New paintings and regular art updates.
I’m playing an Imp in the Penkhull Mystery Play, I have one line (and a few more as the narrator). It’s not obvious I’m an Imp, I just have to shout out “my name is Jakobah” , push a rock across a cave mouth. Then shout “goodbye”. There were more lines but they were cut because the play was originally one and a half hours long so it had to be edited. Maybe this is another case of measure twice, cut once! Anyway I hope to do so some more painting later x
On the 5th of June 1925 City status was bestowed on Stoke-on-Trent. So today we celebrated it’s Centenary.
A few years before on 31st of March 1910 it’s six towns of Longton, Burslem, Hanley, Fenton, Tunstall and Stoke-upon-Trent joined to gather to become the County Borough of Stoke-on-Trent.
Notable for living in the city were Oliver Lodge, inventor of the spark plug. Josiah Wedgwood inventor of different types of fine pottery. HG Wells lived here for a while in 1888. And Arnold Bennett, the author of the five towns novels wrote many books about the area.
On 5th July 2025 our area of Penkhull will be putting on a Mystery Play about a reimagined story of how the six towns were named.
Happy anniversary Stoke-on-Trent.
I have some paintings up at Etruria Industrial museum. The museum is open this weekend (31st May and 1st June 2025).
Red horse. This is a painting I did a few years ago, acrylic on canvas. From a friends photograph. I had her permission to paint it.
The Canal festival has all sorts of activities including music and canal boats on display and usually morris dancing. I’m looking forward to it if the weather is OK. I might struggle to walk around but will try my best.
Sultana scones with cream on a Calico Burleigh Ware plate for tea.
It was very tasty and filling. I decided not to have jam on them, it would have been to sweet. But I did butter them.
Burleigh Ware is a type of pottery made at Middleport pottery in Middleport, Stoke-on-Trent. Calico is one of many pattern types made by transferring the pattern onto the pottery with transfer prints. It’s a skilled job to line up all the prints. They are mounted on paper and stick to the pottery when they are wetted, the print sort of slides off onto the piece. If you turn over pottery it will usually have the makers name and other details printed on the base. People who do this say they are in the ‘turnover club’ .
Out listening to the Boatband at the Beehive in Honeywall, Stoke-on-Trent. Black and white sketch but the lighting was very dim.
I went to our read through of the Mystery Play today, we had tried to edit it down and it now is about an hour long including stage directions. The author, Andy Perry, has created a story about the creation of the city of Stoke-on-Trent and the naming of the six towns. Now we will be organising rehearsals. I hope it is going to be good. X
Arthur was one of my tutors at college. He went to Burslem School of Art to train in painting. I did this portrait mural of him and one of his paintings at the Leopard Hotel in Burslem in the back room. I think that was over ten years ago now. Unfortunately it was lost in the fire in 2022.
It’s emulsion paint, painted directly onto the wall, so when people ask me if the paintings were rescued I have to tell them no.
From 2017. Quite eccentric ideas for cards and Stoke-on-Trent that I was playing with. We are known as the potteries because that’s what is mainly manufactured here. I had a bit of a play with scale. Sorry they are not good photos. My odd humour.
Lighting detail on the ceiling of Hanley Library, Stoke-on-Trent. I love the design. We were singing “this little light of mine” at a monthly choir practice and it really chimed that the image went so well with the music. It’s as if the sun is encouraging people to read and to use the library to enjoy all sorts of experiences.
I went to an event planning meeting today at BArts in Stoke. It’s going to be an opera based on the witch (wise woman) from Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, who was alive in the 17th and 18th centuries. She was buried at 90 degrees to the normal North South orientation.
From Wikipedia :
Margaret ‘Molly’ Leigh (1685–March 1748) was an English property owner in the Staffordshire town of Burslem who, in her will, left substantial sums to charity. She was also accused of witchcraft, and, after her death, her grave was disturbed following claims she was haunting the town.
We had a singing session based on some of her life and the treatment she received from her neighbours. We were also invited to create some art based on her life. (hence the tub of pencil crayons. The opera is due to be put on later this summer.
Mallaband-Brown