Changing spots

Posted on February 1, 2022February 1, 2022 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Art, beer, Burslem, knives and forks, Leopard, Mural, Painting, Prince Leopold, shield, Stoke-on trent, The Leopard HotelLeave a comment

When I was painting in the Leopard Hotel I designed a coat of arms for the hotel. The hotels ginger cat lies across the top of a shield with garlands of leaves and berries around it. The shield is split into four sections. From the top left there are crossed knives and forks on a blue ground with a gold chevron. The top right is a portrait of Prince Leopold (not sure where he was from) it was possible that the Leopard could have been named after him. Bottom right are three foaming tankards in gold. And bottom left is a painting of a Leopard. The motto on the banner underneath says ‘The Leopard can change its spots’. The idea behind it was that the pub had just been taken over and the landlords Neil Cox and Neil Crisp wanted to turn it into a friendly place to eat great food and wonderful beer. I think they made a great job of it and for a few years it prospered but the changing face of the town, the empty buildings and then covid finally managed to close it. Sorry for the fuzzy photo.

Willow pattern painting

Posted on January 30, 2022 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Acrylics, Art, Ceramics, Design, Fine Art, Painting, platter, Spode, Stoke-on trentLeave a comment

I painted this a few years ago. It’s an octagonal platter shape. I used a few images of willow pattern plates and amalgamated them. It’s mostly based on a Spode style of pattern. The edge design was made up by myself. The painting is meant to look like the platter is leant up against a background. That’s why I added shadows and played with adding a reflection below it. I can’t remember what else I added to it. I did a series of paintings of ceramic objects, there was also a jug and a teapot and a large vase painting. It was good to imagine pottery from my adopted home of Stoke-on-Trent.

On the walls

Posted on January 28, 2022 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Art, Burslem, courtesy of, Fine Art, Life, Murals, painted onto walls, Photo, Stoke-on trent, The Leopard Hotel2 Comments

I got a couple of photos from my friend of the Arnold Bennett suite in the Leopard Hotel in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent. These were taken before the fire that destroyed most of the building although some walls are still standing.

People have asked if the paintings were removed when the pub closed two years ago. But they were murals. The room originally had flock wallpaper inside framed areas on the walls. When the new owners took over the pub they decided to have murals painted in there. They contacted Burslem School of Art and I was asked if I was interested. I’d painted murals and scenery before so I said yes.

The owners lined each space with lining paper and I got coloured emulsion paints to create each mural.

I think this photo in particular gives an idea of the size of the murals and how they were laid out. I hope to get more images of them so I can have an archive of them for my records.

Another mural, Wedgwood and Brindley

Posted on January 25, 2022January 25, 2022 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Art, Brindley, Emulsion on lining paper, Leopard Hotel in Burslem, Portraits, Stoke-on trent, Trent and mersey canal, Wedgwood2 Comments

Another of my murals, four gentlemen meet to discuss the building of the Trent and Mersey canal. They included Josiah Wedgwood and James Brindley. They were said to have met in the back room of the Leopard Hotel in Burslem.

This image was found on a ghost hunter website. I didn’t give my permission for him to use it, but I guess I can’t complain because it means I now have a record of it. I will keep looking for more.

Almost midnight

Posted on January 24, 2022January 25, 2022 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Art, Burslem, Fire, Leopard Hotel, Life, molly leigh, Mural, Painting, Stoke-on trent, Theodore Gericault, Witch2 Comments

She stands in front of her cottage. Molly Leigh, the Burslem witch. Notorious and buried in the local churchyard at 90° to the other burials. The painting is based on a peasant woman painting by Theodore Gericault.

This was one of my murals in the Leopard Hotel in Burslem. The pub burnt down at the weekend. I am bereft. I am trying to pass on my memories to keep a feeling of what it was. I painted these on the walls. Emulsion on lining paper directly onto the wall. I’ve had a few comments that they could have been taken down. I don’t think people understand what a mural is.

