Solstice

Posted on December 21, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged day length, Earth, Life, Light, seasons, Solstice, Summer, Sun, Sunrise, Sunset, Time, Tipped, WinterLeave a comment

When the sum rose this morning it was on the shortest day of the year. Now the days up here in the Northern Hemisphere will slowly start to lengthen again. At first at a minute or two a day, but gradually a few more minutes around spring time. Then as the Summer solstice approaches the number of minutes slows down. Finally after that the process goes into reverse and the days begin to wane again. So the great cycle of light and dark tumbles along North and South. Only on the equator are day and night lengths balanced out. The cause? Earth is tipped at an angle, so for six months of the year one half of the planet gets more light than the other (which also proves the Earth is a globe).

Happy Solstice everyone!

Blank

Posted on December 21, 2022 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged #bandofsketchers, Art, Black and white drawing, blank, Drawing, Life, self portrait, Sketching, TiredLeave a comment

Tuesdays #bandofsketchers prompt was Blank. A blank stare, my face in the mirror this morning. Still feeling like all the energy has been sucked out of me with this horrible cough. I used a tiny hand mirror so the face is distorted, it was like trying to put a jigsaw puzzle together!

Why don’t cats shut doors?

Posted on December 14, 2022 Posted in Cat, UncategorizedTagged Black and white cat, Cat, Door, Life, open, opposable thumb, Poem, Poetry, shutLeave a comment

Learn to shut the door cat!

I feed you

And you get fat!

You stick in the cat flap..

Like a mouse in a humane trap!

Your nose and paws

Easily open a door..

But you don’t shut them

You need more

An opposable thumb!

Sundays prompt

Posted on December 12, 2022 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged #bandofsketchers, Antarctica, Art, Bird, Drawing, Felt pens, Ice, Life, Nature, Penguin, Sea, Sketching, Swimming, Water3 Comments

Sundays #bandofsketchers prompt was Antarctica. As penguins live in Antarctica I decided to draw one swimming in the sea. I did think about drawing them huddled together with chicks but they look so streamlined in the water. As usual a felt pen drawing.

Covid on the up?

Posted on December 11, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged corona virus, Covid, Friends, Graph, Illness, increase, Life, Time, uptick, Winter, Years12 Comments

My friend just told me she has covid and a few other friends have had it recently. Then someone else posted this graph on Facebook. There is a definite uptick on the right of the graph. It’s not clear how it will progress and given the lack of publication of the stats on TV anymore its not surprising that people are possibly getting a little complacent about it. Yes most people are vaccinated, but it doesn’t mean you will be totally immune. I just hope that people can get over it quickly. I for one keep buying and wearing masks.

Pink cat!

Posted on December 10, 2022 Posted in Cat, UncategorizedTagged Black and white cat, Cat, Cat tree, Life, Morning, pink cat, Sunrise, Tuxedo cat, WarmLeave a comment

Sunlight reflecting off her fur, on the windowledge at the top of the stairs, she looks out to check on what’s going on in the garden. Not long now to the winter equinox when the days will slowly start to get longer again. She’s so soft and sweet.

Cats know how to keep warm. The heat rises up the stairs so she is happy up there. This afternoon she’s gone out for a little walk round the garden, I think she will be back in again soon. Then she will either go back upstairs or sit on the cat tree by the radiator in the living room.

Cards?

Posted on December 9, 2022December 9, 2022 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Art, Card design, cost of living, Fine Art, Ideas, Life, Painting, TeapotLeave a comment

I’m hoping to get some cards made from my pottery paintings. I need to start selling things, but it’s a balance between what I can afford and what I can sell. The cost of living is making life difficult for everyone. This painting is loosely based on a Burleigh ware design although it’s not an actual copy. It’s totally imagined so I had to decide on where the shadows would fall. The background is meant to look like wooden panels reflected in a desk or table. The minds eye is an interesting concept. I actually can imagine how things look, and by talking my way through things I can generally get a good idea of what I’m doing.

Sunsets missed

Posted on December 8, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Hill, Life, shadow, Sunset, Thinking, Time, ViewLeave a comment

I live on the wrong side of the hill. On the other side is where the sun sets. If I see the clouds turning pink I jump in the car to try and catch a view of the sunset! I’ve only seen a few in the last few years, I don’t know when they will be happening. I guess I could look at the times that the sun goes down on line, then I could be there and see the beautiful view. I wish I could afford to buy a house over there.

Gone!

Posted on December 8, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Cold, Flowers, Freezing, Frozen, Gardening, Jet stream, Life, North, Plants, South, WeatherLeave a comment

Minus 7.7°C in Shropshire last night, and below freezing locally. My Nasturtiums which were still in flower yesterday have collapsed in little siddy heaps. Their plant cells have all burst as the fluid inside them expanded into ice crystals. I knew it would happen, I was hoping to still have some in flower at Christmas.

The Jet Stream up in the sky has settled below England to our south and low pressure systems are pulling down cold air from the North of Britain. We are expecting freezing conditions for at least up to the weekend. By then the damage to my plants will be done. I haven’t got any garden fleece to protect the plants, I can only hope having plants close together will help some of them survive. X

Abstract Christmas tree?

Posted on December 2, 2022 Posted in Fine Art, Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Colours, Digital art, Digital manipulation, Felt pens, Fine Art, Fun, Life, SketchingLeave a comment

Art is complex, it can mean anything. Art can be good and bad, but one person’s good art is something someone else might loathe. I just edited this image to crop a smaller area and add a circular frame. Now I look at it I can see a series of stacked triangles that look like graffiti. It could represent a Christmas tree, or a forest, or rain on a window distorting an image outside it. It could also be a Christmas tree bauble. The digital filter distorts my linework, and adds textures and pattern to my drawing. The colours were originally felt pens but they to have been altered by the digital filters.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Life