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I’m sad to say that I didn’t get my painting of Molly Leigh the Burslem witch into the three counties open exhibition this year. (Staffordshire, Cheshire and Shropshire).

I know they had over 200 entries and it depends who is selecting the works of art. I also know that the exhibition has to be cohesive and not too eclectic. So will I enter again? Yes, but I will probably choose to do something less specific. But I’m glad I painted this.

The reason why? I painted something similar to this as a mural in the Leopard Hotel in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, several years ago. The building burned down a couple of years ago and I wanted to try and recreate the memory of it. The painting means a lot more to me than getting it in this competition. X

Four years ago

I had just gone through an artists block. Sometimes I can’t paint, I come to a standstill. I don’t think what I was painting was that good, but I’m sure I felt better being able to pick up a paintbrush.

Since then my painting work has been up and down. I don’t always feel up to painting, and various stuff makes it more difficult. Painting isn’t just a physical ability, it’s a mental one as well. Both of those things are affecting me. Life sometimes gets in the way of intention. But I don’t give up. I will probably carry on somehow till the day I die. Art is my imperative in life.

Added shade

I added shading to a rose painting I started a couple of weeks ago to give it more depth. It is one of those blush roses, with pink and red on the edges of the petals and some yellow further down. Roses are beautiful flowers, but the simplest of them, like wild roses, Rosa rugosa, are better for insects to pollenate and collect nectar. That is because the petals are open and the central part of the flower is easily accessible.

Unfortunately a lot of flowers are now being bred to have twice the petals (doubles). They look beautiful and interesting, but they make it hard to pollenate by insects like bees and they are frequently infertile so they don’t produce viable seeds.

Look for bee friendly plants if you are looking for flowers for your garden.

#forest

Painted last year from a photo of an autumn wood. I’m in another group of artists on Facebook that does weekly prompts. This week was #tree, #trees, #forest, #forests. What gripped my attention was the russet, orange and bronze leaves on the forest floor and following the contours of the deeply worn pathway through it. Some paler leaves are still clinging to the trees, and the distant foliage is pale blue to send it backwards (I might have used pale grey but I liked using the complimentary colour to the oranges.

Art

What is the legacy you want to leave behind?

I draw, paint, create digital images, do set decoration. I am an artist and always will be.

My legacy is a house full and more of this stuff. Where will it go when I die? Will it be welcomed by my relatives or just seen as clutter? Should I will it to them or give some away to my local art gallery? Does it have any intrinsic value.

My art is in my memories, but some pieces are lost. Either mentally or physically. Sometimes I’m surprised when I see work from several years ago that I don’t even remember doing or having the ability to do it. My manual dexterity and sight have started to deteriorate. May I continue to create till I finally lay down my paintbrushes!

Scenery

So tired,

A day full of painting ad singing, I was helping with the Molly Leigh project at BArts. I offered to paint a picture for a wall in the witches cottage, I ended up painting a fireplace too. I only did the morning as I wanted to join the choir and to be honest I was so stiff and tired after I’d been painting I almost fell asleep in my chair!