New paintings and regular art updates.
My Anemometer is spinning round
Twirling and twisting…
Maybe March winds have arrived?
The old saying goes
March is either in like a Lion and out Like a Lamb
Or vice versa…..
Today was gusty as a growling lion
Soon it’s paws might carry it
Across the land
Howling and Roaring.
Then gentle showers of April
Will come again…
Hello Spring.
A photo of a lion at Saltaire by my friend Timothy Hargreaves.
I think I remember him telling me that the lions at Trafalgar square in London were made by the same sculptor. There are on the hill going down to the entrance of Salts Mill in Saltaire, Yorkshire, and they look extremely magnificent in the Spring sunshine. I wish we had sculptures like this nearby. It’s very impressive and I think Victorian?
There is a saying ‘in like a lamb, out like a lion’ (and vice versa) when it comes to March weather. We also talk about March winds.
After a very dry February, March has turned wild. It started quietly, but as the month has progressed the rain and wind has blown in over the Atlantic, causing low pressure systems to scud over us with record levels of rain falling.
Last night the wind was howling, one of the cats ran in, his coat glistening with rain. He looked like an otter that was just out of a river! He slept under the cover of my chair, like it was a little cave to keep warm in. He knows when to stay warm despite seemingly loving the awful weather.
His paws are huge
Like a leopard or lion
Stretched out in a tree
Curled up like a kitten
I see him sleeping
Paws twitch, ears alert
Full of purrs
Running like a cheetah
Through a forest
Of dreams…..
I’m in another group of artists who come u with challenges to post to every week. The pictures don’t have to be recent (thankfully). This was for #safari, I painted it about four years ago and it went to the local ‘Lions’ club which is a local charity. What else can I say? It’s acrylic on canvas, about A4 size. I don’t paint every single hair or piece of fur, but I try and get an impression of how the animal looks. I generally do cat and dog portraits but am not too bad at most animals x
A lion was waiting on a roundabout when it saw a disco ball in a hall window… The light from the sun reflected off it and made tiny stars sparkle off every surface. The magic it set off created a bronze dragon, which unfortunately was only tiny. It was seen by a bag in the shape of an owl. Which swallowed the dragon whole. The owl then grew new feathers of purple and blue wax. It flew over a lake with oriental buildings and trees. It followed an orange man walking backwards with his legs sticking through the bottom of a boat. Two people watched on in horror. Finally all the owls toy cushion friends stood and applauded as it flew in and landed quietly and quickly in the corner.
Yes that is a lot of silly words, but I’d gathered these odd photos together and wanted to describe them. Not much of a story really!
This was a painting I did for the local Lions group in 2019. I paint cats, but not big cats, so it was something a bit different. I’ve seen art where people paint each individual hair on an animal but I am more impressionistic and try and get feeling into my paintings, to give them character. This is another acrylic on canvas. I’m glad he went to a good home.
By the way did you know that occasionally female lions grow mains too? Interesting fact.
Day twenty three of the 64 million artists January challenge. I wrote this…
Day 23, I can’t find the actual challenge, but I think it is to write a poem to support nature and say what superpower you would have.
My super power would be to turn hunters guns into flowers so they can’t kill majestic animals like Lions and Rhino’s and Elephants.
If you shoot at Rhino,
Elephant, or Giraffe,
I will turn your gun into
A flower for a laugh.
You won’t be able to kill,
Despite your evil will.
And with rifle now a rose
A Tiger might bite your nose!
Leave the scarce alone,
Don’t bother to wail and moan,
Elephant want to roam,
Panthers need a home.
No more evil deeds,
Turning guns into seeds!
I went to Etruria Artists today and was asked to draw lions as we were having a little drawing challenge and the group has a lion as a mascot.
I could have looked at a photo but I wanted to see if I could draw a lion from memory. What I ended up with was a lion / bear hybrid I think! I called it bearly a lion.
Colours used were gellato crayons (I think they are called) with metallic shades. They are a bit like lipsticks and can be drawn with, smudged and have water added to them to make them flow. I used a black ink pen to draw the thin lines. It’s a curious big cat.
X
A recent painting that has gone to a good home. I love painting animals and people. I think I’m reasonably good at capturing a close image of what I’m trying to portray. I’m not a super or photo realist, but I try and be as accurate as I can be.
Next year I would like to do some more commissions, and they can be of just about anything. I enjoy the challenge.
Mallaband-Brown