New paintings and regular art updates.
What paint to use on scenery? It would be cheaper to use emulsion paint, but the tins are too big for the Mystery Play job as we only have a few pieces of scenery to paint, so I got out my trusty acrylic tubes. The palettes are a bit of a mess, but I have to admit I like peeling the paint off to see what the back of the paint looks like (shiny and smooth, multicoloured).
More to do, tired…
How do you waste the most time every day?
Too much stuff to see
Glance, read, what was that?
View, like, heart,
Glance, worry, comment.
Distracting dopamine
Images, words, notes,
Got to stop, put it down
Doomscrolling
Not a good way of looking
At the world…
Which food, when you eat it, instantly transports you to childhood?
My favourite biscuits when I was a child were custard creams, a layered sandwich of two biscuits with a creamy vanilla layer in the centre. You would twist them apart and lick off the filling, then dunk the biscuits in a cup of tea, carefully soaking them and eating them before they got too soggy and fell apart.
Sometimes mom would buy a crispy slightly oatier version with a lemony centre to it which would be eaten in the same way.
Just reading the prompt took me back to our living room, sitting at the dining table with a China cup and saucer and matching plate. Milk jug and teapot. The biscuits were eaten after heinz sandwich spread sandwiches on white bread.
I also remember the rusty orange settee and the wallpaper with tiny rosebuds and ribbons printed on it.
Dad bought home a wallpaper book once, full of swatches of paper patterns in various colours. So exciting to look at.
Playing with colours and textures. Who needs AI when you can play with things yourself? This time I started with an acrylic on canvas, then I used photodirector and incollage apps to play with the images. I’m getting some interesting effects.
Just been for a scan to see what’s going on in my body. I had to have contrast medium to outline my blood vessels. I went to the hospital, waited an hour, had it done and was back out half an hour later. Thank you NHS.
I don’t know how much it costs here, but we do have free tests because we pay for it in our general taxes. I then decided to check what a CT scan costs in America. $675 to $10000 or more! And what if you don’t have insurance over there? Terrible to have to pay unaffordable amounts and even bankrupt yourself….. I’m lucky to live here.
Oh for some rain, but today came the news that there is an amber heat warning for parts of Britain. That means there is some danger to health for people, especially for the vulnerable ones. There might be a cooler week next week, but that doesn’t mean rain.
In other news we had reports that we can expect temperatures of up to 40°Celcius in future years, that’s a lot higher than we are used to. Britain has a maritime weather system, meaning weather coming from all directions and all sorts of types. Rain, wind, sleet, hail, snow, sun, fog, mist, drizzle, gales, thunder and even tornadoes and water spouts, we get it all!
Marigold? I’m not sure. Taken 14 years ago, came up on Facebook memories. The brilliant orange makes me want to eat fruit! I think there’s a tiny bee or wasp sitting in it. I think it was taken on a digital camera not on my phone. Not bad memory. I can even remember my friends garden where the photo was taken.
Well that was a waste of time!
I set out early and spent half an hour in a very hot car travelling about 1.5 miles. I had to walk quite a way due to no spare parking spaces.
I got in to the dentists and reported to reception, ‘your waiting area is upstairs’. Oh! About 20 steep steps, one handrail. If I got up I would struggle to get down. Parkinsons does not make things easy.
So I explained it was not possible. I didn’t want to fall. I asked if I could go in a downstairs consulting room. They tried their best and my dentist tried hard to see if they could fit me in later. But they didn’t ask me! In the end I stopped them. ‘why don’t you let me come back another day?’ they were relieved, I was relieved. Going back in a couple of weeks. The trip home? Another traffic jam. I’m home and hot and bothered with no treatment. I need a rest!
Abstract pattern. Is less more? Or can convoluted shapes be fabulous? It’s all about balance, nuance, things can still be beautiful even when they are strange. Pleasing to the eye. Artrage app and textures from photodirector. Simple and yet complex.
I’m playing an Imp in the Penkhull Mystery Play, I have one line (and a few more as the narrator). It’s not obvious I’m an Imp, I just have to shout out “my name is Jakobah” , push a rock across a cave mouth. Then shout “goodbye”. There were more lines but they were cut because the play was originally one and a half hours long so it had to be edited. Maybe this is another case of measure twice, cut once! Anyway I hope to do so some more painting later x
Mallaband-Brown