New paintings and regular art updates.
I’ve just been to Growthpoint, it’s a place where you can go if you suffer from anxiety or mental health issues. I was pleased that the bee paintings I did on small circles of wood have all sold. I managed to buy some plants, they are for sale all the time but today was an open day. So I got eight plants for 50 pence each. I’ve got to sort the yard out, I hope to do that this weekend if the weather is OK. Then I can plant the ones I bought. Today is a good day.
In a gallery
But looking outside
Fresh green against brick red
Daylight catches the wall
As sun starts to set.
Always look outside the box
The view might change
Your thoughts too….
Chances are
You’ll see something new.
A large spiky thistle growing outside a terraced house front door. Why? These are student lets’ and a lot of them are empty because the students have already left. I guess the landlords will come back and refurbish the houses or rooms. There was a lot of rubbish in the street, black plastic bags, litter and bits of old furniture. If they don’t clear away the plants their roots will take over and get into the foundations. I think its worse because everything has grown rampant because of all the rain we’ve been having.
Alliums, a form of ornamental onion. Photo taken at the Dorothy Clive garden today. I really enjoyed seeing such a lovely garden. I wish I could reproduce it at home. Gardening is such a, wonderful skill. I wish I had the energy to do it
What job would you do for free?
I’d volunteer for a job as a garden guide if I was looking for something to do. There are several beautiful gardens in this area. Rode Hall, Trentham Gardens, the Dorothy Clive garden, Biddulph Grange garden or further afield I would love to work at the Eden Project in Cornwall. I don’t actually know enough botany but I would try hard to find out their Latin and English names, it would be embarrassing to confuse my Aqualegia with Calendula or Gerbers. I would enjoy the exercise and chatting with people who enjoy nature including the birds insects and mammals that thrive in beautifully tended gardens.
If there is no such job I would just go and do it anyway. Each season has its beauty. One inspiring book is a very old story called the Secret Garden. I can’t remember the author though.
This is a potbank shaped planter I bought from a company called project 2000 and that I hand painted a couple of years ago. I varnished it with yatch varnish and it has stayed in good condition. It has a small space at the top and I will try and grow either geraniums or pelargoniums in the top. Or maybe nasturtiums later in the year. I want to start preparing the yard and garden. I can’t just ignore it but we might get a bit of snow later this week The design is based on a local pottery symbol nearby. I think it was called the falcon works.
Cold, chilly, breezy
Old windows in winter
The plants cling on
To cold life
Succulents seem impervious
To the chill factor
Unlike us humans
Who shiver
And wither
A plethora of fungi in the garden today, not sure what they are, but we have an old tree stump and I think these are growing on its roots? I need to clear away all the empty flowerpots, give them a good wash so we can pot plants on in the spring. We spent a couple of hours planting pyracantha and roses next to the old hedge, hoping they grow up nice and spiky.
Blue flowers, ridged flower buds and bright green leaves with a jagged edge. Its a biggish bush /plants but in a raised bed, so I’m not sure of its maximum height.
Does anyone recognise this, I’d like to find out. I might take a cutting. The plants are covered in flowers and seed heads so I might try and gather seeds too. It’s in full sunlight/partial shade. Any ideas?
I found a photo of a ceramic head I made several years ago at my friend Claire pottery class. It must have hung on the same nail in the back yard for at least 20 years!
The weight of the face squished the space inside it in a bit, but it still is a good planting pocket. It has a crack in the back from the firing, so when I plant it up I use plastic to line it but make sure there are holes for drainage. I put different plants in each year, this time I have some sad snapdragons still clinging to life. Maybe next year I will try Sempervirans? (house leeks).
Mallaband-Brown