New paintings and regular art updates.
A relative just knitted this blanket for winter as a Christmas present. I’d ask her to make me one but I think it would take her too long. Maybe I could by extra thick wool and large needles to make it grow faster?
I’m going to ask. I admire her tenacity x
A snowy cottage (with led lights) and a flowerbed for cut flowers. Made by a craft group I’m in. The wooden model was mostly painted with white acrylic to replicate snow. I added dark outlines to indicate bricks, stone and tiles.
This is not a good photo, but it gives you an idea of it’s size. At least it feels like I did something artistic last week.
I was due to go out to an annual craft fair and party today, but I feel panicked. I could go, force myself, but I’m tired and I need to go shopping, get medication and tidy up because I’m expecting a visitor tomorrow.
Then I realised that I have the freedom to say no. I don’t have to rush out, to stand in a long queue for a burger, or listen to over loud music. Being in a crowd bothers me. I usually get a headache. My friend who was coming with me has not been able to get the time off. I already feel hot and bothered. So I’ll give it a miss this time. X
If a loud crowd is not your thing then don’t be cowed, be proud and say no.
What is your favorite place to go in your city?
A working pottery at Middleport, Stoke-on-Trent, England. It also includes a museum, with lots of industrial archeology. They sell various tableware in the pottery shop, there is a large selection of patterns for sale. There is a good cafe that overlooks the Trent and Mersey canal. There are small studios for artists and potteries, and a row of shops opposite the entrance to the pottery with small galleries and crafts for sale.
There is also a handsome bottle oven facing the canal that was covered in bright red ceramic poppies to commemorate Rememberence day a few years ago. You only have to pay to go round the museum section. Tucked towards the far end of the site is a working steam engine which runs at various times. I’m not sure exactly when? Worth taking the time to visit if you can find it (it’s tucked down some narrow side streets.
It also hold pottery classes and was also used for the great pottery throw down a few years ago to before it moved to the Gladstone pottery in Longton.
When I tried to make a “time flies” dragonfly fridge magnet. Made out of air drying clay. I painted it in bright colours. The hole was for a watch to tell thr time. Made about three years ago. I added magnets on the back. It eventually fell off and broke.
I’ve sold half of my miniatures in the last couple of days, I’m only charging £2 and the canvases are 80 pence so it’s hardly a goldmine, but I’m enjoying people liking them! So now I need more of them to paint. I’ll try and get some done this week!
I think they make nice Christmas presents or stocking fillers. X
A small turquoise and blue painting of two owls I painted a few years ago. I want to do a few more like this, semi realistic but with a bit of quirkiness.
I’ve got a small craft table in June and I need to restock my paintings. I’ll post about the craft fair soon.
I’m asking for suggestions for small paintings, ideas for new pictures? These will be matchbox sized or slightly bigger. I need to do some paintings of bees on flowers. I painted giraffes against sunsets. I might add some metallic paint again.
I just want to get going. But I’m a bit blocked mentally at the moment. I look at me easle and think, tomorrow? But that begins tomorrow again…. Life is strange.
How would you improve your community?
How to improve my town? We are a bit of a post industrial area. A lot of industry has gone, mining, steel works, a tyre factory and a lot of the local potteries.
There are a lot of empty industrial buildings that have been left to rot. Our country charges less VAT on new builds than restoring old buildings, so a lot just gets left. We have recently had a spate of fires in these buildings, which is worrying and probably to the advantage of absent owners ( I have no proof they are involved I must add).
Our local government seems set on building apartments and car parks, but whether they are in the right places is open to question. Meanwhile plots of green land are threatened by the builders, and like everywhere else trees are cut down, roads are built and “levelling up” is touted as a great achievement.
But why are potholes in roads left unfilled? Why are historical buildings surrounded by fencing till they fall down, why aren’t crafts and arts, which bring a wealth of creativity into an area encouraged. This was once the centre of pottery in our country, no more? We have lost so much.
Then add trees and environmental improvements to the local canal and river and maybe people would take more pride in their surroundings. I just hope things can improve. It needs LOVE!
Sadly the two craft fairs I signed up for have been postponed because they fall too close to Christmas, there are other similar fairs on at the same time and the cost of living makes them less likely to be profitable because no one will have any money.
I would like to participate in ones next year but how can I be certain that things will be any better then? People are going to suffer financially and luxuries like arts and crafts may not be saleable. The whole idea of being an artist and trying to sell work seems less and less feasible.
Meanwhile, I’m seriously thinking about leaving my studio at Spode. I didn’t use it very often since Covid happened because I’m still avoiding people. I don’t know if I can afford it any more. Life isn’t terrible but sometimes you need to be sensible.
Cafe and shop at Bovisand Bay, sitting next to the car park above the two parts of the bay. The cafe and shop used to be separate but have been joined together so you can explore a range of beach wear, body boards, sun lotion, crafts, etc, etc on one side and the cafe on the other. It seems like a nice set up. The people there were friendly. I think we will go again if we can.
I hope that they get good custom now that covid, which is still on the increase in the UK, is at least milder. One day we must get over it? I hope so.
Mallaband-Brown