Quick owl

I’m going to try and get to an art project about Molly Leigh, the witch of Burslem. I want to try and do a painting of her, but I only had a bit of time today, and because I’m trying to get back into painting again I decided to paint an owl. I did it because it’s a magical kind of bird, the way they can fly silent as a whisper to catch their prey. It’s a small acrylic on canvas. I’m not sure of the species as I based this on a precious owl painting I did a few years ago.

Eyes prompt

Today’s #bandofsketchers prompt was eyes. Well I had a go, digital drawing with a stylus. Eyes drawn on my Artrage app. I’m shaking a bit much to get a neat image. I used various pen and smudge tools to get a softer image but I want to try and do some real painting and drawing soon if I can overcome my shaking.

Grey lady

Self portrait reflected in a stained glass window at Little Moreton Hall in Staffordshire. The idea was to create a ghostly image in keeping with the age of the property. I could have gone all out and added an Elizabethan headdress but I didn’t want to over complicate the idea. The painting is set at sunset when things get a bit more spooky. I do like creating narrative images.

Science and Art

What topics do you like to discuss?

That’s why I like trying to paint astronomical pictures, like this tryptic of Jupiters pole based on the photos by NASAs Juno probe.

I’ve always been interested in both subjects, I wouldn’t say I was an expert, I will always check my facts if I write about science, but I enjoy thinking things through. And having a visual mind helps me imagine how things work.

Art is my first love, I worry that I will find it increasingly difficult to create since my diagnosis with Parkinsons disease. I would be bereft if I could not continue. I hope that better treatment becomes available, another reason for being interested in science

A green sea spirit

Painting that just popped up on my Facebook memories today from 9 years ago. It’s a picture of a green man sea spirit. The image was based on a terracotta face I had outside my back door. There is a crack through it which was caused by frost I think. I changed the colours to reflect its maritime appearance. It has a similar feeling to the Air painting I just published, a spiritual or mythical feeling. Acrylic on canvas.

Island views

#bandofsketchers prompt was island views.  I tried to do a drawing of St Michaels Mount. I couldn’t work directly off a photo as its on a website and I couldn’t take a screen shot of it. Then I had to draw sideways to fit in my screen on the Artrage app I drew it in. Finally rotated it, it’s a bit of an impressionist image x

Finishing work

Describe a risk you took that you do not regret.

I gave up work to mainly look after my hubby whose mental health was deteriorating. I could have carried on, but circumstances were also changing in my job. The way we worked was reverting back to old fashioned ways which I felt was detrimental to our clients. I’d fought hard to help them more and it felt like their needs were being forgotten while money was saved. Services were being slashed. I had to go, and I never regretted it, I just felt sorry for my fellow workers who I left behind. Covid and other problems meant that I didn’t make a go of my small business, but at least I tried.