New paintings and regular art updates.
You light up my life,
Like a street lamp showing the way
That’s a bit glitchy
So sometimes you flicker…
Like a candle,
That gutters and flutters,
Like a bonfire,
Who’s sparks can cause explosions
Like the Sun
Which can be hidden by clouds.
But you give more light than dark,
For which I’m grateful.
Two years ago this is what I wrote on Facebook :
“Missing two black and white cats, in our house, somewhere under or behind the furniture….hopefully they will emerge when they get hungry. Hubby has been looking for them half the night. I keep telling him that will just scare them more…. I don’t know whether to get one of those plug in things that gives off a calming scent for cats?”
The photo is of the female who I hadn’t got to know as they had only been here for two days. At the time I didn’t know she was pregnant with four kittens (who we successfully rehomed). She is now very happy living here with her brother. They don’t hide, they like us now. I did get some of that stuff that calms cats down and it worked.
X
Tonight was our last choir practice until September. We were trying to learn a south seas song called tangihina. It is about a man who has to choose between his lover and a watersprite who had taken her form. He chose the waters sprite by mistake and was swept out to sea.
While I was there I started to draw the singers arriving. I’d began by drawing the chairs but everyone arrived in a rush. I’ve only done one side of the room but that was all I could manage. As it says in the drawing, see you in September!) although it won’t stop me from blogging in the meantime.
X
I smell your hand hooman
It sniffs of coffee and paint
Of lavender and cut grass.
It smells of sausages and chips
Salt and vinegar.
Your hooman hand is warm
And soft.
Your hooman hand gives me
Food and water.
It strokes my belly
My nose and head.
You are my hooman
And I own you!
What’s going on? My cat turns to stone when he sits in the bathroom. He stares out of the window. I think he sees the movement of the birds feeding out of the frosted glass.
He is fascinated by the sound of them landing on the bathroom roof. They sound like they are tap dancing across the roof.
If I wanted another stationary photo of him I would have to take photos on the bathroom. That is where he is at his quietest unless he is sleeping but then you don’t see his beautiful eyes.
X
Several years ago I offered to do a painting for whoever made the highest bid for a charity auction. I don’t remember what the bid was but I did this portrait of the bidders dogs. It’s in watercolours on watercolour paper and framed. The paper was a3 but the mount is wide and cut in more of a letterbox shape because of the composition.
I loved painting them, they have such cheeky faces. I also loved painting the patterned cloth they were lying on. I think it’s a throw.
You know where to contact me if you would like to commission me.
Good morning,
I hope you are having a pleasant day.
The sun is shining
and the cats are at play.
Playing hide and seek
behind a small shoe.
My eyes are hidden
so I must be too?
Jumping in the bath,
under the tap.
Your water bowls there but
there’s a drip you must lap.
Now you are sleeping
together as one,
Dreaming cat dreams
curled up in the sun.
Now you are washing
cat yoga for you.
Stretching and bending
is what you must do.
So cats they have logic
all of their own
The way to do things?
They won’t be shown…..
Every year I get some hanging baskets from a local nursery. They create beautiful collections of flowers and you can specify what plants you have in them. I love combinations of lobelia, begonias, fushias and pelagoniums amongst others. I’m planning to get out in the garden soon to tidy it up for the spring. The old baskets get recycled and replanted to save some of the cost.
Looking at these sunny colours has bought me a bit of joy in cold January. I hope they have for you too.
X
I don’t know who else is a cat lover but I have two beautiful cats. In this house you are never far from either them because they don’t go out. They are happy and they have lots of toys. One of their favourite things is to chase each other from room to room, almost like they are playing a children’s game of tag.
I was thinking back to when they first arrived. They are adult cats and they were very scared. I did not know how they would react. They hid. Very well. It took us a couple of hours to find them. One was under a cupboard and the other one hid behind a large plant pot. Eventually they emerged and from then on they have been happy. They both come and sit on us and love being stroked and groomed. I’m glad we got them.
Drawing in two apps, artrage oils and a sketching app. I just wanted to draw a happy face. At the moment my husband is playing with a toy helicopter and it’s not going well. He’s had it caught on the curtains and just gone in the waste paper bin. Meanwhile I’m trying to draw, and then write this. Hmmm… How happy am I … I guess OK, not unhappy, slightly annoyed. But relaxed until the copter comes rushing past my face The batteries will be flat soon you only get 5 to 10 minutes flying time then it has to be charged for 30 minutes. In the meantime I will carry on Doodling. …
Mallaband-Brown