New paintings and regular art updates.
Commissioned acrylic on canvas. A surreal abstracted spirit : Green woman. With antlers adoring her head. It’s taken months to finish because I shake even though it’s only about A4 size. I imagine her standing in a grotto of trees, hidden from mortal view. She is nature, watching carefully as the land changes through time. She fights for the natural world and environment.
I got home in time to miss the worst of the storm. Thunder rolling over the hill. I stepped out of the car and only got a bit damp, but the lightening was coming, and with it the rain.
The heavy rain has now been falling for hours. I videoed a few seconds, but my phone was out of charge so I gave up trying to catch a lightening strike. I posted what I had recorded on Facebook. Water cascading from the gutter in front of my door, rushing down the hill, overflowing onto the pavement. The sky was dark and full up with energy.
Six hours later and the storm has rebounded back to us a few times, lightening flashes and the loudest roars of thunder I have heard in years. The lights flickered off and on at one stage.
I count the seconds after each flash. 2 seconds is a mile. So I can judge how far away the storm is, if the thunder rolls straight after the flash it’s overhead, if it’s heard after 2 seconds that’s a mile. Currently it’s rumbling 6 seconds after the flash so that’s about 3 miles away.
If you want to look at live lightening maps across the world go to https://www.blitzortung.org
Currently on the site the main storm is a few miles south of Stoke-on-Trent. Looking at the rest of the world the USA seems very active. I recommend turning off detectors and turning on the sound so you can hear how active the storms are. It’s safe to accept cookies but I close all ads.
When we first started our lives we were empty books. At the end, perhaps we are the same. When the memory dwindles and is gone. Thousands of days or years pass by. How can we be remembered? Our belongings may be passed down through generations, but eventually they just become remnants of a previous way of life.
I not trying to be melodramatic about this or emotional. I’m just contemplating my place in history, a short blip in a continuous spectrum of time. I’m trying to grasp as much of life as I can for as long as I can. Continuing to take an interest in the world and the best of humanity. I hope you are too.
Medium cat (left) and large cat (right) like to sleep on this chair. Usually there is a single occupant, but tonight they are sharing. The little cat is on the floor just exploring to find somewhere to settle down.
I’m glad they tolerate and cope with each other, the small cat is nervous and sometimes has a paw raised to her, but there’s very rarely a squabble and usually they chase together to pay. I think I will go and settle down too. I’m struggling to keep my eyes open, the cats have the right idea. X
What are your favorite types of foods?
Our mother would take us out for meals occasionally when we were children. Sometimes it was Indian, but mostly Chinese. I like the flavours, the textures, the combination of ingredients. Duck with hoisin sauce, chicken chow mein, special fried rice, beef with spring onions and black bean sauce. All kinds of other things. I just like it, although I have read that the Chinese food in the UK is not authentic.
Mom got us to use chop sticks which added to the unique and special feeling it was to eat out. In those days the only other form of Chinese food was Vesta Chow mein which came in a box and you added hot water to it I think, and fried prawn crackers. But they were good memories.
Why does my phone switch itself off when I try and take a photo? I think I might have too many photos in my phone memory and I don’t optimise them enough. When I do try and do that the picture sizes are reduced but the originals stay on the phone. So I have to go through them all to remove duplicates. This also means that all the photos are stacked under one date (today’s), but I have to do it. I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to do it now. It also means that the photo sizes here will be reduced.
My dilemma is that a lot of pictures here are large and they are taking up a lot of space, so I sometimes have to take off photos from my blogs to give me a bit more room to add new pictures here. So if you find a blog of mine here without a picture? Well that’s the outcome of not being able to afford a better package on WordPress. X
With a cup of tea.
Just back from Llandudno in Wales where my sister bought me a Welsh fruit loaf for a treat. I just had a couple of slices with some butter and a cup of tea. Very nice. Apparently it’s lost favour with younger people but I’d urge you to try it.
Wikipedia says :
History:
Bara Brith derived its name from the Welsh language, bara meaning bread and brith translating as speckled. It was traditionally made in farmhouses by adding fruit, sugar and spices to the basic bread dough to make a sweet treat for special occasions. It has subsequently been used as a colloquialism—to “over spice the Bara Brith” means to do something to excess.
We got two loaves from a little tea and cake shop in Llandudno.
Describe your ideal week.
My ideal week would be to go out to a studio, paint for a few hours, make good progress on a painting. Go to choir practice. Cook tea for me and my hubby. Sit and chat about our days.
My ideal week would include going for a walk with him, he might go for a cycle ride to see a friend. He goes to bed early, I stay up late to read or watch TV.
In my ideal week I would sleep well, wake refreshed. Go for a drive somewhere with my hubby. Visit a national trust property.
In my ideal week I would try and paint some more, take some photos, go on the Internet.
In my ideal week I would still have my hubby, I would still have my studio, I would still be doing art or at least more than I am now. I’m just struggling to get back to something like an ideal week.
Photo with four parts duplicated symmetrically. Done in InCollage. The photo was from four years ago. I like the effect. It’s slightly bizarre and surreal. I might do some more.
Why do you blog?
I like to share my art and ideas. I’m quite eclectic, a Jack of all trades. When I was little I was always getting bored, wanting to do interesting things. I was the one who held the snake and the tarantula when they were brought into school to show us what they were like. I used to climb up ropes and hang upside down from the top bar of the swings. I was very competitive and enjoyed running, then eventually cycling. Art was my main interest, and I’ve done many paintings and murals, but I also love science. I guess I should have been a teacher as I’m enthusiastic about explaining things. I guess that’s what my blog is about. Looking into nooks and crannies, finding things out. I’m possibly not as interesting as I think I am! But I hope people enjoy it.
Mallaband-Brown