New paintings and regular art updates.
I was asked to paint some bees today for a craft fair at Growthpoint to raise money for the group. I painted one large bee on a flower and three small ones. I like going to the group. It’s helping me feel a bit less anxious. I can talk to the people there and get things off my chest I’ve had a lot of things to deal with over the last few months, I just want things to calm down.
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!
I might do some more to this tomorrow but a full day on it has knackered me. The sky is a bit wrong and I could darken some of it to add shadows. I think the roof is too light too so I might add blues and browns.
It’s for a project about Molly Leigh but I might also try and enter it for an exhibition. I want to make it the best possible representation.
A photo of me taken by a friend when I was trying to sell small paintings at craft fairs. I’m afraid covid really knocked the head on this, I’ve only done a few small craft fairs since this and basically just one or two in 2023. The cost of hiring a stall usually cancelled out any sales money and also the cost of buying art supplies made the idea non viable. But I tried and I made some nice friends.
My friend did a river mouth image for this prompt. It gave me an idea, so instead of drawing a mouth with teeth I decided to draw the mouth of a volcano starting to erupt. For #bandofsketchers prompt. ‘mouth’, digital drawing.
I had a lovely surprise this morning, a message from a lady who I had done a painting for, for their wedding present. It was a commission for her and her husband by her neighbour who I used to work with. It’s dated 1996.
Mevagissey is in Cornwall in the South West of England. We drove down to it on a day trip one summer.
It’s a long time ago and sadly I don’t remember painting it, but it’s got my signature on it and is dated, so it’s definitely mine. I used to like painting landscapes like this, the detail is such a challenge, getting it accurate. I doubt I could do it now.
The lady says she still has it on display and it’s admired by her friends. Not bad for thirty years ago! It’s so good to know my work is appreciated.
An innocent day, a year ago. We were out at a Rode Hall, walking through the bluebell woods. No sign of the troubles ahead.
I wish I could hold the hand I held for 43 years, so firm and strong, walking into sunlight with you. Taking each step carefully along the path. You leading the way, supporting me.
I heard the birds singing and felt a gentle breeze that shook the bluebell heads. Nodding in the dappled shade. All ready for some fairy parade when we were gone.
I drew this later from a photo, I wish I could go back in time.
I painted this mural several years ago on the wall in the Arnold Bennett suite in the Leopard Hotel in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent. The building sadly burnt down on 22nd January 2023 and remains a burned out husk of the former historical hotel.
It represents the Burslem witch Molly Leigh.
Margaret ‘Molly’ Leigh was an English property owner in the Staffordshire town of Burslem who, in her will, left substantial sums to charity. She was also accused of witchcraft, and, after her death, her grave was disturbed following claims she was haunting the town. Wikipedia
Born 1685, died 1746.
Her grave is in a Burslem church yard and is set at 90° to the other graves to indicate witchcraft.
My painting shows her old cottage and medicinal plants such as foxgloves. It’s a moonlit night and I painted a ring of icy cloud around the moon to make it more spooky. The ancient woman depicted is actually based on a French peasant woman by Theodore Gericault.
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.
Trying to line up the features I have been drawing recently. Looks like an identifit photo! The nose and mouth were a bit big so I had to shrink them down, I used my incollage app on my phone to line the images up.
Mallaband-Brown