New paintings and regular art updates.
Sundays #bandofsketchers prompt was trees. I’ve been snowed under with stuff so this is late. Such a lot of prompts to catch up with! I decided to draw a group of trees on my phone. It’s a bit of a misty winter scene. I think it needs more doing to it. But not tonight! Used my Artrage app.
A digital drawing from 2021, I think I drew it on my tablet, I put it away somewhere and I can’t find it! I’ve found somewhere that might upgrade it so I’ll have to start searching!
Anyway I believe this was drawn in sketchbook app with the stylus that comes with the tablet. It was clearly a quick sketch…
One of the loveliest and unusual songs we sing at choir practice is River River.
These are words from memory but I think they are pretty accurate. I had to look up the writers name as we didn’t have it. I hope I’m not breaching copyright by writing out the lyrics? I will delete ths post if here is a problem?
River River where do you flow
With your water the colour of tea
Gold and red in your sandy bed
Do you flow to the wide green sea?
No said the river I flow inland
Sink down deep beneath the rock and the sand.
Under the Geeji and the Mugar tree
Where the desert people can find me
Earth belongs to all, she belongs to no one, she belongs to herself
Earth belongs to all, she belongs to no one, she belongs to herself…..
I was answering someone’s question about how it goes because they recently joined the choir, and I see an image a bit like my drawing in my mind when I sing it.
Sunday’s #bandofsketchers prompt was View. I haven’t done much actual drawing recently. I’ve just joined a small art and craft group so I opened the blinds to draw the view, but there’s a lot of plants, in the way.
Who are your favorite artists?
Renoir, Pissaro, Degas, Monet, Manet…. And many more artists. The beginning of a modern French movement, that started to move away from classical art towards a more emotional, abstracted style of art.
The French Impressionists held a ‘salon des refuses’ in 1863 of paintings that had been refused by the official Salon. It was organised because so many paintings had been refused and the Emperor Napoleon III arranged it.
Many of the upcoming French Impressionists were part of this exhibition.
My favourite artist is Monet, from his repetitive paintings of haystacks, to his paintings of the facade of Rouen Cathedral in the 1890s in different light conditions and colours fascinated me. Then his later huge paintings of waterlilies when he lived at Giverny. This was as he got older and his sight was affected by cataracts. I think I remember reading that he was one of the first people to have a cataract operation?
Of course the Impressionists were only the start of changing artistic styles. Post Impressionists, fauvists, expressionism, pointellism, then cubists and so many other schools of art.
Basically there are too many things to talk about. I have books about the Impressionists somewhere? I don’t know where.
What is your favorite hobby or pastime?
This was a painting I did a few years ago, it’s of the upper story of Cheddleton Station, in Staffordshire, England.
I still love painting, but my health is affecting what I can do at the moment, I really want to do more. And somehow the anxiety over it is making me struggle to start. Because I’m worried whether I will be able to do a good enough job. I know I’ve been doing a lot of digital art, but it doesn’t have the same quality to me as actually painting.
I’ve spent years being an artist and I don’t want to stop. I admit some of my work isn’t as good as I’d like, I paint fast and rely on my skill to pull things into shape. I’ve certainly put in the hours to get to a good standard. But I wish I could go back in time and make better decisions about my art.
I haven’t stopped, but I might not do as much as I used to, I’m just hoping the physiotherapy I’m due to start will help.
What would you do if you lost all your possessions?
Books, ornaments glass, clothes, paintings… Clutter.
In some ways to lose all my possessions would make life simpler as long as I had somewhere to go? Our house has got crowded with ‘stuff’, we have collected things over years and years, and we are trying to get rid of some of it.
But it’s easy to become attached, an object can encompass memories, look at it and you look back in time. Does losing your possessions give you freedom? Or is it oppressive? What if you only have the clothes you stand up in, no credit or debit card…. Knowledge of where you live would be important. Knowing how to light a fire, keep warm, find food and clean drinking water. The inhumanity of men to the homeless is a fear if I went through with disposing of my possessions.
An artist did do it. He crushed all of his belongings I think. It was a very powerful art ‘happening’, but what happened to him? Was he paid to do it, has he replaced things, did he survive? The problem is that in a world of thousands or millions of wonders each day, does anyone even notice.
It would be good to dispose of my belongings, to free up myself, but I’m getting too old to survive such a thing. I will have to keep at least some of my things..
I thought I’d show you the other photo of the church floor I took last night. It’s a bit blurry but this is the main block of minton? tiles. It’s hard to tell what the central section depicts. I love the contrasting blues, oranges and terracotta colours. Using complementary colours makes the image pop even with using only blue and orange.
Old paintings I gave a friends daughter when she went to university. I have no idea where they are now. Small square canvases about 6 x 6 inches. Acrylic on canvas, Depicting the Sun and Moon. I may do some similar ones and add a star one. They were fun to do
I was rehearsing for our Christmas concert (we are doing it to fund another pantomime in 2025). I saw these tiles up by the altar. I think they are Minton tiles. I also think the church was designed by Pugin?
The acoustics are very good in there and we had great fun trying to get the right harmonies for silent night. The concert is due to happen on the evening of December 15th this year. As well as traditional carols there will be rock and roll songs and some solos and duets. There may also be recitals of poetry.
There are other tiles in the church, so it might be an idea to listen to the concert and have a good look round.
Mallaband-Brown