Imagination

What gives you direction in life?

Imagining a direction to take

Decisions made when I wake,

Thoughts my mind makes….

It’s a hard question when you get older and most of your life is behind you. I’m not very religious, so mainly I want to stay safe and keep going. No one wants bad things to happen.

I guess what direction I take could include going round in circles, always turning right, heading north. But mainly it’s just survival. Not in a preppy, survivalist sort of way, but just managing with what we’ve got, helping others when we can. Not expecting too much. Just trying to support each other. It’s not always easy, and questions have to be asked about whether the direction we are heading in now is still the right one.

The world should be fair for everyone. I know that’s a hard thing to expect, and people can be selfish and jealous of what they have. But I hope people will consider others as well as themselves. I think John Lennons song ‘Imagine’ is a good thing to follow…..

My old painting found!

I don’t remember painting this but it must be several years old. I don’t know what I was thinking when I did it. I certainly wouldn’t do this now! It’s too blousy, but it’s got my characteristic patterns. Anyway it was discovered when someone was having a clear out of stuff so perhaps they were not that impressed either. I’m not sure if it’s on canvas or board and it could be when I was still painting in oils. I will have to see. I’d call it a sketch not fine art…..

I’m not a doctor

Do you have a quote you live your life by or think of often?

I’m not a doctor, but I always think in situations you should ‘first do no harm’. That is something I try and live by. Even when I’m tempted to do something. That said I am no saint. I get angry like anyone else. But you have to try not to get to upset. I wouldn’t hurt anyone, hit anyone, although as I’ve got older I do swear at, or about people. Thankfully that can’t physically harm, although mentally it might hit home?

One of the problems, still, with social media, is the lack of nuance. What is written is in black and white… There are no grey areas unless you create them in your words. For a long time on one particular site a person was being very antagonistic towards me, everything I said seemed wrong to them. We lived in different countries with different traditions and we couldn’t seem to agree on what was the best way to cooperate… I thought I must find a way so I found an important symbol in that country and did a complicated and detailed drawing of it and offered it as an olive branch. Luckily it worked and things became much more harmonious afterwards, we even became friends.

I guess all I can say is try and be diplomatic if you can. You should still tell the truth, but in a constructive way, and try and do no harm. I think hurting someone can only come back and bite you!

Developing tulips

The top left tulip and bottom right are both the same type, but the top left one has developed and the colour is coming out. The other still has a green tinge. The top left is a different, more rounded type, but there is a yellow throat to it. Finally the bottom left was a larger pale pink flower. I’m loving the way they are developing.

Got new Glitter pens

Experimenting with new felt pens

Doodling on cartridge paper which was a nice surface to draw on. I’m using a different sketchbook and got some new glittery felt pens. Unfortunately the sparkle is not very strong. I then added black liner pen and some gold pen. I almost added a face to this, but left it as finished. However if I can add it digitally as a background I might have a go at drawing over it in a digital app……

Stone

I found this cold green stone in my bag today. I don’t know how many months it had been in there. Wrapped in green tissue paper, carefully sealed up with tape. I could feel its shape through the layers of paper but not how it felt. It could have been anything I suppose.

I’m a collector of stones, fossils, crystals, ‘dust gatheters’ I don’t know why I started or when it became a collection. Just nice, shiny, pieces of rock or stone, some polished like this, others hard and rough, fools gold, carborundum, but mainly quartz. I even made my own crystal using a supersaturated solilution and string. I don’t remember the chemical I used….

Odd fungi

These are growing at the base of an old dead tree. I have no idea what they are. There is another lot a bit closer in to the tree which may be small shaggy inkcaps

All around everything is coming to life. I will post more photos later of blossom and bluebells (sadly the Spanish type which hybridises with English ones) but we keep them as they were from my grandma’s garden. We also have patches of wild garlic coming into flower….