New paintings and regular art updates.
Umbrella mural I painted for the Leopard Hotel in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent in about 2006/7. Based on a design by Clarice Cliffe the Potter. The white line on the top left was a white ribbon hanging down that had been used to decorate the Arnold Bennett suite in the back room of the Leopard. About 3 x4 foot. Emulsion paint on lining paper which was glued directly on the wall. Sadly the hotel burnt down a couple of years ago and all my murals were lost.
Old photo from a summer about four years ago. If ever there was a photo that could be turned into a painting I think this is it. Outside a school in Penkhull, Stoke-on-Trent.
I might have somewhere to show my art again soon. I have been in touch with a cafe that might display some of my paintings. I’m considering including this but the glass broke and the card mount has cockled a bit. It’s a view along the platform of Cheddleton Station which is near Leek in Staffordshire. I painted it from a photo I’d taken during a visit a few years ago. It partner to a painting of the upper floor of Cheddleton Station that I did at the same time. Both are in watercolours.
A few years ago I painted a picture of the willow pattern on an imaginary platter. I used two seperate images of a willow pattern plate and amalgamated them into one. The willow pattern has several iconic aspects. A pine tree, willow tree, three people crossing a bridge, temples, boats, love birds. I’m sure they will have explanations of what they stand for. I really enjoyed creating this. X
I have a few new paintings. Mostly matchbox sized. I’m putting them in the exhibition of Orme Art Group work at the Brampton museum and art gallery in Newcastle under Lyme. It runs from February to the end of March. We will be having the display in the entrance window. Wish me luck, I hope to sell a few pieces.
Time blurs everything. Thirty years ago I was doing a course at college and for a while I rented a small studio with two other artists. But it didnt work out. One of them was collecting egg boxes to try and insulate the walls as the place was freezing in the winter but also to try and deaden the noise of rock music one of the artists used to like playing. The windows had arched wooden frames that were quite architectural but they were single glazed. I only painted a few things but when I was there and the music was on it would drive me mad. Unfortunately I could only use the place in the evenings and that coincided with the rock sessions. So I gave it up in the end. Now I’m looking at leaving my current studio. It’s too expensive to carry on renting. If it is the choice between paying rent for it or paying the fuel bills I have to make the sensible choice.
Who are the biggest influences in your life?
Of all the influences on my life various artists stand out as the main contenders. These include in no particular order:
Michaelangelo, Leonardo Davinci, Berthe Morissette,the French Impressionists a lot of the surrealist movement, David Hockney, Maggie Hambling, and so many more.
I don’t paint in any of their manners, some of their techniques are totally beyond me. But I do feel excited by their work.
Colours, patterns, shapes, the way they deal with light and shade. Perception, composition, knowledge, understanding. Looking and learning. Painting is a wonderful skill, I wish more people practiced it.
I cannot say that
I used coloured overlays and an added image of the previous collaged photo on top of this. I like the complexity and that the Christmas tree looks a bit like an insects head.
When I get fed up I like to play with images, creating something new, learning, and keeping myself occupied.
I used the incollage app and photodirector to create this.
Over several months a friend has been collecting some of my smaller paintings. She sent me this photo of them yesterday and it struck me how varied they are!
The galleon painting has gold paint on it to give a feeling of the sunlight reflecting back up onto the reverse of the sails.
The small painting of the woman in the woods was taken from a photo from a friend, I loved the atmospheric feeling of it and tried to evoke the colours of autumn.
The dragon is based on an image that I had created for my college piece on the mythology of dragons. I had drawn and designed a children’s book and this was one of the ideas I used for it.
I’m so pleased my art is being appreciated, I love being creative and it keeps me going. X
What is one thing you would change about yourself?
My eyes are going fuzzy round the edges… My central vision is OK. I’m allowed to drive but I’m wearing sunglasses at night when I drive because it limits the glare from other cars headlights. My optician is monitoring them as eventually I should be able to have an operation to remove them. It’s making fine details difficult to see and it’s getting very frustrating.
Mallaband-Brown