New paintings and regular art updates.
It’s windy and sunny today. I should be out in the fresh air drawing with urban sketchers. Instead I’m inside with a runny, snotty nose and head cold.
I could still go out, but I’m tired. I have a friend visiting tomorrow and the house needs tidying.
The cat just came and stretched up and sharpened her claws on my leg (her way of being friendly) ow!
Shall I go or stay? Or just go back to bed….
Get some asprin or paracetamol and decide….. To sleep
Long years ago, before the time of the man-beast, an animal roamed the plains of a foreign land….. 
Neither horse nor pony, the creature was called the Zebracorn.
Six foot high at the shoulder, with smouldering hooves that beat a rhythm of power as it galloped over the grassy land, this fabled creature could outrun panthers. It could fight off a leopard or a lion with one kick. It’s horn could shatter rock and scatter the stone which would then transform into diamonds.
The Zebracorn had a vast territory, it could run from sunrise to sunset without reaching the furthest edge of its land.
So grand and wise was it that the other animals, from clever ants to wise water buffalo gave it food when it was hungry and dug water up from the desert if it was thirsty.
One day it found a new animal. Joyfully it ran over the grassland to say a greeting to the creature who walked upright on its two feet. Instead of hooves this creature, the man-beast had hands on its front limbs.
As the Zebracorn came to a graceful halt in front of this upright creature, the man – beast picked up a branch it had been using to lean on. Instead of the customary greeting in return, the animal lifted the branch and stabbed the Zebracorn in its heart. There was no explanation or reason for this act. Only the fact that the man-beast liked to kill. To maim and to destroy life.
This it has been since time began. Death bought not just for meat for the table but for fun, or to gather horn as an aphrodisiac
Now other animals are close to extinction. The Lion, Giraffe, Elephant, Rhino and other smaller beasts too.
The man-beast has made a difference to life on this planet. In the time it has existed one quarter of the world’s animal population has become extinct.
Zebracorns or Bears, Beetles or Mice. This has to stop.
Ingredients
We used..a lot of carrots, half an onion, 3 large cloves of garlic, some garlic olive oil and plain olive oil. A knob of butter, a bit of flour, a bit of ginger powder, a couple of pinches of salt, some crushed black pepper, luck….
Mix the chopped up carrot onion and garlic in a blender with water and oil. When its blended cook for 20 mins….
Added black pepper, ginger and salt to taste. We tasted as we cooked and gradually added more flavouring as it was a bit bland to start. My blender does not completely pulp vegetables so it’s a bit chewy.
No chick peas, fish food or UFOs were used in the soup. My hubby was wearing a tweed but you dont need that either for flavour!
Downside…I took over a bit, should have let him do it all…
Imagine whirling around with a bunch of people… Then imagine some of them looking completely confused, going in the wrong directions and flinging each other about in mad abandon. That’s a barn dance. Add amazing live music. A caller explaining the dance moves to people trying to understand what on earth he’s saying. The fun that can be had getting dizzy, twisting and turning, jumping about….
And a pie and peas supper that has both meat and vegetarian options.
It’s all in aid of the Penkhull Mystery play this July.
If you are in the area perhaps you would like to come along to these February Frolics and then get involved in the mystery play itself where there are openings to act, make props and help paint scenery. You never know you might enjoy it.
I’m sitting here this evening feeling cold. I put on the electric fan heater after putting on a thick jumper. Also fluffy slippers. I didn’t understand why the temperature was falling. Yes it’s cold, wet and windy outside but the central heating was on. I checked to make sure the door was shut…. Yes, all OK.
Then my husband who was gently toasting his hands over the oil heater said….
Oh I left the window open upstairs!
Brr……
Grr……
Now I’m getting too hot.
Funny what shutting a window will do.
Here are some photos of murals I painted over 10 years ago. I’m trying to get some decent photos of them. Looking at them now I’m not sure they are that good. I’m not a professional muralist and I think they look a little amateur…..
So anyway, you be the judge….
What a day! I’m tired out but still got things to do. I wanted to write something here tonight but have not had time. My eyes are sore from the eyedrops this morning and my eyelids are drooping. Twice my phone has slid out of my hands onto the floor.
I was planning to do a drawing of the Chinese new year, but it hasn’t happened. I’m listening to some Gershwin on the TV. Can’t remember what it’s called. Thinking about getting a decaff coffee or a gin and tonic. Not sure which.
It’s midnight and I need sleep but I have visitors in the morning and the housework has not been done because I’ve been so busy. Some of its just straightening chair covers or tidying away papers. No problem really, just a lot of little things.
Anyway now I’ve had a rest I’d better get on……
I just had my annul eye test and had to have eyedrops to expand my pupils. My vision was so blurred I was not allowed to drive and when I got home I used my phone camera to zoom in so I could see things!
But then I thought how lucky I am to have a health service where I can get my eyes tested and checked with relative ease. How do people manage in other countries where poverty is endemic? I have given old glasses to charities in the past so that they can be shipped abroad and reused by other people with vision problems.
Life is not easy, and things could be much better organised. Imagine having proper collection points where you can discard your old glasses when your prescription changes. Imagine that these glasses get redistributed to people who need them. It might be that they are only shared with those that cannot afford to buy. Isn’t that a good thing? Think how much resource that could save? There must be a charity somewhere that does this…..
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This is from about 20years ago. It’s me and my old cat. It’s an acrylic on canvas. One friend criticised me for being too splodgy. It’s called Familiar friends.
When you look back at any picture of yourself it can be shocking how much you have changed. The lines on your face increase. I’ve got many more blemishes now. If I take a selfie it tries to blur out the imperfections and I look like I’m standing in fog!
I love this painting. I had dark hair and I was slimmer!
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You know it’s cold when the ice that was put in the sink on Friday night is still frozen in the sink on Sunday.
This is what had happened at the “an, exhibition of Blue”, which I was helping invigilate yesterday.
The exhibition space is in part of the old Spode Factory which has been converted into artists studios. The building used to be full of pottery machinery and pottery kilns. I imagine they did not need much insulation in those days. Now, however, thin walls and single glazed windows together with thick concrete ceilings high up which allow all the heat to rise make for icebox conditions in the winter.
We also did not know where the switch was for the space heater that sits next to the lift. So guests and artists alike stood next to or inside the kitchen where a small electric fan heater was trying to defrost the ice in the sink! People tried to sit on the couches to keep their feet off the freezing concrete floors. I’d been there three hours before one of the other artists at Spode found the heater switch in a cupboard! I did feel foolish for not looking.
Even though it was cold we got a good turn out. The exhibition will be coming down soon but it may be possible to get one of the exhibitors to show you round if you are interested.
Mallaband-Brown