Comparison

I play with these drawings to create a double image of two faces. One side has more texture than the other using different apps.

One side is sharper than the other, the left hand side has been processed through photodirector to add texture.

Does it matter what I did or why? Isn’t it more important to create something? I explain what I’ve done, but is there any significance? I see work in exhibitions wherr the piece of art will have a longwinded explanation of what the Art is about. I like to play and explore, I might not have a specific intention, but I hope what I do has some integrity….

Woman doodle

Artrage doodle, it started as a background and was possibly going to be a river with fish in it, but when it came to the final image, this strange face snuck in. I am struggling with energy, trying to stay awake because sleeping on an old armchair will do that to you. I’ve made lots of mistakes in the writing on here, I keep on doing it because I’m falling asleep as I draw and write. So it’s a very random drawing. X

Art of course

If you were going to open up a shop, what would you sell?

If I could I would open an art shop. But I don’t have the skills. I’d need to be trained in accounting, in design to get things looking peofessional, and more knowledge of pricing. Also I’d need sufficient funds to rent or let a property.

At the moment I’m lucky to have some of my work on sale or display, but the business side of it doesn’t enthrall me. I’d never be an entrepreneur.

I did try when I finished work, I set up a studio and worked at producing new art. But the building us rarely open to the public, and my studio is off down a narrow corridor so I don’t have much contact with people when I’m there. Covid and lock downs stopped me from getting stalls on local craft fairs.. A cheaper way of selling than having a permanent ‘public facing’ shop.

I’ve heard of business plans but never had one perhaps that’s my biggest failing, I just keep getting on with getting on….

It depends

What is the most important thing to carry with you all the time?

Not this!

Yet again I have to be equivocal about this question. I mean I’m not deliberately being ambiguous, but there could be many answers depending on the person, their age, sex, health and the place they are at.

1. Fresh water /food

If you are alone and outside away from people, for instance on a walk it’s a good idea to take supplies. I imagine I won’t be far from transport, but what happens if you get lost?

2. Spare clothes/groundsheet

If you are out and about and lost you might not be able to find shelter if the weather deteriorates or it gets dark. You might have to stay put, so having extra clothes and something to make into a shelter could save you from exposure. We went camping one Easter and I had to wear two pairs of trousers and three jumpers because of the cold!

3. A map

Learn to read maps, if your phone goes flat and you can’t charge it how do you find your location?

4. Medication?

Even if you don’t expect to be out all day and night it’s better to be prepared. The older you are the more likely you are to need medicine. Don’t ignore it, and if necessary take out travel insurance.

5. Car keys?

Yes if I take the car with me, and house keys.

6. Medical alert.

If you take some medications then you need to take warning notifications with you. Similarly if you are allergic to food colourings, bee and wasp stings, or antibiotics it’s worth letting people know!

7. A sketchpad and something to draw with.

I’m an artist, what did you expect me to say?

Umbrellas

Facebook Memory from 2017.

‘Just back from the Leopard Hotel in Burslem. Met Sharon Crisp the landlady and her lovely staff…it’s 10 year since I painted the murals in the back room there, she is very kindly taking some photos of them for me! This is the Clarice Cliffe Umbrellas mural that I painted way back then …2007?’

Even now I miss my murals, the Leopard Hotel in Burslem was left empty and people got in and vandalised it, started growing cannabis. The building caught fire and only a shell of it remains

Jug time

After posting the picture of a jug I decorated at the Emma Bridgwater pottery in Stoke on Trent, I just had this picture pop up on my Facebook memories.

This one was double the size, decorated a few weeks later at the Stafford Pottery in Burslem. I noted this was a third of the cost?

They were given as Christmas presents, I enjoyed the creative process and it was good to give something like this to family. I wish I had more time to decorate pottery, but at the moment everything is difficult.