Callous Culture Cuts for Stoke Museums Undermines Future Chances of Tourism In The City

Posted on January 22, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Budget, callous, Council, curators, Cuts, defunding, Gladstone pottery museum, museums, Potteries Museum and art gallery, reblogged, Shared, Stoke-on trentLeave a comment

Permanent Five Month Closure for Gladstone and 13 Jobs Lost In Museum Shakeup
Callous Culture Cuts for Stoke Museums Undermines Future Chances of Tourism In The City

I saw this on WordPress Reader and had to share. The council claim its only a minimal cut (of around £600,00!). Its important that our industrial heritage is saved, otherwise Stoke on Trent would lose its raison d’etre.

Etruria Flint Mill

Posted on January 21, 2022January 21, 2022 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Acrylic on canvas, Art, Canvas, Engine, Etruria, Fine Art, Landscape, Life, Painting, Steam engine, Stoke-on trent, TimeLeave a comment

I added my easle yesterday. Today I’m showing you my easle two years ago, I did a painting of Etruria Flint Mill. It’s also called Jessie Shirley’s Bone and Flint mill I think? It’s the only working Steam driven Flint mill in the country and the flints and bone were crushed and ground using the power of the steam driven beam engine there.

The buildings are part of Etruria Industrial Museum, a complex of cafe, the museum displays, and the Flint mill on the Trent and Mersey and Cauldon Canals at Etruria, Stoke on Trent. I’m not sure of its opening times. But once a month it used to be fired up and you could watch the fly wheel rotating round and the pans where the flints were ground rumbling as the engine turns them. Its amazing to see the industrial archeology of the potteries in action.

Penkhull Wassail!

Posted on January 19, 2022January 19, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Apple tree, Cider, Dance, Eccentricity, gathering, Life, Music, Penkhull, song, Stoke-on trent, WassailLeave a comment

Memory of Doomesday Morris at Penkhull Wassail a couple of years ago. They danced and beat sticks to encourage the ancient Penkhull Apple tree to bud, flower and bear fruit later in the year. They were surrounded by a crowd of people, maybe two or three hundred. Some if us carried flaming torches to light our way. A walk around the boundaries of Penkhull and into local hostelries. I was part of the Mystery Singers choir who sang Wassail songs as we stopped off at the pubs…

Crowds and laughter, mad jolly japes, humans being gregarious. That’s what I miss. Thank goodness for Mysterious madness and eccentricity. Let’s pray to the gods of Wassail for this to come again one day, drink cider, jingle your bells, stamp your clogs, crash your sticks together! WASSAIL!

A different sort of mask

Posted on January 15, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Closures, conservatives, Council, Cuts, Gladstone museum, Potteries Museum and art gallery, Staffordshire, Stoke-on trentLeave a comment

Mystery Play mask. From 2018 or 2019. An outside play we did in the summer. One day only. About the history of the potteries. Set in a pottery museum that comes to life.

Why this? Because our local council want to cut jobs for curators and close the Gladstone Museum in Longton, Stoke-on- Trent, for five months a year and reduce the opening times for the Potteries Museum and Art gallery in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent. Why aren’t we promoting tourism, getting people to visit? The council say their £600,000 will only have a minimal effect!

Comfort food…

Posted on January 15, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged bacon and cheese, Cold, Comfort food, England, Food, Ingredients, Oatcakes, sniffles, Sore throat, Staffordshire, Stoke-on trent, TastyLeave a comment

Oatcakes are comfort food for me. Warm and sustaining. My hubby went out to the oatcake shop and got us some cheese and bacon oatcakes for breakfast because I’m not feeling well (I’ve done a lateral flow test today and it’s negative so I think I’ve got a cold, sore throat, sniffles and aches). I added the dots of brown sauce to make a smiley face. A Stoke on Trent /Staffordshire delicacy, oatcakes are our pancake / tortilla /crepes. You can eat them savory or with things like jam and butter. Our oatcakes are big and floppy, not like Scottish oatcakes which are far smaller and drier.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Stoke-on trent