New paintings and regular art updates.
I posted this on Instagram and my friend said she could see my third eye!
I like to be obscured
And obscure
Hide my light
Under a bushel.
Blue and red and grey
Like an old TV set
With a cracked screen
A play for today
Trying hard
Not to implode
But dissappear into
The fog of time
Faded in the light
He loves me I think, it might be cupboard love, because I feed him. But he likes having his cheeks rubbed and his ears stroked. He still doesn’t like being picked up and soon wriggles free. I think he must have been handled badly as a kitten. He was abandoned (we found out from the cat charity we support) so we have looked after him for about five years now. He started out living in our shed and gradually came into the house at night. Now he’s next to me, curled up on the arms of our armchairs, he likes sleeping between us. I think it makes him feel safer. But he still goes out most of the night, even when it’s cold and wet. I think he must be eleven or twelve now. Cats that live outside have shorter lives so I think we have added a few years on to his life. X
Sketches from 2004. The main drawing was a friend and I think the other two were practice faces. I draw faces less now. I try and draw them convincingly but I think you can get tied down into the same lines, the same shapes. It’s hard to break through muscle memory when you have drawn and painted for more than fifty years! I must say I owe a debt to my mom who let me go to college instead of insisting I got a job at the end of my time at school. That time was instrumental in making me the artist I am! X
Just a face to look at
To assess and see
Is it friendly or anxious?
Or angry about me?
This face is slightly pensive
Thinking about the world
Everythings so expensive
As into the future she’s hurled!
This is a nonsense poem.
Not much point at all
Just keep the rhyme going
Or will this poem stall!
Feeling a bit less stressed. I’ve got my report in with a day to spare! Gives me time to try and solve another problem tomorrow! If only life was easy. I think I’m going to have another sleepless night while I worry about that. Then next I’ve got to finish putting my Illustration portfolio together. I have almost a month so time to do some more experiments and trials. I want to write some limericks for it too!
Draco, the dragon constellation and Ursa minor. Draco writhes up the northern night sky from the constellation Hercules up to Lyra. It sits near the north pole of the ecliptic. It was first identified by Ptolomey in the 2nd century. It remains one of 88 modern constellations.
I’ve found out a lot as I’ve written my college report. Eastern dragons are wise and benign, western ones evil and dangerous. They have lots of different appearances that vary depending on where they are were from or the time they were imagined. No legs, two legs, four legs, winged. Dragons seem to have evolved through time and now a more standardised anatomy seems to have emerged. I wonder how dragons will change in the future?
Golden eyes staring up at me. Sitting in the sunlight. Is that love or ‘feed me’ in his eyes? Predator, but well fed. He doesn’t chase birds thankfully. But he does chase other cats, and gets chased in return. I think they are playing ‘tag’. Long whiskers twitch, he’s ready to rub up against my legs. Enjoy the sun and warmth today. Tomorrow maybe snow is on the way!
We were going out yesterday when a car pulled up outside the house. Is that your garden? The driver asked us. Yes we said. Oh great. Can we buy it? No, I said. It’s not for sale! The man looked disappointed. Why do you want it my hubby asked. We are thinking of buying the old pub across the road to turn into apartments. We would use it as a car park. A car park alongside our house? No way. People coming and going at all times of the day and night. Destroying our wildlife garden. Also we would need a large fence to keep people out who could just walk onto the carpark…? NO! I was polite but said no.
My college project is about dragons. I have to write a report and I’m getting bogged down with all the information I’m trying to put together. From dinosaur fossils that could have been mistaken for dragons. To their ancient mythological history. Then I looked at Bestiaries and the bible. It’s surprising how many places they appear. There is a dragon or group of dragons for every continent. So much so that I cannot talk about all of them. They seem to split between benign and protective beasts or evil and sly. Then I look at the symbology of them. I tried to include some semiology within the report. Finally I’m looking at modern imagery, novels and children’s stories. I’ve also started to write a children’s book and I’m using my illustrations for it. I hope to finish writing soon but each time I think I have finished I find more to put in and more to edit out. I think I have too many quotes and I need to put more in my own words.
Friend sketch. I try and remember to take a small sketch pad with me and when I have the chance I will draw for a few minutes. My sketchpad is like a visual diary, I might use a drawing as a basis for another piece of art, or simply as an aide memoir reminding me of what happened on a particular day. This day was a visit to the Waiting room gallery to see a Spanish Exhibition and tile workshop.
Mallaband-Brown