Companion Cats

Posted on April 26, 2018April 26, 2018 Posted in Cat, UncategorizedTagged Animals, Art, Cat, Colour, Design, Pattern, Photos, Pottery2 Comments

I have had cats for most of my life…

Small ones, big ones, cheeky ones, timid ones…

Inevitably they get into my photos, drawings and paintings..you have probably seen a few of them over the months I have been here. Some I paint from life, as pet portraits, but these are a little looser, cat shaped and friendly. I try and capture their spirit and character as well as their likeness in these pictures.

The photo of my mad male cat, sticking his head up behind the easel amuses me. I didn’t realise he was there till he popped up and looked at me. I took a photo as I may do a painting of him…..

So what next? I hope I get a few commissions as I do like painting animals. We are holding an open studio on 20 May 2018. There will be workshops, an exhibition, stalls and open studios….maybe that will result in some work to do…

Pottery

Posted on April 25, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Design, Digital art, Poetry, Potteries, Pottery, Stoke-on trentLeave a comment

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It’s a dry subject is pottery,

The clay, once wetted and shaped, is dryed to leather hard,

Then punished in heat, it burns to biscuit ware.

So called because it takes on the dry biscuit colour,

and Matt, flat, creamy white shaded non-sheen.

Waiting on a shelf, waiting to be gently dipped in liquid,

The glaze or slip is slurped up with thirst.

Then fired again in gas till shiny new and almost molten,

It is released from the volcanic kiln.

How is it not broken with the immolation of its body

No, just shrunken, the moisture burned away.

Ready to be decorated in variously gorgeous ways……

Drawing is of a jug, I think by Clarice Cliff. I drew it years ago on sketchfu…

Cards

Posted on April 23, 2018 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Art, Design, Green man, Greeting cards, Industrial art, Painting, Spode, Stoke-on trentLeave a comment

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I have had some cards and prints done!

The top painting is of a light at Spode. I was pleased with the prints that came out. The tones are good, and the image is clear. I’m glad I used a local fine art printing company.

The second card is of a painting similar to the green man above. It was a second version I had done, without the curves at the bottom of the painting. (I don’t have a photo of it).

The green man is on a gardinere in salts mill, saltaire, Yorkshire. It was an example of Victorian pottery. I took a photo with my phone and used it to work from.

I will be trying to sell them at a few craft fairs over the spring and summer. It’s hard to judge if people will buy them, but you have got to try !

Mandelbrot

Posted on April 23, 2018April 23, 2018 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Chaos, Colours, Design, Digital art, FractalLeave a comment

If you look closely this is my drawing of the Mandlebrot set..not a photo.

I do love Chaos theory, when I first heard of it I bought a book called Chaos and read about Mandlebrot who came up with the theory.

That was around 30 years ago, so I don’t remember much about it. But I love the idea that coasts can be fractal, and so can clouds. When you zoom in on a real Mandlebrot pattern you always see this distinct pattern no matter how deep into it you go.

The colours change, curves and swirls and spirals appear, but that pattern keeps coming back.

My drawing is not perfect, but at least it gives an idea of the pattern….like a little Buddha on its side… sparking with electricity.

Other fractal patterns include squares within squares, and triangles within triangles.

Go and look at websites with them on….you will be fascinated hopefully.

Fork candles

Posted on April 19, 2018April 19, 2018 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Design, Drawing, Poetry, Sketches, WordsLeave a comment

the confusion of words, such as The two Ronnies sketch: four candles or fork handles…..a poem.

Can you hear the difference?

Fork….or Four…Candles…or handles….

See the word, unheard, the difference.

Imagine a fork shaped candle?

Or four spade handles…

Words change, morph, but stay the same.

Homophones, it sounds like, confusion, illusion.

Playing games to gain our trust, learn the difference, yes we must.

So four is not fork and candle is not handle but together they mangle talk (not tourque).

The Same, But Different

Posted on April 18, 2018April 18, 2018 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Design, Doodles, Drawing, Multiple, Sketching, TreesLeave a comment

Someone looked at the twisted tree photos and said they were lost in the intricate tangle of branches.

So I decided to use a sketch of a tree I did to show how each picture changes depending how it is twisted. … IMG_20180418_124018_988 IMG_20180418_124209_725 IMG_20180418_124355_473 IMG_20180418_124517_484

Twisting each of the 4 images to end up with 4 separate designs…….

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So which would you prefer? A close curved centre, spread out branches, accidental perforation or parallel lines?

Each has its merit. Some of them remind me if my blood vessels at the back if my eye, visible when a strong light shines. Others with the indentations remind me if a postage stamp.

Add colour and we are in a whole new realm.

Art, design, abstraction…it makes your mind work and stretch…

Turning walls into butterflies…

Posted on April 18, 2018April 18, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Animals, Art, Colours, Design, Digital art, Photographs, PoetryLeave a comment

I’m not going into details or explaining this one…

I am just leaving this here so you can see how my mind works…

One thing leads to another

Colour and contrast shade the image,

Tones flow, bricks swirl, wood cracks and peels as the paint falls.

The carapace hardens and is split, butterfly spills out.

Tiny tiles of scales glint through old webs of moss…..

Glossy silver and gold, hold the eye, iridescent, shivering…..

Commission’s welcome

Posted on April 16, 2018April 16, 2018 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Art, Commission, Design, Fine Art, Landscape, Pets, PortraitLeave a comment

Please feel free to contact me if you would like a picture.

I love painting as you know and I pride myself on detailed work. I am not a photo realist but I think my portraits are pretty accurate and my landscapes are intricate.

So if you feel you would like to invest in something artistic, that is your choice, your vision, let me know.

I am currently working towards exhibiting a few peices at Spode, and an exhibition in June at Etruria in Stoke on Trent. I am happy to consider painting landscapes and portraits and I am also able to paint in various styles, so if you would like an abstract painting perhaps I can help? I also paint animals, so pet portraits are also available, just ask….

Misty cows

Posted on April 12, 2018April 12, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Design, Film, Landscape, Photographs, Stoke-on trentLeave a comment

Standing in the cold, waiting for friends out at Heath House in Staffordshire, I decided to take photos of the view of the mist and cows on my phone….

When I was chilled to the bone I decided to take photos of the trees across the road, the board advertising the Heath House, and the drive up to it. These have also been posted to Instagram, so I used a couple of their filters to change some of the pictures to black and white, and also slightly pink or blue. I think this heightens the misty feel.

Some if the cows in the feild opposite were scratching their heads against the trunks of the trees . What an itch they must have had. As the mist came down I realised what an ideal location this was for our expedition. …..

We have been extra’s in a local film, and we had gone to The Heath House to be filmed in some exterior shots.

The trailer for the film is at humanus.uk

I hope the link works!

Big painting!

Posted on February 16, 2018April 11, 2018 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Acrylics, Art, Ceramics, Design, Painting, Pottery, Spode, Stoke-on trentLeave a comment

Finally finished,

these pictures run from todays picture of the finished painting, backwards to the original start. Its about A1 in size.More done, including more shadow.

May change the curve at the top, its too much. Needs flattening.And so it continues….

This has had more detail added to the pot, and I have worked on the background more. This is the third picture. The green one was the second and the one with the red background was the first.

Continue reading “Big painting!” →

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Design