Busy

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At the moment I should be busy painting. I’ve got something to paint by February and although I have the canvas I haven’t started. I guess its because I’ve been too busy online. Posting things on here and at Instagram. Putting a few things on Facebook and then playing online soduku when I get bored.

I know I’m on line to much because my shoulders are hunched and sore from holding my mobile .. So if I suddenly go offline it will be because I’ve decided I need to give this a rest. Also apologies again for not getting to read everyone’s blogs… I’m just struggling to keep up…

Gallop

 

I remember a children’s programme I used to watch when I was a child. The theme song included the line “on white horses”, but I have very little memory about the show or the rest of the music. sketch-1546645322237.png

There were many programmes with horses then. Including the Lone Ranger. A children’s TV show called Follyfoot I think, and another called the adventures of Black Beauty based on the story by Anna Sewell.

I remember always drawing horses. My favourites were dappled grey ones. It’s not as frequent an obsession now, and as there are fewer horses and ponies on TV, I don’t get the chance to look at them very often….. Other memories include going on holiday to Dorset as a child and seeing a white horse carved into the hillside, and hearing that a rough sea with white topped waves was said to have “white horses” on it.

Life does seem to move at the gallop now. So many things change as you get older. I suppose we are living in the most technologically rapidly changing times in human history. Not long ago horses were used on farms to haul plows. Dray horses to pull brewery carts, and even to work down mines and pull canal barges. How times change

Cold inside

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“Brrrr it is getting cold in here” she said. “Put the little oil heater on”. ‘yeah, ok’…

“I’ll have to put my jumper on”…

Half an hour later, “that heater isn’t doing much, and you have had the oven on to bake a loaf. Is the central heating working?” ‘ow yes, the radiator is hot…..’ “so why is it so cold in here?” ‘I don’t know?!’

Half an hour later. ‘I’m just going to water the plants upstairs’…

‘er I think I know why it’s cold….?’

“why?”

‘I left the window open’

‘I’ve shut it now’

🤦‍♂️ Face-palm.

Grey sunset

We live on the wrong side of the hill to see sunsets, so it’s only when I see a glimpse of red or pink reflecting off the clouds that I know something is happening.

Today I was coming home from the shops and I saw a gap in the clouds and a tiny patch of blue. There was also a glimmer of rouge painting a fiery base to the clouds.

I quickly drove over the hill and tried to find a spot where the view wasn’t hidden by trees or houses.

He view was a grey one, with a tiny glimmer of red fighting the street lights on the horizon. The trees and iron fence made strong silhouettes against it. I wish I could have been there 10 minutes earlier. It may have been glorious, but I missed it.

One day I might live in a sunset facing house. Now I just look out for pink clouds and dash up over the hill.

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Spoonerism

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Definition from Wikipedia :

“Spoonerism

spoonerism is an error in speech in which corresponding consonantsvowels, or morphemes are switched (see Metathesis) between two words in a phrase.[1][2] These are named after the Oxford don and ordained minister William Archibald Spooner, who was famous for doing this.

An example is saying “The Lord is a shoving leopard” instead of “The Lord is a loving shepherd.” While spoonerisms are commonly heard as slips of the tongue, and getting one’s words in a tangle, they can also be used intentionally as a play on words.”

I only mention this as I was talking to the cat this morning and said “you’ve got pappy haws this morning”. Of course I meant “happy paws” but it struck me how often you can get words mixed up ….

I don’t know how much I will be online over the next couple of days, so I will say Yappy Hew Near! Or Nappy Yew Hear!

Portraits

Here are three portrait paintings I did a few years ago. They are all Acrylics on canvas.

I think I’m reasonably good at capturing a likeness, but there are other things like the proportions of a figure to get right. I painted my mother and sister in one painting. My sister was taller than my mum but their heads are level in the painting I did. That’s because my mom was standing on a step so their heads were at the same level. To be honest it looks odd, not because it’s wrong but because you don’t expect one set of legs to be so much longer!

When I was learning to draw and paint figures I would often draw the heads bigger and the legs shorter. That’s because I was not looking properly and not taking account of foreshortening, especially when the model was sitting on the ground.

I enjoy painting people but not many ask for portraits these days. I am also good at painting pets, and  I don’t need photoshop to put two figures together from two separate photos.

Anyway feel free to contact me if you ever want a portrait or a painting of an ancestor for instance

Seasons greetings

Christmas day has arrived, our artificial Christmas tree is finally up and decorated and has only been attacked a few times by one of my cats.

I’ve spread her toys around in the hope she will find them more interesting. we could open our presents but I still have a few to wrap. Its almost 2am but I have to wait for my partner to go to bed. Currently he’s watching a compilation programme with old pop songs, from pet shop boys to 10cc and boy George.

I’ve just started making a sherry trifle…blackcurrany jelly with sponge fingers, half a pint of sherry and fresh rasberries. To be topped with strawberry blancmange (some people use custard ..yuk). Then topped with whipped cream……

Waiting for the jelly to set in the fridge. Then I’ll make the blancmange so hopefully its set by the morning.

The drawing was one of my first digital drawings, done around the end of the 80’s?

You can tell how old it is, you can see the pixels!

I know that not everyone is religious or follows a particular faith. I just wanted to wish everyone, whatever your beliefs a better future and a measure of peace.

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