Yes

Do you remember life before the internet?

They didn’t exist, then the green light started blinking… The cursor came later, they were glorified typewriters. I don’t know if they came with a mouse?

I wasn’t a member of the computer club. But about five were lined up in the science lab at school. I sometimes saw green text on them.

One day I went to an exhibition about computer art. There was a pc set up and on the screen it said type something, a phrase, can’t remember. But I typed the words… Nothing happened,,, I typed again, and again and again.. Nothing. I typed till the screen was full and the original message had gradually disappeared off the screen!

I wonder what the people running the exhibition thought? It was only a few months later that I found out about the ENTER key!

Bench

Why are you facing inwards bench?

Can’t you see the beautiful view?

The green and yellow hills

Beyond the fence…

Tiny farmhouses dotted alongside feilds

Sun shining on a golden harvest?

But I look in, said the bench

I see the quarry garden

Dug out of soil and stone

Carved into a bowl

Lined with rhododendrons

Azaleas, beech trees, oaks

Full of colour now, gaudy flowers

A waterfall splashes and ploshes

In the quarry cauldron

Hidden sculptures in maze like paths

Yes beyond the fence is lovely

But the Dorothy Clive garden is special.

Splodgy skies

More boring splodgy night skies. The white line is the moon, just shows how bad my camera shake is! 60 second exposures, went from greenish to slight pink to blue. So maybe there will be better views outside the city?

I’m afraid I’m getting a bit obsessed with the Aurora Borealis. But since we are still in a stream of particles from the sun I might as well try and take pictures when I can. The next solar maximum is in 22 years and I might not be around to see that. Sorry these pictures don’t show amazing structures but I’m pleased just to get the colours here in the middle of a city, x

A green sea spirit

Painting that just popped up on my Facebook memories today from 9 years ago. It’s a picture of a green man sea spirit. The image was based on a terracotta face I had outside my back door. There is a crack through it which was caused by frost I think. I changed the colours to reflect its maritime appearance. It has a similar feeling to the Air painting I just published, a spiritual or mythical feeling. Acrylic on canvas.

Happy St Patrick’s day

Happy St Patrick’s day, I couldn’t quite draw a Shamrock so I did a green butterfly instead.

I live in England so we don’t strongly celebrate St Patrick’s day as much as the Irish, but it is a happy day. I was meant to go out to a coffee morning to celebrate but I woke up with a runny nose and a sore throat so I decided not to share that. Anyway I hope you all have a lovely day. Looking forward to Spring and all the fresh greens to come. X

Mossy

I joined a moss appreciation group recently. I’ve taken a few photos but I’ve not come across anything as spectacular as some of the members post. You can just see a reddish orange cup shape in the bottom right quarter of this photo. I think its a type of fungus?

Here’s a closer look. Can you identify it?

I like the idea of eccentric groups of people adding information and images to the Internet. That’s what makes it interesting.