New paintings and regular art updates.
I just took my Heron painting to the cafe at Etruria Industrial Museum to swap it for the one of the waterfall that I have sold. I will try and deliver that to my friend soon who bought it from me. I need to do some more work because I have the opportunity of showing some small paintings at a new venue that is opening up in Middleport, Stoke-on-Trent, near the Middleport pottery. I’m trying to grab opportunity where I can.
These were green when I put them in the fridge a week ago. Most of the pack still are, but these look like they have caught fire! I hope they won’t be too hot, I’ve incorporated them into a curry. The plate is Burleigh ware from Middleport pottery in Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire. The photo cheered me up because of the bright colours.
I found this photo from 2019 and was amazed at the deep blue reflected in Rudyard Lake, which lies between Stoke-on-Trent and Leek. You get to it down winding roads. There is (was)? A small lake cruiser and a minature railway up one side of the lake that runs from the car park on the road between Rudyard and the road towards Macclesfield. Then it follows the lake side up towards the top end of the lake (the path finally goes to Rushton Spencer I think). The lake has something to do with Rudyard Kipling, not sure he was named after it? Its another lovely place near Stoke-on-Trent.
Just back from an afternoon in the sunshine drinking (alcohol free) gin and diet tonic. The Boat Band were playing a mixture of cajun and sea shanty and folk music. People joined in. I found my kazoo and had a go but had completely forgotten how to play. I was embarrassed because they introduced me and I couldn’t get it to work…. Then as the orchestra of interesting instruments kicked back in again I could play it! Weirdly I think it was nerves. After two years of not joining in with open mic situations (with no mic) I just wasn’t quite ready. Glad to chat with people and think about strategies for coping with anxiety. I will try and get help for that. X
Look up, see the blue, but then see the clouds. Mottled grey and white. When I was a child I was obsessed with clouds. In sewing class I embroidered white and grey clouds on a blue background. When I did art foundation I painted a cloudscape in quink ink. The colour of it, a darkish grey blue, split into browns and blue when you added water. I’ve painted clouds reflected in the windows at Spode in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.
Knowledge of clouds. I wish I could recognise them and their types. I know some names, cumulus, cumulonimbus, stratus, etc, etc,…
The Leopardess at the Leopard Hotel in Burslem. She was supposed to be a mixed race woman that married the owner of the hotel and came to England to run it. I was told several tales by the landlords of the Leopard while I was painting murals there and I really wish I had written them down. But you know what it’s like. You are standing on top of a set of stepladders and chatting while you paint. You have ideas for each mural and have to fit in with what the owners want you to paint. Sometimes I was in the Arnold Bennett suite on my own for hours (I’d go up after work), listening to old creaking timbers and odd noises. It could be spooky in there. My memory isn’t what it was.
Still proud of this mural that I painted in the Leopard Hotel in Burslem in about 2006 or 2007. The hotel burnt down earlier this year ans all my murals were destroyed. Someone asked if the murals had been removed from the building? No they were painted directly onto the wall with emulsion paint. These were some of my favourite works and I was devastated when they went up in smoke. The root crowd included local people and staff of the Leopard Hotel plus my hubby. A lady called Margaret Moxom used an image of it for her book. The riot was in 1842 and a man was shit dead during it.
Memory from 2017 of a mural I painted in 2007. This was at the Leopard Hotel in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent. I have a strong connection with Burslem from doing a series of murals in the hotel. Who knows whether I will do anymore?
I would love to do a bit more mural painting, or scenery, or large paintings. I’m hoping if I can get my shaking arm under control I might be able to do it.
Memories are a great thing, but also they can be tinged with sadness when you think of all the things you could have done. I do wonder about the pandemic times. Could I have done more to keep my art business going? What things can I do to actually sell my work? I’m not a sales person, I’m an artist…. I don’t think I’ll ever have a USP!
I did this a few years ago. Living in the city of Stoke-on-Trent means there are places where you can pay to paint pottery with glazes and then collect the finished piece a week or so later. I found a place in Burslem which was about half the price of other potteries and the vase was double the size. I think it was called Stafford Pottery, its on the opposite side of the road to Burslem Town Hall. I gave the resulting jug as a Christmas gift. I usually paint cats but have been known to paint horses too… I know it’s mainly a kids thing, but it is fun.
Wall in Burslem painted with the Burleigh ware pattern that is available on pottery from Middleport pottery just down the road. There was a board below it which explained more but I was in a rush so just took a photo and then had to go. This is visible outside Burslem School of Art on the wall to the right of the front doors. As you probably know I love pattern so this is right up my street. Also this colour of blue is fabulous although the pieces I own are dark red and white.
Mallaband-Brown