Persius and Medusa

Posted on August 28, 2019August 28, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Exhibition, Garden, Lake, medusa, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Orme Art, Persius, Plants, Staffordshire, Statue, The Brampton, Trentham, Trentham GardensLeave a comment

On a lighter note this statue of Persius and Medusa is at Trentham Gardens, Trentham, Staffordshire. The statue is inside the gardens next to the lake which means you have to pay to go in. I’m sure there is information about it but this is a photo from last year. I haven’t been in the gardens for months and probably with the heavy rain we’ve been having the plants there might be a bit battered but they are usually very beautiful.

I’m going to try and finish my painting of mars that I shared a couple of days ago to get in our Orme art exhibition at the Brampton in Newcastle-under-Lyme and try and go back to Trentham again on Friday.

The Greyhound inn.

Posted on August 26, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged 1540, court house, Greyhound Inn, Inn, Penkhull, Pub, Public house, Staffordshire, Stoke-on trentLeave a comment

The Greyhound Inn on Manor Court Street, Penkhull, Stoke-on-Trent. A very interesting building. We called in today on the way back to Stoke from Rudyard lake.

To think a building originally built around 1540 and used as a court house been 1558 and 1829 would be enlarged and eventually became an Inn ( type of public house). Over the last few years it has gone through quite a few landlords, some more successful than others. It seems to be a friendly place now. But there are two other pubs nearby, so it has to share custom with them. We had a relaxing half an hour there.

Building in the city centre.

Posted on August 23, 2019August 23, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Betley, Blogging, City centre, Environment, Frontage, Hanley, Old, Old buildings, Restore, Staffordshire, Stoke-on trentLeave a comment

Hanley town is the city centre of Stoke on Trent. We were there this evening. When we walked back to the car I noticed this building so took a couple of snaps since it reminded me of the Spode site in Stoke.

What bothers me is that such an amazing frontage has been allowed to remain like this. There is a new hotel and a big apartment block being built directly opposite the old building. And yet old buildings like this are left to rot. If it had money spent on it perhaps it could be rescued. Then instead of eventually being knocked down, or falling down, it could be restored.

On the same note an old Manor house at Betley in Staffordshire burnt down today. A lot of effort had gone into repairing and restoring it, now its mostly destroyed by fire. The world is a sadder place for its loss and people who had flats there have lost their homes.

The Glasgow school of art had burnt down a while ago and the restoration started, then another worse fire happened. Great art was lost.

The point I guess is that instead of always building new things we should save some of our history before it has gone, and protect what remains.

Haiku Slam

Posted on August 23, 2019August 23, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Appetite big feast, Evening out, Fun, Haiku, Hanley, Poetry slam, Rhyme, Staffordshire, Stoke-on trent6 Comments

We went to haiku slam this evening. Poets read one of their own works then had to read out haiku’s they had written. Eight poets split into four couples read out three haiku’s each. The best out of the two progressed to a semi final, and then two ended up in the final. It was actually quite dramatic. Some wise and some fun words were spoken.

I did not enter the main competition. I don’t have enough knowledge of the form and I only dabble in poetry. But they had a little poetry competition running along side the haiku. I decided to just join in that, so three of us read a poem out and then had to leave the room while people voted. I came second which was a surprise. Maybe I should try and do more funny poetry, I read a poem called ‘unexpected item in the bagging area’ about the frustrations of shopping that I wrote a while ago.

Finished

Posted on August 18, 2019August 18, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Art, Black, Blue, Eleanora st, Landscape, Painting, Spode, Spode exhibition, Spode Reflected, Spode site, Staffordshire, Stoke, Stoke-on trent, What Spode means to me, White2 Comments

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Took all day but I finally finished this. Spent a lot of time painting the old, flaking window frame. I’m not sure the sky colour is right. I might get up early and tone it down. I’m handing it in in the morning….

It’s called Spode Reflected.

Who is he?

Posted on August 17, 2019August 17, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Design, Eleanora street, lithograph?, Plate, Pottery, Print, Spode, Staffordshire, Stoke, Stoke-on trent, What is it?Leave a comment

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There are some windows in Spode covered in various circular prints. This one looks like a photographic negative and appears to be someone famous although I don’t know who.

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There are other patterns overlaid. This must have been a particular place for some sort of work within the factory but I’m not sure what?

Painting upside down.

Posted on August 16, 2019 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Art, Blogging, Computer, Design, Landscape, Life, Painting, Spode, Staffordshire, Stoke, Stoke-on trent, Work in progress5 Comments

Sometimes it’s hard to see whether something looks right in a painting. Then I try turning it upside down. It really does give you a different perspective. In the case of the painting I’m doing it also allows me to get closer to the top of the picture as I’ve got it propped up on a chair.

Eyesight is another problem. If I’m staring at my phone looking at the image it’s hard for my eyes to accommodate (called presbyopia) where the lenses in your eyes get stiffer as you get older, so they don’t focus as well.

I’m now starting to paint the cracks in the window frame paint. I may come back to the clouds (thanks Martha, a bit of finger painting helped).

I’ve rotated the photo back to the vertical on my camera so I can look at it without moving the canvas. Eventually I will turn it back the right way so I can paint the bottom half. It’s going to take a while…..

Spode patterns

Posted on August 16, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Film, Layout app, Pattern, Photos, Spode, Staffordshire, Stoke, Stoke-on trent, TarkovskyLeave a comment

I’m working towards the exhibition at Spode and I’ve been experimenting with the photos I took a few days ago. Using the Layout app on my phone.

The thing is, I know I can’t reproduce these as paintings, so it’s good to use photographs to experiment with the images I took. There was a film by Andrei Tarkovsky I saw years ago. I think it was called Stalker, the industrial archeology of Spode reminds me of that. Almost post apocalyptic….

I’m quiet because I’m painting.

Posted on August 14, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Blue and white, Eleanora street, Landscape, Muted colours, Painting, Spode, Spode site, Staffordshire, Stoke, Stoke-on trent, WindowLeave a comment

I’ve decided to paint this one. I like the reflections and the blues and whites which remind me of the Willow pattern colours. I’ve turned the canvas to landscape rather than portrait and I’m concentrating on the lower two thirds of the photo.

I like the photo, but I wanted to simplify what I was doing. I’m hoping to get a good representation of the clouds and I want to get the flaking paint and the other details in the reflection in the windows visible but subtle. I will try and post updates and I might take a break later to blog.

What Spode means to me.

Posted on August 13, 2019 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Art project, Eleanora street, Life, Photography, Spode, Spode site, Staffordshire, Stoke, Stoke-on trent, what does Spode mean to me2 Comments

Series of photos taken at Spode today, 13.8.19. I will select one or more image to paint. The idea is to paint industrial archeology and also sky. Some include reflections and sights through to windows on the other side of a building. Many have clouds reflected in them….

I also did close-ups of things like hooks and taps and an old pair of rubber gloves.

Which is your favourite if any?

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Staffordshire