Two years ago…

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!

Arnold Bennett suite. The Leopard Hotel.

This was the back room of the Leopard Hotel in Burslem (the Arnold Bennett suite). The hotel burned down last year taking my murals with it. They were painted in emulsion paint directly onto the walls so it would have been impossible to remove them before the hotel caught fire (apparently the empty hotel had someone growing cannabis in it and the fire was from an electrical fault. It had been bought for redevelopment and the local community wanted to take it over to make it work again. Now its gone. You can see the relative sizes of them to the size of the room. I painted them between 2006 and 2007. I miss them.

Down the Rabbit hole

My friend reminded me today that two years ago we were having afternoon tea at the Rabbit hole tea room in Stoke. We had a lovely meal of sandwiches, scones and cakes and tea in porcelain tea cups and saucers. We had to book a table in advance. Obviously it was closed during lock-down but I believe it is open again now. It was a charming place and suitable for families having birthday parties. I hope it does well despite the cost of living crisis.

Ten years ago

This came up on my memories today. I remember this was a cold and sunny day just like today. I was taking part in a craft fair outside Stoke Market. Things were better then, people had a bit more money. I think I sold a few paintings. I have to say they were a bit random… I think I had done a all exhibition earlier in the year so I’d painted all sorts of things, some better than others. I’m trying to be a bit more selective in what I paint these days. I’m also not keen on sitting outside in the cold as much!

More paintings

Spode reflected and my willow pattern painting. I like pattern and design so doing both of these a few years ago was a delightful challenge. The window frame in the bottom painting was old and peeling and it was fun trying to get a likeness of it. The top painting was a willow pattern platter but using two different images to meld together to create a unique image. The border around the painting was all my own design. (There is a teapot painting on the table but the details are not visible). They are being photographed so I can have cards and prints, they are up for sale at the Arts and Minds Gallery, Veterans Support at Harper Street in Middleport.

Work at Arts and Minds

Ivy jug painting

I’ve just dropped off a few paintings to the Arts and Minds Gallery at Harper Street in Middleport opposite Middleport Pottery. I have asked them to do some cards from them and they have also taken the pictures to sell for me. It’s really pleasing to have my work included there. The galley has a wide range of beautiful art work. It also is part of a network that supports local veterans and their families. I have been able to show and sell work there because my hubby has a link to the military.

The gallery is warm and friendly and are always supportive. I think it helps that it doesn’t feel exclusive and snobbish. It’s in a great place too, helping to expand the creative area around Middleport pottery in Middleport, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.

Spode planning application

The old Spode factory site in Stoke-upon- Trent, the town the city of Stoke-on-Trent is named after, is due to be developed. However the intended development has changed since it was suggested several years ago. The place was due to be an Artisan quarter. With places to eat and buy art, and making an area in the town that would bring tourism in. I think it was even suggested that a supermarket could be built on part of the site. Then a hiatus, one half of the site nearest Stoke Station was sold off and knocked down. All the historical buildings were seen as useless and a great swathe of land was sold off to developers, then, nothing. I think they probably bought it so they would have an asset they could develop later or sell off for more money? In the meantime studios were developing on the side nearest Spode museum. The council has already disposed of a great number of ceramic moulds that had been stored at the factory. A hotel called the potbank opened up and shops were refurbished in Stoke along the frontage of the building. There is also a restaurant called the quarter. But times are hard and the development didn’t really go far. Now there is an application to convert some of the old buildings into 113 apartments a gym and a cafe among other things. I would say great, but there is already a lot of traffic in the area and no doubt this will cause more. The river Trent runs nearby also has caused flooding in the past. There was an article in private eye magazine questioning the company who intends to do the work. Anyone who wants to object needs to contact Stoke City councils planning department by 18th December 2022.

New work at Harper Street

I’ve just taken some of my paintings up to the Arts and Minds Gallery at Harper Street in Middleport. It’s opposite the Middleport pottery entrance. Some of them had been on show at Etruria, and one of them is an abstract painting of Jessie Shirleys Bone and flint Mill at Etruria Industrial Museum in Stoke-on-Trent. This is because the museum has reduced opening times in the winter and I wanted to show my work to a larger audience.

Salts Mill

A grey day in Yorkshire. Salts Mill at Saltaire. Looking at this old mill with its huge chimney you wouldn’t think there was an amazing bookshop, a cafe and restaurant and gallery’s there with work by world famous artist David Hockney.

Saltaire is near Bradford and Leeds, it is an old area of Shipley and the mill is surrounded by small stone terraced houses that only have a main room, a kitchen and a small bedroom and bathroom. Saltaire featured in a recently updated version of the classic film the railway children.

The mill sits between the railway on one side and the canal and river on the other side if it lower down the hill. The small houses are a beautiful example of a historic area. Saltaire also holds a food festival in the summer which attracts international visitors.

I wish Stoke on Trent had the courage to create something like this from its own historic buildings. This would be a blueprint we could build on.