New paintings and regular art updates.
Something on your “to-do list” that never gets done.
I promise myself
To get rid of clutter
But it piles up
More comes through the door
And more and more
Not neat and tidy
Not filed in folders
But piled in boxes
On cupboards
On a chair
On the sofa
In bags.
Oh heavens
Will I ever declutter?
Seen on the side of a canal barge today at Etruria, Stoke on Trent. Not your usual castles and roses, but very nice image. I’ve actually seen a heron on that stretch of the Trent and Mersey canal. I like the waterlilies that have been included, they are not usually found in city canals though and the water is generally not that clean as there is usually some pollution. But I would say canals, are better maintained than in the past.
I see the yellow spiral as an eye, the greens emphasise the shape. This could be a garden from above. A dragons head?
There is a ground sculpture called Northumberlandia in the Northeast of England in the county of Northumberland. It’s laid out as a figure of a woman in a celtic form and built up in hills which you could do with this image, the orange and yellows could be paths. This is an Artrage app sketch.
Write about your first computer.
My experience of computers was non existent when I was at college in the ’80’s. I went to an exhibition in a gallery and I remember being faced with a screen that said type ‘hello world!’ Or something similar and you would get a nice surprise.. So I typed:
Hello world
Nothing happened
I typed:
Hello world
Hello world
Hello world…
Over and over, the instructions soon disappeared off the top of the screen. I was frustrated, I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know how to get back to the start. I didn’t know how to scroll back up the screen.
I gave up. Nowhere in the instructions did it say ‘press the enter key’!
It took me a few years before I bothered with a computer again.
Working on this but the twigs are too thick and dark. I might try and thin them down or paint over them and make them lighter. I need a thinner brush, just a few bristles. Hmm…. And daylight, it’s hard painting under artificial light.
The visitor centre at Westport lake stands on stilts and appears like the curved prow of a boat above the lake. The roof juts out over the balcony and offers some shelter from rain that can blow in on the prevailing wind. The visitor centre has a cafe, and sells gifts relating to the wildlife on and around the lake and wooded areas. You can buy bird food and bird nesting boxes, and books including natural history. Staffordshire Wildlife Trust manages the park and does various activities to encourage children to get into supporting the environment and nature. There is also a children’s playground. The only drawback is that the council has bought in parking charges.
The silver blue water of Westport Lake in Stoke on Trent today. This Swan was one of many that were searching for food. It had cygnets in tow, almost free of the pale brown plumage. The swans got out of the lake later as visitors were feeding them bread (not an ideal diet) but in this weather they need sustenance. They even tried a swift peck at my friends arm!
We only walked a couple of miles but that was enough for today. I was chilled by a cold breeze and glad to get back to the car. I will do more walks.
Because of everything that’s been happening my life recently I have got behind on #bandofsketchers prompt so here is a list of some of the things I’ve missed. I hope to feel enthusiastic again but I have a health issue that needs investigating and I feel stuck again. One step forward two steps back. All being well everything will be OK. Fingers crossed, I’ve got enough worries without something else coming up!
Somewhere to sit
Somewhere to think
Look at the view
(a car park?)
Time to rest with your shopping
Before you go to the car!
Not one for a memorial…
Here sat Hilda
Her shopping bag
Was too heavy
And her chicken defrosted
Before she got it home….
One hour watercolour, I tried to be as free as I could with the paint and colours. This is from a photo I took a week ago. There were long shadows because of the winter sunshine.
Mallaband-Brown