Dark chicks

Scattered yellow feathers

Round their heads

And red beaks.

How do they morph

From chick to Coot?

Westport lake today

Posted on May 16, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged #100daywalkingchallenge, Blue, Calming, Green, Nature, Photos, Relaxing, Rest, Sky, Water, Westport lake2 Comments

I walked around Westport Lake today, the leaves are almost fully out on the trees and the birds are either on the nest or are swimming around with chicks.

The green of nature and the blue of the sky are so calming. Cheering me up, settling me down. Letting me relax. I love going there…

Dazzling tulips

Posted on May 16, 2021 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Collage, Colour, Drawing, Fun, Orange, Pink, Poem, Poetry, post it notes, Red, Sketching, Spring, YellowLeave a comment

Collage with post it notes, holographic paper and ink

Splash your colour everywhere

Brighten the world

Pink and red and yellow

Purple and orange too.

Spring is here

The world is green

But tulips

Give the world joy.

Cat unlocks cat flap!

Posted on May 15, 2021 Posted in Cat, UncategorizedTagged Black and white cat, Cat, Cat flap, in only, Out, Outdoor cat, Tuxedo cat2 Comments

Somehow the outdoor cat has worked out how to get the cat flap to open outwards (it’s set to let him in but not out). Over the last few days he’s cracked the cat flap panel and bashed it so hard trying to get out that he managed to turn a little wheel round that stops it from flapping. What worries me is that our indoor cats will sneak out with him…..

Gate house

Posted on May 15, 2021May 18, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged #100daywalkingchallenge, cemetery, Clematis, Death, Life, Photo, Rain, Sad, somber, TimeLeave a comment

View of the gatehouse of the cemetery with masses of Clematis Montana? growing up and around trees in the grounds. Splendid gates and brick pillars add to the impression of a proud building. I enjoyed walking through the cemetery tonight, in a gentle rain. The somber clouds echoing the place.

I like the subtle colours in this photo, mostly muted except for the lime greens of some of the newly grown leaves, sulphurous and alive, balancing out the pinks, greys and browns. It had just stopped raining (we had been sheltering under a tree when I took this photo). I dont know what I think of buildings in cemeteries, could anyone acyually live there or is it offices? and who locks up the gates at night- is there an official gate keeper?

Graveyard tree

Posted on May 15, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged #100daywalkingchallenge, Death, Evergreen, History, Life, limbs, Penkhull cemetery, Photo, TreeLeave a comment

Trees are wonderful things, they live for much longer than humans and they show their lives in their limbs. This evergreen must have been damaged t some stage with one limb shooting off at a right angle then growing straight up parallel to the main trunk. The greenery starts part way up the trunk, perhaps the lower branches have fallen or been cut back. What history it must have seen over the years?

Cat washing

Posted on May 15, 2021May 15, 2021 Posted in Cat, Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Black and white cat, Black and white drawing, Life, Poem, Poetry, Sketch, Washing, washing catLeave a comment

Cat gymnastics

Wash that face

Wash that leg.

Rough tongued

Smooths fur.

On and on

Till spic and span

Dusty whiskers

Long gone.

A paw here

A claw there

Cat cleaned

To perfection

Within a whisker.

My ageing left hand

Posted on May 15, 2021 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Acrylic, Art, black monoprint, Colour, Experiment, Felt pens, Glue, Hand, post-it's, Sketck3 Comments

My ageing left hand. Monoprint in black acrylic of my right hand, then drew round my left hand on top of that, cut it out, stuck a couple of post it notes on the page underneath and shaded with felt pens, then stuck the hand down and added black ink texture to it.

Thursdays prompt

Posted on May 15, 2021 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged #bandofsketchers, Art, Black and white, Bricks, Chimneys, cylindrical, Drawing, Sketching, Stoke Station3 Comments

Finally got round to drawing something at five am today! Cylindrical chimneys on a building opposite Stoke Station. I took the photo on Thursday but then had a fall and hit my head. Spent four hours in Accident and Emergency. I’m fine, the pavement is probably dented!