New paintings and regular art updates.
View from the north Midlands of England.
Just looked out of the backdoor, almost midnight and I could see a star so it’s clear but looked odd so I took some 60 second layered Night photos and the northern lights are vaguely visible again. Looking West up the hill over the roofs. It’s shaky because of my tremors.
There’s a peeling paint appreciation society on Facebook. I’m always on the lookout for images to share and saw this today. The lock/switch looks pristine but the paint on the pipe next to it is flaking away. You can tell the order in which it was painted. I thought it made an interesting photo.
Looking through a window in a door at Spode out of the studio window. The layers of lines and squares superimposed on top of each other made it interesting. The wood frames each section neatly.
What you can’t see is the bright sunlight catching the building in the background. I could see it, but here it’s over exposed and looks almost white,merging into the line of sky above it. Eyes are so important, cameras are wonderful, but seeing in reality is a better experience sometimes.
Today I went to a craft group.
It’s something I sometimes go to, it’s the chance to experiment without doing anything serious. The group has lots of different materials and today it was scraper board. It’s a black coloured layer over the top of holographic metallic board. You scratch through and add shapes or texture. I found a stencil with patterns punched into it. There were rabbits and daffodils, tulips and egg shapes. I drew an Easter egg and added the stencils inside it. Then added spirals and Happy Easter to it to finish it off.
Sketchfu drawing collaged four times. The layers are the circular pens on sketchfu alternating light and dark, then shaded with lower opacity browns and greys to give a 3D effect. I think the result looks quite abstract and alien.
What could you try for the first time?
I was singing with the choir tonight and I noticed a friend had got her hair coloured very subtle purple shades. A bit like this free photo but on much shorter hair.
I have had a box of hair colour in the cupboard for a couple of years, but I keep chickening out on using it. I’m worried I might be allergic to the dye and also I have watched several videos and you can’t just use it like shampoo you have to put it in thin layers to spread it evenly over your hair. I don’t think I can physically do that!
I once asked a hairdresser to do it but she would not use a dye by a different supplier as it was a problem if it went wrong. Shall I just try and shampoo it in or give up and throw it away? I have become very risk averse!
My attempt at wax resist printing that I did with the brilliant Belinda Latimer a few years ago. I enjoyed trying to do Batik in her workshop, creating layers of colour. I also did a print of a couple of fish that I called Pisces had framed in a deep wooden frame. Another example of my experimental art practice.
The sun rise is later every day
The birds still wake and sing
At the same time
Their day stretches
From wing tip to wing tip
Music soaring before the sun
Even when night is darkest
Before the dawn
They know to sing…
The liquid notes of the robin
Pierce the night.
There’s a chill in the air
And it’s only September
Autumn already
Shorter days
Longer (cold) nights
I will not switch on
The dreaded boiler
Until my lips and fingers
Pinch in the cold.
Layers of clothes
Must be the answer.
Use the cat as a blanket.
Coats on the bed
I remember that
When I was a child.
Mixed up. Abstract digital drawing. Drawn on top of another image. I like the fact that digitally you can keep adding and erasing parts of a drawing, covering areas with new effects. Changing the opacity of tools so you can see through to previous layers. You can also change the colours of your image to that you totally alter the mood of your artwork. This abstract could become a whirlwind or a rose? Who knows. I might do more to it.
Mallaband-Brown