Tick-tock

Posted on November 26, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Life, Mystery, Night, Short story, Talking, Tick tock, Very short story, WatchLeave a comment

There’s definitely something odd about this watch, she said to her friend. I ordered it over the Internet and it arrived today. I needed a new one and this was cheap and cheerful……. She couldn’t explain what was making her uneasy. Is it keeping time? Her friend said, and she replied, yes, it seems to be fine.

She went home after her shift and changed into her pajamas. Put the watch on the bedside cabinet… Tick tock… Tick tock.. Tick tock … She woke in the middle of the night and realised what she had subconsciously been hearing all day…

Tick-tock, the watch was saying the words, not actually ticking or tocking !

Go to sleep Sarah it said, Gooo tooo sleeeep!

What the merry hell?

Face sketch

Posted on November 25, 2020 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Drawing, Image, Life, Pencil sketch, Portrait, Sketch, Sky portrait artist of the week, Twenty minutes2 Comments

Tried drawing Jane Horrocks in twenty minutes while watching Sky Portrait artist of the week. Done with a blunt spectrum noir pencil crayon. Where’s my sharpener when I need it? I couldn’t find an image from the day so I used a stock one. I’m afraid it looks a bit more like another celebrity, Annika Rice?

Hanging baskets hanging on….

Posted on November 25, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged baskets, Begonia, Fliwers, Fushia, Gardening, Hanging baskets, Life, Nasturtium, Pelagoniums, Plants3 Comments

Yes they are still surviving. Plants and flowers that would normally have shrivelled away by now, a series of frosts due this week might do that, but the plucky baskets (OK they are not thinking or animated) have hung on together with the plants around the yard. I guess there must be a microclimate. I will let them stay where they are until its time to get them refilled again in spring next year…

There are various plants in the photos, including nasturtium, fushua, begonia, aster, pelargonium and many more.

Online lecture

Posted on November 25, 2020 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Backgrounds, College, Fun, Ink, Learning, Lecture, Life, Painting, Student led, WatercolourLeave a comment

Just watched a lecture by one of our fellow students. It was fascinating to watch. About watercolour and ink and how to use it. She showed us how to use salt and also cling film to add texture, masking fluid to preserve white areas and glue mixed with paint and ink to created textured backgrounds. I will certainly have a go at using some of them.

She also showed us her sketchbooks, she mainly does abstract work, but also does realistic work, (she showed us a lovely painting of a friends dog). It’s great that students are adding to the teaching experience at college….

Outdoor boy is sitting next to me!

Posted on November 24, 2020 Posted in Cat, UncategorizedTagged Boy cat, Cat, Coming in, Happy, Life, Outdoor cat, Purring, Settled, Sitting2 Comments

That ppaw came out and touched my arm! He’s purring, eyes closed and allowing me to stroke him. Ideally I’d like to get him down the vets to check him over, but I don’t think he’d play and he’s a much bigger cat then my boy and girl… At least he should be safe over winter….

Watches

Posted on November 24, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Artefact, Clock, College, Life, Object, Recondition, Repurpose, Reuse, Time, WatchLeave a comment

A collection of watches, new and old. Broken straps, flat batteries. I’m thinking of using some of them in my college course. We have to create an artefact that will show our artistic practice. I can’t show you my ideas as it’s for the course only but I will discuss what I’m thinking about.

My idea is to re use old watches and clocks and repurpose them. A lot of the time (no pun intended), watches don’t have their batteries replaced or their wrist straps break, or they just go out of fashion. There must be old watches in drawers or cupboards all over the country.

My idea is to incorporate them into something else, so that they are useful again. It would mean trying to find watches that could be fixed or reconditioned and then fix them into the body of an object that can then be used a a decorative time piece.

Silver Birch?

Posted on November 22, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged City, Life, Memory, Pollution, Silver birch, Thinking, Trees, White bark, WorldLeave a comment

When I was young silver Birch trees were greyish silver. I remember seeing some in our local park. Even when I came to live in this city they were silver grey…..

But now… Each time I see one its white?! Is that right, are they the same species? I think they are…. I think it indicates how much less industrial smoke is in the air? And are trees growing faster now? They seem to shoot up. If they were cut down would their tree rings be wider, fatter, more growth in a year than before the pollution started to reduce… Memories of a changing world.

Nose out of joint….

Posted on November 22, 2020 Posted in Cat, UncategorizedTagged Black and white cat, Cat, Curled up, Fun, Indoor cats, Life, Outdoor cat, Stole his space, Tuxedo catLeave a comment

Oops the outdoor boy is sitting in my indoor boys favourite spot on hubby’s chair. He is getting his paws under the table. Indoor boy is sitting by the halogen heater trying to ignore the situation, but I know his nose is out of joint… (it’s been three days since he sat on me, he’s more distant, especially when outdoor boy wants to have some love.) Now I need to make sure they are all happy. The outdoor cat will probably stay a while, get warm, then go back outside. They are all well fed and indoor girl is on her bed upstairs…. Cats, it’s like watching a soap opera… ‘get orf my chair kitty’ ‘why are you lettingbhim sit there, hooman?’

Cans, prompt

Posted on November 22, 2020 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged #bandofsketchers, Art, Cans, Drawing, Kitchen, Life, Prompt, Reds, Sketching, Store cupboardLeave a comment

Today’s challenge was to draw cans for today’s #bandofsketchers challenge. Turns out a lot of things in my store cupboard was mainly coloured red. This was mostly coloured in with a watercolour pen that certainly zings. I’m not sure these are the actual colours, I was trying to take a photo in between bright sunshine and deep shade. The resulting photo was too dark so I had to adjust the exposure a bit to brighten it without making the red overwhelming, too be honest I still think it’s a bit bright.

Berries

Posted on November 21, 2020 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Autumn, Berries, Colours, Environment, Etruria, Life, Nature, Photo, Red, Stoke-on-Trent, WalkLeave a comment

Don’t know what these berries are on but they are beautiful, they were along a track downhill from the canal. There were also pieces of old wood that had bracket fungus growing on them. Autumn is a lovely time of year when strong colours can ping out. Looking at the tangle of branches on the left hand side I might play with it and duplicate the pattern.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Life