New paintings and regular art updates.
Six years ago I was painting tiny little matchbox sized pictures. I don’t make much money off them, but I guess a few more people can have examples of my art. I love nature, so some of the subjects are foxes and owls, fish, and other animals. I must do some more. I have a couple of craft fairs/exhibitions this weekend, I need to get my act together and paint, but looking after my hubby is time consuming.
We might get a cold snap in the next few days. At the moment though they are clinging on. Inside our house, I’ve just had to torn the heating off. We had a radiator mended in the week and now it’s pumping out warmth. I’m sitting here in a tee shirt and thinking I might turn it back off at the valve…
Let’s see what happens when the weather cools. If it gets frosty, if it snows. Then I won’t just be wearing a fushia pink tee shirt, and the flowers outside might be gone.
What is your favorite place to go in your city?
My city stands on its own, not really part of a conurbation. It is between Birmingham and Manchester and there are small satellite towns dotted around it.
When I first came to live here, what always struck me, was how close the countryside is. South and East are Staffordshire farmland, West is Shropshires rolling hills and also Cheshire with it’s flat plain and salt mines, North East is Derbyshire with the pennines hilly beginnings and also the Staffordshire moorlands with old industrial buildings hidden in its valleys.
The area is crisscrossed by canals, rivers, train tracks and roads. Alton Towers is a few miles to the North east, further north is the old silk mill towns of Leek and closer to Manchester is Macclesfield.
The Trent and Mersey canal runs through the mile long Harecastle tunnel at Kidsgrove, where the water runs orange (from old iron mine workings?).
There are forests, fields, caves, lakes, walking and cycling routes. Bakewell is reasonably close, home of the Bakewell tart (pastry with raspberry jam and an almond paste topping?). Also famous for food is Market Drayton to our west. I think they make Gingerbread there.
There are National trust properties like Little Moreton Hall and Biddulph Grange. Big garden centres and antique centres. Not forgetting the gem that is the Dorothy Clive garden.
The city is not without its merits, Gladstone and Moorcroft, Middleport and Emma Bridgwater potteries and the potteries museum and art gallery all tell the history of the city.
But I like to get away from the hustle and bustle into quiet surroundings. Not forgetting the coast which is about 80 miles away in Wales.
Stoke on Trent is full of industrial heritage, a lot of it needs rescuing. But I love the place.
Another from my photos of the BCB, British ceramic biennial that was held in Stoke on Trent a few weeks ago.
Some pieces were more beautiful than others, some seemed to have more significance. Some like this seem playful. A piece that has been twiddled and twisted, creating a root like structure but with almost a trumpet bell on the end of it.
Simply placed on a surface in front if a window, the object casts interesting shadows.
I don’t know what I think of it, but it was worth documenting.
If you’re in the area why not come to our concert in a few weeks time. You’ll be supporting Penkhull Players and our plans to put on another pantomime in the future. We are practicing ancient and modern songs, there will also be solos and poems. Its going to be fun.
If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
I think I would move closer to the sea. Up a hill, away from flightpaths, with a lovely view. A small town nearby.
Wales is close enough so that I can still visit family and friends. I would ideally like a slightly bigger house so that people can stay.
Why a Wales retreat? I know the country to some extent. I have Welsh ancestors, I have family there. I am used to the weather and I think its slightly less polluted than England.
Recently I’ve thought about moving. It’s not in the forefront of my mind, but if I ever have the money I would like to spend my declining years visiting Welsh tearooms and eating bara brith cake, painting Welsh scenery and joining choirs!
I know I’m being hypervigilant, but after the robbery a couple of weeks ago my sleep patterns are really disrupted. I still haven’t gone back to bed upstairs, I feel like a security guard, watching for movements. I thought I saw someone running along the alleyway next to our garden tonight. It worried me and we went out to look.
In the meantime my hubby has been ill for a few days and I need to make sure he’s OK. I don’t know if he’s still shocked by the robbery and he’s worked hard to secure the boundary hedge. Yesterday we were putting in spikey plants. He’s getting on and he’s probably overdoing things. Life is a pain sometimes. I just want us to feel safe again.
It’s wet under the trees, and the old bench that sits next to the kitchen gets damp. We don’t sit on it very often and it’s started to fall apart. I guess we should have varnished it when we got it. Maybe we should replace it with a metal one? Now it’s basically used for pots and potting on. The moss is getting rampant. The leaves need clearing up. Oh well, we live and learn.
My friend just sent these photos, they are his model VW van next to a couple of my paintings. They made me laugh! I haven’t seen them for a few years so it came as a nice surprise to receive his message. I’m chuffed aswell that the scale works. I want to go somewhere for a trip now.
What is good about having a pet?
They keep you company
They keep you calm,
They are funny,
Hilarious, sometimes
Worrying at others.
They are not critical,
They need you,
Food, water, shelter
Give them a space
In your heart.
Mallaband-Brown