Tag: History

What day is it?

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Queen Elizabeth II from the Internet.

It was yesterday? That our queen died. Prince Charles is now King Charles III.

The BBC has been showing wall to wall reports about everything that is happening. I understand why, its TV channels are the face of the establishment. They have to show what’s happening for the sake of history and posterity. But for goodness sake! The same report about the Queen’s life has been shown on the hour at least six times. Rolling news at its worst? I feel sad that she has died, but being reminded constantly is too much, at least try and vary the content. For instance another channel had stories about artists who had created portraits of her, and had interesting anecdotes. The TV stations knew this was inevitable. Stop making a meal of it. How many days will it be before the obsession stops?

Cowboy films

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Just lately my hubby has started watching a lot of cowboy films that I really do not enjoy very much. Yes there are occasions when something comes on the TV which I think is interesting (like Dances with Wolves), but mainly I get bored with them. The old ones are very formulaic and modern ones are very violent and brutal. What’s the point of watching them. They are not my history, and yet there are so many of them. I’d like to watch a decent film about British history occasionally. I do realise that Hollywood has a huge influence over the world. But the constant pushing of gun slinging, murdering, bandits and corrupt government officials just bores and depresses me. Guns are not a solution, they are weapons that should be locked away. Gunfight films just perpetuate the dangers of them.

Stairs

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Look up Whitby steps on the Internet and you find out there are 199 steps from the town up to Whitby Abbey at the top. Dracula by Bram Stoker was set there. The town has many tourists visiting because of this. There is also a history of jewellery making in the town because it is the home of Whitby Jet. This is a black, fossilised substance that was originally ancient monkey puzzle trees. The steps or stairs offer a spectacular view down over the harbour and bay.

For #bandofsketchers prompt today ‘stairs’

I love steam

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Small painting from 2018 that was on display at Etruria Industrial Museum. I used an image off the Internet to work on. I think it was from a photo of a pumping station in Derbyshire? I loved trying to get the metallic reflections. I looked at the price and I wad only selling it for £25! The amount of work I put in means I constantly undersell myself, but people just don’t seem to have money for art these days. As to what it is I think it’s a regulator? Ith weights hold the arms down if it starts to spin too fast?

Umbrellas

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Memory from 2017 of a mural I painted in 2007. This was at the Leopard Hotel in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent. I have a strong connection with Burslem from doing a series of murals in the hotel. Who knows whether I will do anymore?

I would love to do a bit more mural painting, or scenery, or large paintings. I’m hoping if I can get my shaking arm under control I might be able to do it.

Memories are a great thing, but also they can be tinged with sadness when you think of all the things you could have done. I do wonder about the pandemic times. Could I have done more to keep my art business going? What things can I do to actually sell my work? I’m not a sales person, I’m an artist…. I don’t think I’ll ever have a USP!

Bull?

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Stained glass window in Burslem School of art. Its on the stairs, halfway up between the main floor and the upper floor. It has a history, but again I was in a rush and didn’t get the details. But it was created by the head of art there and his students. Its mainly painted on the glass and does not have a lot of lead segments like church windows. I think it’s beautiful and poignant, and a great memory to cherish.

To a new home

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My little dragon painting has gone to a new home tonight. The new owner is really pleased with my quirky painting that I created while studying illustration. My final major project was about varieties of dragons and how they have been depicted from the earliest times across the globe. The idea could have been based on dinosaur fossils that ancient civilisations may have found. They would not have had any way to date the bones and may have seen them as contemporary to them or living within their recent history.

Fire?

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I don’t know what happened but there was a fire last week on the old Falcon Works pottery site near us. We saw a column of smoke rising from behind the Portmeirion pottery that is across the road from us. Then we heard a fire engine heading towards the pottery. The smell was very strange, like burnt rubber. My hubby went for a walk round the back of the works when we got back from Cornwall, he said it just looked the same as normal?

It turns out that the land has recently been sold to developers. Could this be a coincidence? A lot of old derelict industrial sites in the area seem to be hit by suspected arson recently. It is worrying to think of the damage being done to our heritage.

Planning application

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I’ve just written a comment on our local council website to oppose planning approval for development of the historic Spode Factory site in Stoke, Stoke-on-Trent.

Planning application in for Spode Site. Search on Stoke.gov.uk for details. Planning application 67906/FUL comments need to be in by 20.07.22.
I wrote :
Elanora Street and the surrounding area in Stoke Town are subject to a lot of heavy traffic. I think this proposal will have a negative effect, particularly around peak traffic flow times.
In addition, as a Studio holder based at the Acava Art Studios on the Spode site I am concerned about how my business will be affected. I need vehicular access to my studio when collecting or delivering artworks and art materials. I would want to be reassured that artists in the studios will not have there businesses restricted or inconvenienced.
Spode Site is a heritage site. It should be developed with an understanding of its historical value to the town, city, and world. But instead the city council seem to be taking the low brow option of cramming ‘apartments’ onto the site.
Like the Goodsyard proposal currently in the process of being considered, it is another uninspired use of land.
In a decade of austerity it is also a question as to whether anyone would want to buy an apartment on a brownfield site where the history has been removed!
Security on the site has been reduced due to council cuts. There have been incidents of intruders entering the site in the evening and nights. Has consideration been given to the security when the work goes ahead?
Finally I want to say I believe this proposal is ill-conceived and destructive of a historical site. The development will be detrimental to Stoke’s standing as a heritage centre. So much of our local history is being allowed into crumble into dust. The council has a short sighted bias  which does not seem to want to take responsibility for Stoke-on-Trents culture