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.

Fairy in a tree

Posted on January 8, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Fairies, Fairy, Metal, Sculpture, Staffordshire, Stoke-on trent, swing, Trentham Gardens, WireweavingLeave a comment

If you visit Trentham Gardens in Stoke on Trent you can find various wire woven fairies dotted around the grounds. Some are easier to spot than others. One flies down to a fountain to fill a watering can, another holds onto a huge dandelion seed head as it is caught in the wind. A warrior queen fairy stands on a plinth by the lake. I liked this one, hanging down from a branch in the trees on a swing. She’s hard to spot as the tree is an evergreen pine. She’s a welcome addition after walking around the lake.

Potteries

Posted on January 7, 2022January 7, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Ceramics, Craft, Design, Greek potter, Life, Ornaments, Pottery, Six towns, Stoke-on trent2 Comments

Burslem, Tunstall, Hanley, Stoke-upon-Trent, Fenton, Longton.

Six towns United as one city. Stoke-on-Trent.

I remember seeing this print and taking a photo of it, but I cannot remember where it’s from. So apologies for using the image and if I’m infringing copyright let me know and I will remove it. I like the style of the illustration. It’s almost grecian in style. The Potter is throwing a pot on a foot treadled wheel. The background looks a bit like a Minton tile. I did Google it and found some very similar images.

Pottery is such a wonderful craft. The things you can make out of clay. From tableware to ceramic insulators. Sanitaryware (bathrooms) to delicate ornaments. The Potteries has a great history. It’s fame is world wide. I’m proud to live here.

Tea at the Rabbit Hole Tearoom.

Posted on January 5, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Cake, Fruit, Photo, Scones, Stoke, Stoke-on trent, Tasty, Tea, Teapot, Tearoom, the rabbit holeLeave a comment

A good memory from a few years ago. Having tea with friends at the Rabbit Hole Tearoom in Stoke, Stoke-on-Trent.

We had been looking for somewhere different to visit and we had a friend coming down from Yorkshire. I had to book in advance but it was worth it. My memory is of a themed Tearoom around the Alice in Wonderland stories, with the white rabbit, mad hatter, dormouse and Queen of Hearts. The tea was lovely, cakes, scones, sandwiches, fruit. A pot of tea each.

It was a family themed Tearoom and it was very full. No social distancing in those pre covid days. I wish I could go back in time. Remembering those days is getting harder. But seeing old photos like this help to reassure me that things might one day be better. One day. When we can I hope this Tearoom will still be open.

Willow pattern

Posted on January 4, 2022January 4, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Artists, City, Clay, Close up, Creative, Painting, Poetry, potters poem, Pottery, Stoke-on trent, Willow patternLeave a comment

A bad, fuzzy close up

Of a painting I did

A willow pattern plate

That Spode pottery made

Based on patterns

That came from the east

So many variations

That you find all around.

Blue and white pottery

Glazed and painted

By skilled, creative artists

Paid by piecework,

(the number they did) .

Stoke on Trent city

A fading of clay,

But once so many people

Gave their art to the day.

Last sunset of 2021

Posted on December 31, 2021December 31, 2021 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Clouds, Colours, Penkhull, Photo, Sky, Stoke-on trent, Sunset, the Croft, Warm, WinterLeave a comment

We went out for a short walk locally as the sun started to set. The sky was very grey but there was a little patch of light in the south west, so I hoped it would possibly turn into a sunset. As you can see it did! I took lots of photos so I decided to do a sort of abstract compilation of some of them. I might try and line them up better later. So yes, this was the last sunset of 2021 here in my bit of the UK. In some places in the world midnight will have already been and gone. In others it’s probably only the morning. May your new year be good and safe. X

Little paintings for sale.

Posted on December 16, 2021 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Art, Covid, Fine Art, Fun, Life, little paintings, Longport, Miniatures, Painting, Stoke-on trent, The Waiting Room gallery4 Comments

Almost the end of my couple of weeks at the The Waiting Room Gallery at Longport.

I’ve had my paintings up for sale there and sold a few already. But as they are tiny I can’t say I’ve made a massive amount of money (less than £40 so far). But I don’t care, I’m just pleased people liked them enough to buy them.

What next? I might add ribbons to them and turn more of them into Christmas decorations for next year, after all I’m not sure when things will get back to normal (if ever) and at this rate it might be a long time before I can mount an exhibition.

Happy Sun

Posted on December 7, 2021 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Art, Fun, Longport, on exhibition, Painting, Stoke-on trent, Sun, Waiting room gallery2 Comments

One of my little paintings has been reserved. It might be a Christmas present for someone? It’s pleasing to think someone likes it enough to buy it. I must think of new things to paint. Whether to do mythical images again, like green men? I don’t know. I’ve got lots of canvases to fill. I’m not making much money out of them but at least it’s a small success.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Stoke-on trent