New paintings and regular art updates.
I must go back and visit Jodrell bank again. Maybe its somewhere to get Stoke urban sketchers to go to. I know it’s in the Cheshire countryside but it’s not too far away at Holmes Chapel. It’s certainly a challenging draw. I know I had a go ages ago. If my hubby was here he would be explaining how parts of it are off a battleship or something, I don’t remember…. So anyway yes it’s a fascinating place to visit, although I think it’s half term next week so it might be very busy.
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Time to collect my painting blue Jupiter tomorrow. Its been up for a month at an open exhibition in Newcastle under Lyme and I’m hoping people liked it. I think it will be up in my exhibition at centre space at spode visitor centre in a couple of weeks.
If you look at my art you can see I’m not painting to a theme. I just love images. I love experimenting and trying new things. I like challenging myself.
That’s exactly what I’m doing now.
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Photo of an old painted sign on Hartshill Road, Stoke on Trent.
I noticed it as we were walking down Hartshill and heading for Stoke. The paint is peeling and will be gone in a few years, but it clings on.
Part of an old industrial heritage in the city of Stoke-on-Trent which is gradually decaying.
Some places rejoice in their heritage. Manchester turned old warehouses into loft apartments. The Black Country museum in Dudley in the West Midlands has rebuilt old Victorian houses and workshops to create a living museum.
Somehow Stoke-on-Trent has got left behind. Yes there are glimmers of growth, but old houses get knocked down and are either not rebuilt, or when they are, are too expensive for people to buy.
I’m not completely sad about the place, it is unique, but it needs looking after, the people caring for, and caring about this wonderful city.
When I saw the prompt I knew the place, so we visited two days ago. I’m pretty sure it’s the same place. From the front you can’t see the size of the hall. You walk over the bridge over the moat. Through an archway into the courtyard.
Inside the house is dark and panelled in old oak. There are places where wall paintings are being restored and the old windows are fantastic. Up and down many stairs and spiral staircases you reach the long gallery. Beware the bees nesting at the bottom of the stairs though!
Then outside to the knot garden and main garden. These are hidden round the back.
All in all not Monochrome at all. And if you want to know where it is you will have to wait for Sue’s explanation. I won’t spoil the mystery (and I might not be right!)
Tudor Little Moreton Hall. North of Stoke-on-Trent on the A34. It’s owned by the National Trust. Surrounded by a moat. It is beautiful and quirky. The long gallery was added slightly later than when the hall was built. It’s really worth a visit. There are also plant sales and a cafe.
Sitting in the Barnicle cafe, Fenton town hall, Stoke-on-Trent. I looked up and saw the ornamental cherry tree through the window and the stained glass above. The lights were on inside the cafe because the clouds were dark and low, but it was a pleasant place to have a lunch break. Cheese oatcakes and fruit loaf toast were our delicious meal. Sometimes a simple recipe can be as effective in sating your hunger as a complicated and over fancy meal. The friendly atmosphere and warm welcome made it even more pleasant.
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This is why I’ve been missing today. I enjoy doing craft fairs but not on a regular basis.
I’ve not done badly today. But it is a lot of messing around and carting stuff about to be able to display your art. There is also the time it takes to get everything out then packed back away at the end of the day. We had some heavy wooden trestle tables, my shoulders are aching now . Anyway that was my day.
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A warm evening in March, out at Westport lake. One of my favourite places for a walk. Over the last few years the trees have grown and the management of the lake has been taken over by Staffordshire Wildlife Trust. The sun reflects off the water and ripples from the swimming birds make it sparkle. The lake was artificially created from the remains of a marl pit (where they dug out the clay for potteries) and old mine workings. It was created for wildlife in the 1980s I think when Shelton Bar Steel works closed ?
Life spreads and grows. Greenery overtakes the tallest buildings, ivy scrambles, buddlea infiltrates. And beauty comes from waste and destruction.
I shared this a few days ago as part of a group of photos but I came back to it because I loved the vibrant colours. It goes with my mood today. Gold wallflowers and pink dianthus I think are the types of flowers.
An artist at Spode planted and looks after this area just outside the spode studios. They always cheer me up when I go in. To see them in the middle of industrial delapidation lifts my spirits.
On the road that passes the site there was a project called greening Stoke where various shop fronts and bits of derelict land were planted up with wild flowers. They are still growing. Good to see green in the urban landscape.
This group I’m in is starting up again this week. At the moment I haven’t the time to get involved. But in a couple of weeks I might be able to join in again. I’m the meantime if you live in Stoke you might want to give it a look this weekend. Just up the canal from Etruria industrial museum by Summit lock on the trent and merdy canal. I think there is an exhibition on. There will also be the chance to do some hands on clay art work.
Mallaband-Brown