Nursery Rhymes

Posted on February 4, 2023February 4, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged 1960's, Brain, Childhood, Connection, History, Memory, Nursery rhymes, Poetry, SchoolLeave a comment

I think seeing the white rabbit picture this week pushed some memories forward from the back of my mind…

Some of them I haven’t recalled since my childhood, and I don’t know if anyone else remembers them. I can remember two fully…

Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water,

Jack fell down and broke his crown, and Jill came tumbling after.

Up Jack got, and home did trot, as fast as he could caper.

He went to bed, to mend his head with vinegar and brown paper!

And…

See-saw Marjorie Daw

Jenny will have a new master

She shall earn but a penny a day

Because she can’t work any faster!

These are memories from the 1960’s. Boy I feel old. I wish I could fully remember Oranges and Lemons, said the bells of St Clements. Or George Porgie, pudding and pie…

It’s funny what you have contained in that greyish pink blancmange called your brain. It can hold information that has slurped about inside it for decades. Like I think I know the triumvirate in the Russian revolution was Kaminev, Zinoviev and Trotsky (I learnt it for history and it stuck).

Memory is strange and sometimes randow. But as they say, we are our memories, and our experiences teach us how to manage life.

Dry eye

Posted on February 1, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged dry, Dust, Emotion, Eye, eyelid, Fall, Memory, Poem, Poetry, Sadness, Silence, stillness, ThinkingLeave a comment

Dry as dust

No tears fall

The end of fuss

Cracked and dull

Sadness ends

Emotions pall

Memories shrink

Till nothing at all

Moistens my eyes

My eyelids won’t fall.

Sold a painting

Posted on February 1, 2023 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Art, Beach, Calm, Fine Art, Life, Memory, Painting, Relaxed, Rocks, Sand, Sea19 Comments

I sold this today, only for a few pounds, but it was my first for 2023. I’m not making a great deal of money out of my art, but I know that this will be going to a good home. I didn’t get a photo of it fully completed because my phone camera is playing up but it’s a pretty good representation of the final piece. I didn’t really think about it but it also made me feel calm when I looked at it.

Mascot

Posted on January 26, 2023January 28, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Bird, Chrome, classic car show, falcon, Green, mascot photo, Memory, motor trike, SummerLeave a comment

Mascot of some sort of Falcon seen on a motor trike last summer at a classic car show. Lovely chrome with orange eyes. The green paintwork was fabulous. You wouldn’t want to get into an argument with this bird.

I do like looking at things and sometimes I can get a good photo of objects with my little caeon my phone.. The trouble is its getting very full of images and I have to scroll through a lot of them to find things, so mostly I chose more recent images. Hope you like this one.

Film theatre

Posted on January 24, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Cinema, Closed, film studies, film theatre, Memory, Sad, Staffordshire University, TimeLeave a comment

I just read a post on Instagram about the problems the Film Theatre at Staffordshire University is having to deal with before it can reopen after covid. I wrote a response because this independent cinema had a great impact on my understanding and appreciation of films. Here is what I said.

I used to love coming to the film theatre. You could see films that made you question your beliefs, challenged your thoughts, tickled your imagination! It seems mad that it’s not open. I first saw a film there in 1979 and it was also used for the film studies part of the Fine Art Ba(hons). My hubby came to a projectionist course and learned how to project the reels and know when to change them. It’s sad you are having these problems.

Two years ago…

Posted on January 20, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Chilly, Cycling, Ice, Icy, Memory, Snow, Staffordshire, Stoke-on trent, Stone, tandem, thick snow, WeatherLeave a comment

The snow was heavier a couple of years ago. You can see the streaks of it falling on this photo. I love the quiet hush as it muffles sound.

But the heaviest snow was several years ago. I remember cycling on a tandem from Stoke to Stone (about eight miles). It was a least thirty years ago and me and my hubby had no car yet. We decided to visit some friends. It started to snow but we were warmly dressed so we got on the main road. But the snow came down thick and fast. I remember a friend who was with us decided to turn round and go home. But we continued along a dark country road through Barlaston and on to Stone. By the time we got there it was like being on a snow plough! We were starting to slide and slip because of the ice and catching the snow with our pedals! There was no other traffic and the snow was illuminated in orange patches by the street lamps. We met our friends and left the tandem at their house. I remember going to the pub and sitting in front of a roaring fire. When we came out there was about two foot of deep snow. We stayed overnight at our friend’s after falling off the tandem when we tried to ride off!

Snow drawing

Posted on January 18, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, cut, folded paper, half, Memory, Paper cutting, quarter, Scissors, Shapes, six sidedLeave a comment

Did you ever make paper snowflakes? Fold a piece of paper in two then fold it twice more so you end up with six pieces. Leave it folded and cut through the resultant triangle to cut off the excess paper sticking out so that each shape is the same (it’s so hard to describe!). From there cut out random shapes into each of the long sides, and a random pattern in the short side. When you unfold the paper you will end up with a snowflake (six sided). You can do other things. If you just fold it in half it could be a snowman or a butterfly if you colour in the paper first. If you quarter it you can make flower shapes. It’s fun to experiment and it’s something I used to do as a child. The snowflakes were stuck on our windows as decorations.

Favourite filter

Posted on January 17, 2023 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, Bodnant, Cold, Colour, Drawing, Felt pens, Life, Memory, Photodirector, Sketching, Snow, Swirls2 Comments

I like this particular filter on photodirector. It creates swirls but of a definite size, texturising the felt pen shading, and making a more graphic design. It sort of reorganises my artwork into something more abstract but coherent. Less realism, more illustrative. Drawing and playing with the resultant image is keeping me occupied on a very cold day, with temperatures below freezing in some parts of the country and a sprinkling of snow here, but deep elsewhere. And I dream of going to Bodnant in the spring.

Grey day

Posted on January 10, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Bug, four weeks, Illness, losing time, Memory, Rain, Thinking, three weeks, Time, TiredLeave a comment

It’s been raining a lot today, but I noticed it was slightly lighter this afternoon and the sun seems to be setting a little bit later. Soon the sun will be setting after five pm, that’s when I know we are getting through the winter. Sitting in the house with the curtains closed to help keep the warmth in makes me feel sad. But I realise how close to being a recluse I can be. I was thinking that I have only been out of the house for a few hours in the last month. Last week I took myself to the shop on my own for the first time in about three weeks (hubby has come out with me to keep me safe while I’ve been ill). Am I being lazy, or sick? I don’t know, I think I’m probably protecting myself, I don’t want to catch anything else and I don’t want to pass this bug on. It’s strange how your mind muddles and loses time when you are in the same place for a long time. It makes you think.

Walking

Posted on January 8, 2023 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Friend, Illness, Loss, Memory, pulled calf, Sad, strolling, Time, Two years ago, Walking2 Comments

Two years ago I was walking almost every day to get fit. Then I pulled a calf muscle and my walking buddy got ill. I was stuck for a while because I wasn’t able to put much weight on my leg without it feeling like it was going to snap again. I ended up not walking very far. I tried to get back into it. But then illness and loss got to me. I ended the year with a chest infection. Now I have seen this and hubby has been walking I think I need to start again. There is no reason why I can’t if I try once I’m well again.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Memory