Trees and views

Leaves unfurl and block the view,                                                     the sky is shaded out,                                                                           green and orange, and yellow too,                                                    they cast their shade about.

Atop a hill, those huge trees grew,                                                     their roots spread wide no doubt,                                                           and round their branches… true                                                       delight I see the fields sprout.

Now came old autumn, when leaves flew,                                       they were madly strewn about,                                                          the world is seen as if anew,                                                                and “slumber trees!” I shout.

I’m not good at rhyming. I prefer blank verse, but I thought I would have a go at making a more traditional poem.

“View” and “Out” are such simple words…you can probably think of far more rhymes for them than I can. The poem is based on a visit to the Dorothy Clive Garden today. The leaves are starting to fill in the gaps between the branches and twigs, and some views will disappear until the leaves fall again in October or November, when the world beyond them will be revealed again. I think you can see three counties, Staffordshire, Cheshire and Shropshire can be seen from the top of the quarry garden there.

It’s a beautiful place if you feel like visiting it.

Garden…

One day its winter, the next day the buds and flowers burst out and its Spring. The Sun goes through the Spring Equanox. Finally in the northern hemisphere days are longer than nights. In about 6 or 7 weeks it will be mid summer’s day.

The trees are covered I blossom.  Our Apple, Cherry, and Pear trees are full of it. I hope the frost does not come and damage them. A few years ago when the cherry tree was small I festooned it with garden fleece.  It’s far too tall and wide now.

The walls are bare. The hanging basket brackets devoid of their burdens. Later they will be filled with a glorious mix of trailing flowers, Lobelia, Surfinia, Pelargonium, Busy Lizzies. I even plant spider plants in them.

The back yard has its own microclimate. Last year we manages to grow a Banana plant and Lilies and Bouganvillia. (I dont know if that’s the right spelling), we also have Clematis and a small Apple tree round the back.

I sometimes paint the Poppies that grow to the size of small dinner plates in the summer. I have plans to do the same this year

X.

 

Tulips

Spring has finally sprung. Tulips are rising out of the earth following the refreshment of rain. Drinking in the water, their heads swelling and bursting into bright petals. Shimmering in the cold sunshine of early May.

The season’s are running behind the time here. Another cold and wet snap today, but hopefully better by the weekend.

I use the word hope a lot, I know, but thats how I feel. The colours of the tulips have raised my spirits. They photograph well and I have tried to create kaleidoscopic patterns from them.

Bright red juicy lips of deep red from a double tulip hold me enthralled.  Playing with the image to make it more contrasted, deeper, more shape to it.

I love spring, the fresh green leaves not totally burst from their buds even now we are in May. I hope it does warm up. I need energy to do more art!

 

Apostrophe to Catastrophe. ..

IMG_20180501_235109you know sometimes how two words of similar spelling can sound amazing together…..

Apostrophe to Catastrophe does that to me..                                   bang and hiss, a comma of bliss…

In the wron’g place, confuses the populace?                                     Make’s me s,mile. ..for a wh’Ile!

Each, word, divided, it can’t be hi’ded..                                             this poem’s lops’ided,

Like hiccups in the mi,st……                                                                 I’m really must de,sis,t!

Beware the comma, apostrophe….                                                     it may create a catastrophe!

 

 

Pictures on my phone. ..

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My phone is getting so full of instagram pictures and camera photos. I added an SD card so I can store more, but there are too many to scroll through. So I created a separate gallery with some of my old photos…a painting if a friend , the canvas stretched over a curved chair back because I could not afford a stretcher..painted over 30 years ago… (somehow I have it twice)…a painting of koi carp at a garden centre….parts of a mural I helped paint along with several other artists, including me standing at the board it was painting on…a blue mecanopsis poppy….an Abyssinian cat painted on a blue background…. my old cat Molly, the year before she died…a painting of an Autumn woman…similar to the ancient green man….my grandmother, only the head is from a photo, the rest is imagined…and finally a photo taken at a lovely garden…the Dorothy Clive garden which us a few miles from where I live. ..

So many things to look at, to paint, to enjoy. I cannot stick to one theme.  It is like just eating cheddar cheese and not trying brie or goats cheese .

I think your mind needs to be open to experiences, thoughts, ideas. Don’t close yourself in. Freedom is possible, life is a wonderful thing.

Getting ready for a stall

20180306_225311After a couple of weeks struggling with a cold I’m now preparing work for a stall at an  international womens day event at Burslem School of Art on Saturday.

That basically means getting paintings together that I can display for sale.

The last time I did something like this was when I sat inside at Spode Studios last November when it was almost as cold inside as outside!  I only sold a few tiny paintings. I have also had a stall in the winter a few years ago. It was cold and I did not sell much. So I have to say I’m a bit nervous of doing it.

At least I have some new business cards and labels done. I’m trying to be more professional.  Is there anything  I should think about?

There should be quite a few crafters there on Saturday. Hopefully it will be a good day.

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Anyone for tea (pot)?

This is a current work in progress….

 

I’m working on a painting that might be a bit odd, but as I live in the Potteries its nice to do something that reflects that heritage.

The painting is a bit smaller than A2 in size, acrylic on canvas. Although I have looked at a couple of reference photos its mostly from my imagination. I decided on a dark background to make the teapot stand out more. I need to do more work on the background wood panelling and the pot. Bringing in more reflections and light.