Part done…

My birthday treat, hanging baskets up, some plants on the wall. I still need to empty some pots that have weeds in and do the rest of the wall and on the ground. Sometimes I will place pots on top of other pots that have soil in them so they get more light and the roots can grow down into the lower pot. Possible further plants I want are trailing lobelia, fushias, pelargoniums, nemesia, montbrecia, busy lizzies, sweet peas and oriental poppies.

I have a hosta in flower, lilies that are away from where the cats can go (it’s pollen is poisonous to them), a hydrangea, Welsh poppies. I also have an apple tree that my hubby put in that I’m trying to trail horizontally against the fence.

My main concern is the garden is very shaded now as my neighbour has put an 8 foot fence in. I’m hoping the shelter it offers will create a microclimate and allow the plants to last well into the autumn.

Still me

My painting “still me” is finally finished. It’s a self portrait about the fact I have continued to create despite my health issues. My hands still shake but I concentrate and it’s not too bad. I don’t know what I will do if my Parkinsons gets worse. I don’t know how I will cope. But I will try to fight it and remain “still me”. I’ve just entered it to a local art exhibition.

My colour sight…

Blue seems turquoise these days. My cataracts have shifted my colour vision. I see it in every television programme. I noticed it a few months ago. I had thought it was because a special new colour had been chosen on fashion grounds. But now I’m pretty certain it’s me. Hope it will be sorted out if and when I have an operation. At least I am in good company with the famous impressionist Claude Monet.

A face

Making up faces, good practice if you don’t have anyone to draw. You can work out eye shapes and sizes, how would a long or short nose look? Big or small mouth thin or thick lips? Are the ears visible? How long or wide is the face, what shaped chin.

Drawing is a skill, practice does help. 10,000 hours is meant to make you an expert. Millimeters can change things, hair, makeup, colour, looking in different directions. Up down, sideways, three quarter view.

Please keep working, practicing, enjoy it.

Tree across the road

The tree across the road a few years ago. Covered in ivy. This was drawn for an old #bandofsketchers prompt. The prompt was ivy.

I haven’t been doing these challenges for a few months. I think I ought to try again. It seems a shame that I stopped but life has been getting me down. Art is a great cure for sadness I think. I’ll try again soon.