New paintings and regular art updates.
Seen at Spode in a new friends studio. I love it, I used to have an old one which was from an office and was coloured grey. This looks antique. When keyboards and computers came out typewriters became defunct, but there is something charming and evocative about this. A bygone day. Even seeing it makes me think of flowery language. Spindley letters. Gothic script. I’m going over the top now. A great tranklement! ❤️
Draw round anything with a thin pen and you get an interesting effect. It’s something I do occasionally as a meditation. Trying to keep a little distance from coloured splodges or around lines that I have already drawn or doodled. Somehow the lines remind me of the contours on a map, because they seem to join things together. Mostly I look at the back of my pictures and see if the ink has bled through it. I’ve written about this technique here before. It’s a way of creating something a little more abstract.
Nine years ago we had a party at Loud Mouth Women singing group. I can’t remember exactly what it was for but this just came up on my Facebook page. I’m sure we will have sung many songs in different languages. It’s fun to sing, the group doesn’t need you to be able to read music. If you decide to join in we try and help people decide if they sing high, middle or low parts, but people can move around. You don’t have to perform, you can if you want to though, we have a few gigs a year. I didn’t go for a few weeks but I’m so glad to be back! If you have a local choir think of joining?
I was struck by how many toy adverts are on the TV now coming up for Christmas. There were a lot of crying baby dolls and I decided to draw this in response (for my own amusement). I guess I’m a closet cartoonist! I don’t mean to offend anyone, so apologies in advance x
Three years ago I was an extra in a film called Humanus, this is me made up for the preview which was featured on local TV. It was a comedy /rom com/horror /mystery and it was fun to be in! The cast were members of the inter- theatre company and the director was Steve Mitchell. If you look it up you might find Humanus, or at least the trailer on YouTube. It was especially good because part of it was filmed in the Leopard Hotel in Burslem (sadly destroyed by fire earlier this year). Better times…
Only one lot of trick or treaters called round tonight. One of them had a pumpkin on his head that was lit up with LEDs. There were three boys and they were soaked to the skin because it was raining so heavily. We gave them fifty pence each because I don’t usually get sweets or candies for Halloween night. I have to say they seemed a friendly bunch so I didn’t mind it, but it’s not my most favourite festival. I actually prefer Carol singers, and I encourage them to sing a couple of verses because often they come round and sing one line of we wish you a merry Christmas and expect to get money for it. I guess I’m a bit like Scrooge! Oh dear!
Today’s prompt was Halloween. I decided to take my idea from the pumpkin that I carved last year. So we have a cute/hellish cat glowing neon yellow sitting on a lawn waiting for any trick or treaters. Will it bite their ankles? Who knows…. Purr
I carved this pumpkin cat last year for Halloween at Etruria Industrial Museum. It is meant to be a black cat if it was lit at night. I think they used battery tea lights for safety. I think I carved three or four with different designs. Memories of a more cheerful time. I should say be careful carving out pumpkins. I thing I cut a finger slightly while I was doing this x
The gallery I have my poppy paintings in has used my poppy meditation to create a jigsaw puzzle. I need to see it in reality to check the colours and clarity of it but was a lovely surprise. Lots of thoughts about other ideas too. Cushion covers, tee shirts? A whole new world of opportunity.
A favourite painting done seven years ago. It was called Autumn Woman and was snapped up by an old friend. I like slightly surreal images, thinking about traditional art and giving it a slight twist. I may do a painting that includes leaves and fungi using this as an inspiration. I’m so happy with the colour combinations, I forgot that you can include blue as an autumnal colour.
Mallaband-Brown