New paintings and regular art updates.
Old light and fitting at Spode factory site, taken 4? years ago when I still had my studio there. I like the fact that the photo looks black and white apart from the pale grey/browns on the globe shaped light shade.
I wish I could time travel, go back to when I could do things, climb stairs, move things around. I struggle just to get through my front door. I guess the thing to do is to get on with things the best I can. I’m stubborn, which means I don’t give in easily.
Photo by a friend of a tile found in the basement of the old Stoke Library. I think he said it was by Minton tiles. This is also similar to the green imp badge that the brownies have on their uniform. (Brownies are younger members of the Girl Guides movement.)
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’m holding a retrospective of my art at Spode studios next week. It’s because I am leaving the studios after 7 years this April. I have enjoyed my time there but circumstances mean that I cannot continue there.
The retrospective will run from Monday 4th March 2024 to Friday 8th March. There will be a closing viewing of the exhibition on Friday from 6.30pm to 8.30pm.
Most of the works will be for sale. Please join me if you can at Spode Studios, Spode Site, Elanora street, Stoke upon Trent.
I went out for afternoon tea with some lovely ladies. It was a spur of the moment thing but I was really pleased to be invited. It’s not something English people do everyday!
The meal included various small sandwiches, mini quiche, a scone with jam and clotted cream, a mini Victoria sponge and a mini chocolate brownie.
And lashings of cups of tea or coffee (normal or decaff). The result was a delicious and tasty meal.
The Quarter cafe is at the Spode Site at Elanora Street, Stoke upon Trent. I think there is another one in the city centre (Hanley). You have to book the tea you can’t just arrive. Service was really good, the waitress was very helpful.
I just got back from a Claybody Theatre production, an Audience with Toby Jones. He’s the actor who recently appeared as Mr Bates (in Mr Bates versus the Post Office) the sub postmaster who was accused with hundreds of others of stealing money from the post office when it was actually the horizon computer system that had caused the problems. The ITV drama he was in really bought the scandalous treatment of sub postmasters out into the open.
He’s also been in the Detectorists, played Truman Capote, played Neil Baldwin in Marvellous and has been in many more plays, films and TV series. He also played Dobbie the House Elf in Harry Potter.
Toby Jones talked about his university experience, his further studies with a French drama school, how he went from wanting to be a director to being an actor. As he explained he doesn’t have control of what’s coming up. Actors are lucky to get parts and they have to go with whats available. He explained he’s not bothered about fame, and came across as a genuine and funny person. He had come to Spode in Stoke upon Trent to support Claybody Theatre.
His father was the actor Freddie Jones and had lived in Longton in Stoke-on-Trent. He had taken up acting quite late in life and Toby wasn’t sure if he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps.
It was a thoroughly interesting evening. I was so glad to have seen him in person.
A year ago, we visited the Rabbit Hole tearoom with a friend who was visiting from Yorkshire. We had to book in advance. The food duly arrived in this cake stand with beautiful pots of tea.
Sadly, like so many other places, the Rabbit Hole is closed at the moment. Such a shame for a quaint and magical cafe in the centre of Stoke-upon-Trent, the town which the city of Stoke-on-Trent is named after.
Welcome to Spode studios. I have to admit I have not been in since the March lockdown. My reasons? Covid19, fear of catching it or passing it on if I do catch it.
The corridors are usually quiet, but you don’t know who’s there. I should call in, but now I’ve started an online course my available time has reduced. I need to make a timetable. To work out when I should go in. I have good intentions, but as they say about them, the road to hell is paved with them. I guess I’m really a bit down and still recovering from my tonsillitis. Yuk.
I went out to our local Thai restaurant, Sawadee Thai taste in Stoke and had a Green Papaya salad with seafood. It was extremely tasty. We also had thin rice noodles with some chilli’s and mixed vegetables. This is the third time I’ve had it because it tastes so nice. I would have taken a photo but I’d eaten the food before I thought about it.
Grey and depressing, icy cold, big droplets of rain. Disappointing as well, I keep trying to get the car mended (someone broke my wing mirror, the glass is cracked, and someone must have reversed into my nearside wing, it’s all scraped and dented. But I rang up, and the mechanic, who is trying to find the right mirror rang in sick this morning. I will have to try again tomorrow. Then I collected some paintings from my studio to try and get into a local craft centre. But the owner has been inundated with local artists. He is interested in more work but needs to sell some art first. He has had people in but one comment he got was “is it really That much?” for one if the pieces in there. It’s the usual thing in this area, people don’t have money, or if they do they don’t want to spend it. It’s depressing (oh I’ve already said that)……
Mallaband-Brown