New paintings and regular art updates.
We had a starter each of Thai fishcakes then I had Thai Noodles with squid, prawns, fish balls, spare ribs and chicken. This was mixed with spices and vegetables. As usual the portion size was a bit too big for me. But I really enjoyed it. Not to spicy not to mild.
We were at Sawadee Thai Taste in Stoke. We go there about once a month because its nice to try new flavours every so often. But I’m also not going out very often because of Covid. I have to feel safe to go out!
The derelict Goss Falcon Works at the back of Portmeirion pottery. (I hope I’ve got this right). You can’t see from here but part of the roof has collapsed at the other end of the building. You can see it from Penkhull New Road but I couldn’t get a close enough view to get a good photo. The city of Stoke-on-Trent that I live in is becoming more derelict. History is being forgotten or neglected. So sad.
Sunset looking out towards Cheshire/Shropshire. Its been a cold and breezy day today but plenty of sunshine. I went out drawing for an hour, then I went for a little walk this evening round Penkhull. It wasn’t far, and it was very chilly. I felt a bit better. I didn’t sleep well last night and the cold air refreshed me. Good to see the sunset.
I can’t find the photo of a finished painting. It had more detail on the wooden supports between the panes of glass. The paint was peeling off and chipped and that’s what attracted me to the image. I’m the final version you can see me and my phone reflected in the surface. It’s an image of the Spode factory site. Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire.
Today’s #bandofsketchers prompt was destruction. The Leopard Hotel in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, was destroyed by fire just a few weeks ago. This is a sketch from a photo by Stokie Bloke (I can’t face visiting the Leopard Hotel). Not very accurate. You can see the roof has gone. There were more photos including the room where my murals were. The walls are still standing, but there are just blank ashy grey spaces. So sad.
We bought this tree about 25 years ago as a sapling from Plymouth and planted it in our garden. It is now as tall as our house but as the garden slopes you could probably add another five or six foot to its growth. Since it was quite young it has produced walnuts which the local squirrels collect and store over winter. That has resulted in some unwanted saplings which we have dug up and given away. Walnuts don’t do well if their branches are cut. The sap tends to flow freely and can cause the tree to bleed sap. This can also allow infections which can damage the trees. Walnut wood is apparently very good for carpentry, but I intend to leave well alone. If it can get that big in twenty five years how big will it get in fifty…
Sitting in the Waiting room gallery, looking out on a blustery day. The road in front runs down past the gallery on the left of where I was seated then on behind me to the Longport station building where trains regularly stop. That is why the gallery is called :the Waiting room’. The gallery is linked with the station and is a community space that is run by the volunteers who have worked on maintaining the station building. I don’t know the full details but it’s good the station is still in use. Its just a short walk from there to the Trent and Mersey canal and along it to the Middleport pottery. It was a bleak, wet and windy day, but we were warm and snug at the gallery with a cup of coffee and a scone too!
Just been up to the Waiting room gallery in Longport, Stoke-on-Trent. They have hung my tryptich of Jupiter and it is for sale if anyone wants to contact me about it. I’ve said I would sell canvases individually but I think it’s better if it was sold as all three canvases. The image is based on a photo of Jupiter’s surface including part of one if its poles. I’m not sure which? Taken by the Juno mission a few years ago. Acrylic on canvas. It’s hung horizontally but it could be hung vertically or even diagonally. Is there an up and down in zero gravity? Just imagine being there, what a fantastic sight it would be!
Rushes on the edge of Trentham Lake. Black ink fine line pen in my sketchbook, then filtered in Photodirector.
The filter has modified the image. It has made it more homogenous, less natural, more stylized. The ripples seem more dynamic, the heads of the bullrushes are more like candle flames. The trees could also be on fire. I may colour the image in. I see red or orange as the flood fill choice. Like a fiery sunset. Greens for the rushes, blues and greens and orange for the water. Maybe….
This was the function room, the Arnold Bennett suite, in the back of the Leopard Hotel with my murals visible on the walls. They were quite high up and I’m only short, so I spent a lot of time climbing up and down ladders! If I had realised it was likely to take me almost two years to paint them (there were eleven? ) seven on one side and four on the other if I remember?
Titles were :
The Leopardess
Umbrellas by Clarice Cliff
Arthur Berry, artist
Walter, the regular
Pot banks and woman worker
Murdered woman
The Leopard coat of arms
The Burslem Riot 1842
Wedgwood and Brindley
Molly Leigh, Burslem witch
Burslem Angel
I cannot remember if there was another one. I’m hoping to collect a full set of images of them. I hope that local people will be able to help me.
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