Props and costumes

Posted on July 7, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Costumes, Design, Penkhull, Penkhull mystery play, Play, Props, Staffordshire, Stoke-on trent, What's on, White paintLeave a comment

It takes a lot to put a play on. Not just scenery but props and costumes. We couldn’t do it without the efforts of people making things, painting things white, gluing tea pots to boards, finding jugs and tankards, the infinite number of things that just help. So instead of pretending you can have something physical, like a coin to pay someone. Props make acting easier.

Then there is costume. Lots of things get re used, cut down to size, have material let in to make it bigger. Hats are made or sometimes built. Members of the cast bring in their own clothes to enhance the look of the play.

We might only be doing something that lasts 40 minutes but it’s taken a few months of hard work and planning to bring it all together.

Panto hat

Posted on July 7, 2019July 7, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Costume, Design, Fun, Life, Painted hat, Panto, Papier mache, Willow patternLeave a comment

FB_IMG_1562500702303 this was a papier mache hat that I painted with a willow pattern design for our Pantomime ‘Aladdin’ . It was used as part of widow twanky’s costume a few years ago. I have forgotten a lot of things I did. I guess there is more somewhere. This picture is from Facebook memories.

Busy painting

Posted on July 6, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on calico, Art, Design, Part finished, Penkhull, Penkhull mystery play, Staffordshire, Stoke-on trent, Willow pattern, Work in progress10 Comments

My friend took these on Friday. I was busy painting a willow pattern background for the penkhull mystery play.

I’m hopefully finishing it next week. I’m about half way through so it should be done on time. It’s a painting on calico that had been primed with white emulsion so the paint does not go on easily and it’s a bit wrinkled where the emulsion has dried. Anyway I will persevere. Then I’m hopefully getting some new paintings done for a craft fair and an exhibition in September. It’s all go!

Where was I?

Posted on July 6, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on hardboard, Blue, Design, Minton, Ochre, Painting on hardboard, Pale yellow, Penkhull, Penkhull mystery play, Red ochre, Staffordshire, Stoke-on trent, Tiles, WhiteLeave a comment

An attempt at a Minton tile and my own design in minton colours, both for the mystery play. The one based on the minton design was hard to get right. It’s a bit wobbly. The second one has a bit of a Tudor rose feel to it. I started with the outside on the Minton copy and the inside with my own design. Im not sure it works, but when you put them together it makes a nice pattern. Hopefully they will like it for the play.

Most of the rest of the day was spent rehearsing and recovering from last nights show. These days I get tired more quickly. It’s annoying. Tomorrow is another rehearsal day. Only a week to go till the play.

Making glass pieces

Posted on July 2, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Cabochon, Design, Eleanora st, Glass, Glass workshop, Jewellery, Spode, Staffordshire, Stoke-on trent6 Comments

I went to a glass workshop with my friend Angela Ashton at Spode today. I’ve previously made square or oblong pieces but today I had a go at curving the edges to make round glass cabochons. I was allowed to use a glass grinding machine to create the curves. Then you place coloured glass on top in strips and small pieces. I used some glass with a special shiny sheen, dichromic I think it was called. As you tip it in the light it changes colour.

At the end of the workshop I decided to create a long coloured strip that could be hung up in a window. I’m hoping this will be an interesting piece. I used clear and opaque glass in horizontal layers over the top of a long transparent oblong. Once the coloured pieces were laid on and tacked in place with glue I placed clear glass in vertical strips on top. Each of these will prevent air getting to the glass. When the glass is exposed to high temperatures it can change colour due to chemical reactions including oxidisation. The heat fuses the glass together.

I should get the resulting pieces in a few days. Then I will go back and may make holes in them using a diamond bit drill so they can hang up or be turned into necklaces.

Twins in masks.

Posted on June 30, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Blogging, Design, Digital art, Flipped photo, Fun, Humour, Life, Mask, Papier mache, Photos, TwinsLeave a comment

Playing with duplicated images, me and my hubby. I want to visualizer us without the clarity of a painted portrait.

Most faces are lopsided, by duplicating and flipping them you can get an interesting mirror image. I used the layout app on my phone to do this.

Anyone who has seem mirrored images of Edgar Allen Poe will see what I mean. He has a very lopsided face, one side stretched and the other side slightly shrunken. When you see his face mirrored on the right then left side it looks like you are looking at two seperate people.

In my case I changed my selfie to black and white, then I drew over it. The second picture had the exposure altered as well. Then I flipped the right hand side top to bottom but not left to right.

Glass window?

Posted on June 28, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Colours, Design, Flood fill, Micro poetry, Playing, Poem, Poetry, Stained glassLeave a comment

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I was playing around with a photo of the stained glass windows in the church and came up with this. I sort of like it although I’m not sure the church would. When you use flood fill it causes a loss of details so you can’t see the faces on the image. I chose a rainbow flood fill so could create circles on top of the image.

Circles

curves and angels

winged with colour

flying high.

Art with rainbows

Black reflections,

illuminating and obscuring.

Circular arguments,

simple shapes

scriptural thoughts

saints and sinners,

seperated by glass.

Tiles in the church

Posted on June 28, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Blogging, Colours, Design, Geometric shapes, Life, Minton, Minton tiles, Tiles2 Comments

Today I got some photos of Minton tiles in St Thomas’s Church penkhull. I’ve got to paint some for the Mystery play so I needed to see the genuine article. I’m hoping I can get a realistic look to them. They are in a scene where they have to be sold to raise money.

What I like are the simple colours, browns, pale ochres, blues and white. The interesting geometric patterns and curves. I may struggle to replicate them. But you have to try!

View

Posted on June 25, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Design, Environment, Garden, Life, Plants, Trees, View, WindowLeave a comment

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Looked out of a friends window at the weekend. I decided to take a photo. I love the delicate frame with thin wooden sections to allow more light in. Shrubs and perennials surround a neat lawn. Mature trees grow up on the boundaries of the property. The large spiky leaved plant is Gunnera I think.

I’d like such a beautiful view (apart from the cars). I would love such a beautiful house. It will never happen though. I could never afford anything like this, but I can dream.

Colours

Posted on June 24, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Colour, Design, Digital art, Digital sketch, Drawing, Fun, RainbowLeave a comment

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An explosion of colour makes me feel joyous, excited, satisfied, sainted with brilliance. I would love to turn this into a tee shirt, a throw for a sofa or a bed. It’s a bit bright for a painting on a wall.

This was a quick drawing in ArtRage oils, then I used a rainbow flood fill in the gaps and then a smudge tool. Finally I used the layout app to duplicate and rotate the drawing.

I know they are only simple tools but you can create some interesting things with them.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Design