Throw

Posted on November 2, 2018November 3, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Design, Fabric design, Printed, Spode, Staffordshire, Surface pattern, Weave, WovenLeave a comment

I’m just starting to block in some brickwork on a painting. I will be painting in the mortar between the bricks to make it more realistic but I decided to play with the image using the layout app that comes with instagram. I quite like the result.

I posted it to Instagram and a friend really liked it.

My question is how would you turn it into a throw. I don’t think printing it onto a surface would work. I think it would need to be woven.

Any ideas? Ideally I want to meet someone who could change my designs into fabric. I was once contacted by an American company, but I checked their website and there was quite a bit of dissatisfaction with them delivering goods and also paying their artists…boo hiss! So I didn’t go with them.

Review

Posted on November 2, 2018November 2, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Choir, Clay Chorus, Loud mouth women, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Singing, Staffordshire, The New Vic theatre, TheatreLeave a comment

Well we are doing it. Singing to accompany the cast of Beautiful thing. Clay Chorus and some of Loud Mouth women led by Greg Stephens and Kate Barfield. Here I am with the cast members playing Jamie and Ste. I have to say we are having a good time now people are getting over their nerves. We are half way through a run of 6 performances so that’s why I’m not on social media as much. Here is a link to the review of the play .

https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife/review-beautiful-thing-new-vic-2167300

I hope you can follow it.

It’s on at the new victoria theatre, Basford Newcastle-under-Lyme until Saturday.

Tech rehearsal…

Posted on October 30, 2018October 30, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Choir, Clay Chorus, Loud mouth women, Music, New Vic theatre, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Play, Singing, Staffordshire, TheatreLeave a comment

We got here today and have been busy sitting around for a lot of the time, interspersed with standing around on the stage being set in position, then singing as loudly and brightly as we can for our songs. I’m shattered, I hope I can keep my energy up for the performance.

To be honest I’m actually enjoying being fitted for a costume (a tee shirt). I brought my own silly blingy jewellery to wear. I’ve actually got some stuff from the 1990s which I was given one Christmas.

The play is called Beautiful Thing at the New Vic theatre at Basford, Newcastle-under-Lyme. Performances run till Saturday and start at 7.30pm.

The play is about the blossoming relationship between two teenage boys. It is set in 1993 and we are singing music by Mama Cass and hits from the 1990s. I hope I don’t break my leg

Play time

Posted on October 28, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Black and white, Black and White photos, Blogging, Fun, Spode, Spode site, Staffordshire, Stoke-on trent, Stoke-upon-Trent, TheatreLeave a comment

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Last year we went to see a play set in the Spode Factory site, it was called Dirty Laundry and was written by one of the actresses from Coronation street. Apologies as I have forgotten her name cat the moment. The story was about the complexities of life in the potteries in the mid twentieth century. It was thought-provoking.

The car in the photo was used to give the play a genuine feel.

Now a new play called Hot Lane, by the same author, is coming to Spode again in November. I’m looking forward to it. It is wonderful to see creativity continuing to return to the Potteries.

Elephant in the room.

Posted on October 9, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Art, Elephant, Painting on canvas, Penkhull, Staffordshire, Stoke-on trent2 Comments

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I painted this a few years ago. It was an elephant my friend made for penkhull mystery plays. It was used in a procession onto the village green and was carried by shoulder straps. I think it had cloth legs hanging over the edge to make it look like someone was sitting on the elephant.

It was so amazing I decided to record it as a painting. The frame was made of willow withies then canvas was stretched over the frame and painted white. Finally a fringe was attached to it and other fabric decorations.

The painting went to my friends house but sadly the elephant is no more. I think it was burnt in a fire at the garage it was stored in a few years after the play.

My studio

Posted on October 6, 2018October 6, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Gouache, Painting with acrylics, Pastels, Spode, Staffordshire, Stoke-on trent, Studio, WatercolorLeave a comment

If you want to see somewhere full of paintings you could look round my studio. There are paintings of people, abstracts, animals, landscapes, buildings, cars, plants, or anything else you can think of.

I tend to use acrylic on canvas but also paint in watercolours and gouache. I have worked with pastel and with pencils and ink pens. I like anything that makes marks. Once at college I even drew with boot polish.

I paint on canvas and paper but I have painted on wooden doors when I was a student..

So yes I’m an artist, I can’t stop!

Sculpture at Trentham Gardens

Posted on October 5, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Colour photography, Fairies, Frog, Gardens, Mice, Owl, Photos, Snails, Staffordshire, Stoke-on trent, Trentham Gardens2 Comments

We visited Trentham Gardens yesterday and it was great to see so many statues at the park. Many were fairy sculptures, several were new (at least to me). The only one that I think had always been there was the sculpture of Medusa being killed by Persius. I can remember seeing it before the Gardens were sold off. Now there are so many more sculptures there. Many of them are of fairies holding dandelion seed heads. There are also wildlife statues including owls, mice, slugs, frogs and other animals. I had a lovely afternoon taking photos of them.

The day was rather overcast and the flowers were past their best but there were also a lot of shapely seed heads to enhance the view. We don’t go to the gardens very often, perhaps once or twice a year. But it is worth visiting.

Penkhull flag result

Posted on September 28, 2018September 28, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Colour, Design, Flag, Life, Penkhull, Staffordshire, Stoke-on trentLeave a comment

A while ago Penkhull residents association decided to have a competition to create a flag for the village. The pictures surrounding the final flag were the 10 designs that had the most overall influence over the final design. I was really pleased to find out that one of them was my design. (the middle top design).

It feels good to have a flag to describe the village. The oval and lines coming in symbolise the village green and the roads coming into and surrounding it. The cockrel is based on the weather vane on top of the church. The colours are vibrant and cheerful. Local people had a choice of 4 designs taken from dozens of entries. The central flag in the photo was the winning design.

Glass workshop

Posted on September 24, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Design, Glass, Spode, Staffordshire, Stoke-on trent3 Comments

One of the advantages of having a studio at spode is the fact you meet so many creative people.

One of them is a lady called Angela who makes glass art and runs workshops.

We had a very pleasant few hours today making some new pieces of glass. We used new techniques to make larger bowls (they will be when they are fired) and handkerchief vases which will be placed over a glass shaped form which the glass slumps over.

I hope we can go back for more.

Tiles

Posted on September 23, 2018September 23, 2018 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Ceramics, Gladstone, Minton, pots, Pottery, Staffordshire, Stoke-on trent, Tiles6 Comments

Tiles at Gladstone yesterday.

I think they are by Minton which was a Pottery that went out of business a few years ago when a lot of Pottery manufacture went abroad because it was cheaper.

I know lots of people admire these tiles and they are often found in hallways in old victorian houses in this area. Our local church, St Thomas’s has tiles by Minton. The factory was based in Stoke-upon-trent, which is one of the six towns of Stoke-on-Trent.

Many of the people in the town were laid off from factories in Stoke, including Spode. Only a few places still make Pottery now, including Emma Bridgewater, Portmerion, Moorland Pottery, Moorcroft and I think Wedgwood…. There is also a tile manufacturer called Johnson’s tiles. But nothing really compares to the beauty of Minton.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Staffordshire