Artrage sketch from 5 years ago. I was learning how to use Artrage which I had bought recently and was experimenting with colours, metallic backgrounds and textures. I quite like the watercolour effect that seemed almost analogue.
5 year old sketch
Seeing a glow
Something in the sky at 6.40 am, Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire. 26.10.24.even with my bad eyesight I could see the sky was patchy and a bit odd. I thought it was just clouds but the colour had a hint of green. This must be boring because it’s not the streamers and ribbons people usually see. Anyway it’s through me bedroom window.
But to notice solar activity this far south. The Sun is at solar maximum, most active over a 22 year waning then waxing. And I keep noticing it!
Esther Chiltons weekly prompt “Halloween”?
Halloween in the Southern Hemisphere?
It’s getting sunnier in the global south. Spring is in the air. Are there spooky ghosts frolicking in the daffodils or their equivalent… The shadows are lifting. Witches must be wearing smart floral dresses… Vampires? No fruit bats. Werewolves. Or Tasmanian devils. Even dragons are different, wise and peaceful. But there are places that celebrate the day of the dead. So the question is how spooky is the South?
I miss youdraw
Youdraw.com was a simple black and white site with small and large black pens and erasers. The space to draw in was tiny but people drew wonderful images. For a while I drew and moderated at the site. It was trying to collect 500,000 drawings to represent population growth. I had to delete rude and racist pictures, and spent hours on some days deleting the same scrawl over and over again till the person posting eventually gave up. The site then had protection put in place to block the bad posters, so things improved. Then I found I couldn’t make enough time to volunteer anymore so I had to stop. This drawing was one of mine X
Pumpkin time
Decided to paint a pumpkin today. Acrylic on canvas. It’s for a food festival that’s coming up, our art group is doing pictures of vegetables and fruit to illustrate the theme
This took about 2 hours to paint. It’s a little bigger than A4. It’s sort of a mixture of halloween and nature.
Fabric sunflowers
I forgot to ask how these were made when I saw them at the weekend. I don’t normally like fake flowers but these were cute and life size. I think they are made of cloth. I suppose you could wash them if necessary. It’s fascinating how many crafts there are, and what you can make things out of. Like plastic, wool, wood, cotton, paper, ceramics and metal. The world is full of “stuff” , often nice “stuff” but these tranklements take up a lot of space, and are they necessary to enhance your life? You choose.
Trifle
What food would you say is your specialty?
My trifle is based on my mother’s and her mother’s recipe.
It consists of a fruit and jelly bottom layer with a touch of sherry or port.
Middle layer? Blancmange (not custard). Either the same flavour as the jelly or something different like chocolate.
Top layer, a decent amount of whipped double cream, with possibly cherries, strawberries or raspberries on top or grated chocolate.
You can’t really go wrong with that X. Usually I make it at Christmas or for birthdays.
Copper sky
The clouds shone like copper tonight, not red or gold. This is the closest I can get to the colour like in this photo. I’m still looking out for a view of the comet that’s in the evening sky after sunset when it’s clear, but I haven’t spotted it yet.
I wish I could have taken a photo of the actual sunset but I was driving and my camera was in the handbag on the back seat and I couldn’t find anywhere to stop. I will try and look again tomorrow
Clocks going back
Time flies forward
Slides past
But falls back
Next weekend.
An extra hour
But darker earlier
The light fades
Time seems to slow
Nights distances lengthen
I hate it.
Bring back the sun
Or leave the clock alone!
Dragon/ Chamelion
I painted a dragons eye on Saturday and found someone at the craft fair I was at on Sunday was crocheting karma Chamelions. Weirdly the eyes seem to match! How odd. I’m not sure why I bought the soft toy, it might go to a neice. I was so pleased I thought I’d take a photo of them together. X
Mallaband-Brown 