New paintings and regular art updates.
It’s a drawing of Marylin Monroe I did at a website called sketchfu about 11 years ago. It was a very basic site but it got overwhelmed with users. The owners became difficult to contact as they were setting up a new site called Muzy. Sadly Sketchfu closed. I managed to save a lot of my drawings but I know a lot of artists lost theirs and must have been very disappointed when it closed.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
I’m out of my studio, and I’ve lost my partner, but I don’t want to give upon life just yet. I’d like to future proof my life, make it more stable again. I don’t know how I’m going to do that but I’ve got to try.
I’ve always said I want to be around when Halleys Comet comes back. That’s not till 2061! I know it’s a big ambition to last such a long time, but why not? I’ve got to have some goal, yeah, the next ten years will be hard but I want to last longer than that!
Another semi abstract digital drawing that popped upon my Facebook memories, long enough ago that I can’t remember the apps I used.
I’ve noticed that if I draw profiles of faces I usually draw them facing left. That might be because my right hand might obscure the drawing of they faced right. I did ask some other artists and concluded the left handed ones draw profiles facing right? But the sample size (3 or 4 people) is far too small to draw an accurate conclusion. I also draw horses heads and other animals facing left. I do wonder why.
Portrait of my friend.
Today was a sad day, leaving my studio at Spode is a real wrench. I have had to gather up my belongings including paints, canvases, an easle. Even the mirrors on the walls and the nails that supported my paintings over the years I’ve been there.
How do you remove hexagonal mirrors that are glued to a wall? With a claw hammer and very carefully is the answer. Now some paintings are at a friends studio and others are here in my living room. Hopefully I will soon get sorted out.
Sketch of an eclipse on canvas in acrylic paint. I challenged myself to just paint with red, yellow, blue, white and black so I had to mix new colours using the primary colours on the pallette. I added a tiny moon surrounded by the corona of the sun visible against the darkened sky. It might be something I paint properly in future.
What’s the most fun way to exercise?
I’ve cycled for exercise when I was younger and I loved the freedom of it. You could travel for miles, with the ability to see places you could never get to on foot and if you travel in a car or a train the world goes by almost too fast so that you don’t get the connection with the land that you do on a bike.
We cycled for many years and I went from pushing my bike up hills, to slowly slogging up in bottom gear to being able to make good progress up to a summit. I could tell my fitness was improving, my breathing improved and my physical strength improved too. My hubby and I could cycle up to a hundred miles in under eight hours!
The worst thing that happened to me was a bike accident that eventually persuaded me to get a car. I should have continued to cycle.
There’s something fascinating about the old windows at Spode Works. I took this photo this week in my friend Amy’s studio. It looks out over the back of the ceramic halls that front onto Kingsway in Stoke. The dirt and grime is from the clay dust that still covers much of the site. The buildings are freezing in winter and stay cool in the summer, I think because of the thermal mass of the solid factory.
Time is gradually eroding and changing the structure of the buildings. Buddlea bushes have colonised one of the older parts of the factory and I wonder if they will make it crumble. It will feel strange not to go there anymore.
What Olympic sports do you enjoy watching the most?
Watching gymnastics over the years reminds me of Olga Korbut and Nadia Comaneci with their virtually perfect performances at the Olympics. Oh how I wished I could twist and turn my body like them! My abilities were more along the lines of running and cycling. But I always to watched them on TV and I have continued to follow the gymnastics ever since.
It’s not just the female gymnasts, the men are brilliant too. The competitions are different, with apparatus based on the physiques of the male and female body. Balance, poise, strength and flexibility all are important to these athletes.
Looking forward to Paris 2024.
It’s probably not the right place to post this, but if you are local to me (Staffordshire /Cheshire) you might be interested?
Hi folks, I’m trying to sell hubbys guitar. A friend had a look at it for me. It’s an Oakman basic beginners acoustic guitar. New would be about £70, but second hand, I would be happy to sell it for £40. I’m never going to learn to play it, might make a good gift for someone who wants to learn. Comes with carrying bag and strap and a plectrum.
Now sold.
Catching up with #bandofsketchers prompts. This one was tube. I suppose a tap is a sort of tube? I decided to imagine a tap filling a glass for this prompt. Another Artrage app drawing, instead of looking at a photo I’m stretching my imagination, trying o think where reflections would be.
Mallaband-Brown