Extra work….

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Sometimes a painting can need work. After a couple of months, and after already exhibiting “my green man” I decided to do more work on it. The canvas was a bit rough, so when you put paint on it, it didn’t spread evenly and it caught on the surface, leaving tiny little dots where the paint hadn’t stuck. That meant that it looked thin in places and the colour wasn’t strong enough so I have tried to improve the pattern of the leaves and the shading on the face. I’ve used some iridescent turquoise to give it the gleam of dampness. If I do another one I might try and paint frost and ice on it.

 

Red hair, green eyes

 

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Red hair and green eyed, pale skinned, she stood in the garden in the rain. She looked out over the countryside and remembered her old family farm.

Sadness overwhelmed her as she thought of her mother and father. It was ten years ago since they had died and she wished they were still here. She wanted to be able to pick up the phone and talk to them. She’d always called on Sunday nights. Then one day her father was ill, and in hospital, he passed away that night . Later in the same week her mother died of a heart attack, they said she had a broken heart.

All this was long ago, but the longing to be with them never ended. Her sister had stayed on the farm and inherited it. The problem was they didn’t get on anymore. She couldn’t face going home to the farm. She thought of her red hair, her green eyes, but she had no fire in her mind, no jealousy in her thoughts. The outside did not signify how she felt. She went in and closed the back door.

Painting again

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I’ve just started this poppy painting. It’s on a black canvas about 12″ square.

I’m hoping I will be able to build up a depth of colour and detail  because of the dark canvas. It’s acrylic on canvas and is going to be big and bold. I need to work on the colours in the poppy but also in the greens of the foliage. I should finish it in the next few days. This is like a practice piece as I have another two black canvases to work on. Not sure what the subject will be.

Plants today

My back yard, fern at spode, carnations at spode.

Just a few plants I saw today. The ones in the yard are mostly in hanging baskets that are billowing out in great waves of colour. The fern is a shuttlecock fern I think because its fronds radiate out from the centre and it looks like the shuttlecock used in badminton. The third picture is of carnation flowers planted up with a blue grass. These last two were taken at the Spode Site at Stoke. There are plants that are planted up by our stairs that soften the edged of the semi derelict buildings there. I love plants.

Hanging baskets up

The hanging baskets I ordered arrived last week so I’m busily watering them to get them to grow. I get them from a farm out on the road between Silverdale and the road between Keele and Madeley in Staffordshire.

They are cheaper if you take the old baskets in. I did spend too much on them but I can’t explain the joy I feel seeing them hanging up. The bright colours inspire me. The different shapes and leaf colours are interesting. Apparently the human eye can distinguish more shades of green than any other colour.

One thing I like doing is hanging one basket under the other, it also means that when you feed and water one the other gets watered.

Happy summer x

Green door

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I keep missing write photo prompts where you write a piece about a photo.

This was taken at a grand house near Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire. I’m sorry I can’t remember the name of the building. What is important is that they rent out rooms for holiday let’s there.

Rachel ran down the stairs from her room and rushed out of the green door. It had happened again, the light had played a trick on her and she had seen a shadowy figure in the dust motes that danced in the beam of sunlight shining through the stained glass windows. She had decided to see if anyone was playing tricks with a mirror outside? How else could the image have been projected into her room?

But no one was there, not even the friendly female attendant who usually sat in the kiosk by the gate, selling tickets to tourists to visit the Abbey which stood in ruins only a quarter of a mile away.

She stepped back through the mossy green door. But not into the present. A stench of rotting flesh overwhelmed her. Figures scurried about carrying boxes, flowers, rushes for the lamps. She had gone back in time. A woman, who looked like a maid, shouted at her to move. He’s here, the King has arrived. Get on with your work. Fearful and panicking Rachel stepped backwards and fell, tripping off the step.

The kiosk lady stood over her. You OK dear? She asked…..