New paintings and regular art updates.
I went out in the car tonight and the drivers rear passenger side door won’t open from the outside. I usually put my walking stick and bag on the back seat. I think I might have caught the button that locks all the doors? I don’t know though because the door at the back nearside still opens. Maybe it needs oiling? Or maybe if I leave the window down and try leaning in from the outside I could get it open? I will try and ring a friend for advice.
I could see an odd colour in the sky last night at about 4am , just vague because it was cloudy. So I took a long exposure (60 second) shot.
I posted this on Threads and someone then told me it’s not possible to photograph an aurora through cloud? But I don’t know how thin or dense the cloud was and also my camera shake makes everything look extra blurry.
If this isn’t an aurora, (maybe reflected through gaps in cloud), what has caused this?
You know when you see something and you just have to take a photo. Then I was explaining how to take a long, 60 second exposure to someone but it was bright enough at 15 seconds. Finally I used the photodirector app again to add some texture.
This is not my embroidery, it’s a kneeling cushion in the local church. I thought it was really interesting, and had to take a photo.
It’s not Summer, not even Spring, but Strawberries are out in the shops and are quite tasty. I had some tonight for tea with cream. I did sprinkle a bit of sweetner over the top of them.
I did think of adding a few blueberries to the fruit but there was enough with what I’d already prepared.
What I do like is the way cream fills in the little pores of the strawberries, it makes a nice pattern and could be cropped and put together as a collage. I might do that. Red is a favourite colour and this with the contrast of black and white makes a fresh looking image.
Have you seen this book? It’s a really strange and funny book illustrated with squished fairys. The story is that a little girl who accidentally snaps a fairy in her book, and then gradually collects more and more in her book. They are the essence of the fairys, their spirits, and incredibly cheeky looking.
Each illustration has notes of the capture alongside them. As Lady Cottingham grows up her writing improves and her speculation about the fairy world and the intensions of the “wee folk” gets more involved. I really enjoyed it.
Heros and Villans
Have to be the various iterations of Dr Who and his /her protagonists. In the early days I used to hide behind the settee when the Daleks or Cybermen came on the screen.
The first Dr Who was played by William Hartnell. I have had the privilege of watching almost all of them, (different actors have played him/her over the years. That is except when I didn’t have a TV in the 1980s. Of the modern villains I have to say I think the weeping angels (silent, only move if you close your eyes, creep up on you) were one of the scariest. I like it because of its English Charm. Which other country would have an alien traveling in a police call box, (a phone box for police). Bigger on the inside and travelling through time and space, THE TARDIS. My favourite!
I washed my hair earlier. My towel is a bit stiff because I don’t use softener in the machine, so when I wrapped it round my head it stuck out! I laughed when I saw myself in the mirror. I took a photo but I was in silhouette so I tried to lighten it and reduce the contrast. Then I put the picture through my photodirector app which can add texture…. This is the result.
Speaking to a friend in America about snakes reminded me that there are a few species here including the most venemous one, the Adder. It’s recognisable by the diamond pattern on its back.
My hubby was climbing cliffs in Devon when he was young and put his hand onto a hand hold. He realised to his horror that it was a nest of Vipers! He told me he had nightmares for weeks afterwards.
But there are grass snakes which are lizards not snakes, they have vestigial legs I think. We found one basking in the sand on a Devonian beach one summer holiday. It glinted gold in the setting sun. Wonderful.
Today is pancake day in the UK. The chance to eat something nice before Lent starts. Lent is a Christian tradition where people give up a favorite food until Easter. I guess in some ways it’s comparable with the tradition of Ramadan in Islamic culture, where people do not eat between sunrise and sunset until the end of the period of time when they celebrate the end fasting. I don’t know much about either religion, but it’s interesting that both are movable feasts (related to the phases of the moon).
Going back to pancakes. UK ones are bigger but thinner than the ones in America. The crepe suzzette in France is even thinner and served on a more regular basis. We tend to mainly eat them on Shrove Tuesday. Served with sugar or sweetener and lemon juice. Some people add blueberries or other fillings.
You’re writing your autobiography. What’s your opening sentence?
I’ve had a varied life, most of it devoted to art, but I’ve also managed to cram a lot of experiences into it.
I would then go on to detail sow of the art work I have done, but also the adventures I’ve had with my hubby, who was a most eccentric man. Our main mode of transport when we were younger was by bicycle and then a series of pulled old cars that consequently meant we had a lot of situations to deal with. My jobs were also varied and I would talk about as much as I could without disclosing personal information. I am not sure if it would be interesting to anyone else though?
Mallaband-Brown