Stone

I found this cold green stone in my bag today. I don’t know how many months it had been in there. Wrapped in green tissue paper, carefully sealed up with tape. I could feel its shape through the layers of paper but not how it felt. It could have been anything I suppose.

I’m a collector of stones, fossils, crystals, ‘dust gatheters’ I don’t know why I started or when it became a collection. Just nice, shiny, pieces of rock or stone, some polished like this, others hard and rough, fools gold, carborundum, but mainly quartz. I even made my own crystal using a supersaturated solilution and string. I don’t remember the chemical I used….

Boarded up

An old ruin made of pinkish grey stone. The window has a white windowledge stained with green algae caused by the wet atmosphere in the area. The window is boarded with some sort of chipboard. The lower section is sodden with damp from successive rainstorms. It must be screwed into the window frame because it is sunken into the window surround, not flush with it. A bracket of metal, almost the shape of the number ‘2’ is on one side of the window, and a thin line of stonework shaped almost like an eyebrow sits in the stone course above the boarded window. This is on the first floor of the building so it would not be easily accessible from the ground. The light on the building is grey, reflecting what the sky would look like if it was visible in the photo.

I was trying to write this in a simple descriptive way. It’s harder than I thought to be accurate!

Two years ago…

The snow was heavier a couple of years ago. You can see the streaks of it falling on this photo. I love the quiet hush as it muffles sound.

But the heaviest snow was several years ago. I remember cycling on a tandem from Stoke to Stone (about eight miles). It was a least thirty years ago and me and my hubby had no car yet. We decided to visit some friends. It started to snow but we were warmly dressed so we got on the main road. But the snow came down thick and fast. I remember a friend who was with us decided to turn round and go home. But we continued along a dark country road through Barlaston and on to Stone. By the time we got there it was like being on a snow plough! We were starting to slide and slip because of the ice and catching the snow with our pedals! There was no other traffic and the snow was illuminated in orange patches by the street lamps. We met our friends and left the tandem at their house. I remember going to the pub and sitting in front of a roaring fire. When we came out there was about two foot of deep snow. We stayed overnight at our friend’s after falling off the tandem when we tried to ride off!

Coming home today.

Sadly I didn’t sell any of my paintings at Stone (exhibition ends today). I did get some feedback from a customer who said it was a shame they didn’t display them on another wall. They were in the corridor on the way to the toilets and she said she would not have seen them if she hadn’t gone to the loo! I guess it just shows that whatever you do if your work is not visible enough it won’t get any interest.

Work up in Stone

Just been to Stone in Staffordshire, to the Artisan Boutique on the High Street there. Its a lovely cafe and also sells artwork. I’m prt of a six person show together with other members of the Orme Art Group. The exhibition runs throughout June and the works are for sale.

I will be visiting to have a proper look at the place soon and maybe stop off and have a cup of coffee. The shop also has seating outside so it’s a pleasant place to visit when it’s sunny.

Poppy

This acrylic on canvas Poppy painting will be on sale in a shop in Stone, Staffordshire later in the week. I will try and get a few photos of our group display when everyone has hung their work.

Poppies come in lots of colours from large red, magenta, pink and white ones to smaller common poppies with red patals and black splodges in their centres. Also white and pink variations. Then there are the bright oranges of Californian poppies, orange and yellow Welsh poppies and blue, hymalayan poppies. Just gorgeous.

Orme Group Art in Stone, Staffordshire.

Our group of artists will be exhibiting work for sale in the Artisan Boutique on the High Street in Stone, Staffordshire from the start of June. Six of us are exhibiting there so we will all have a few pictures on display. It’s a great opportunity for us to get seen a bit further afield than usual. Wish us luck!

dragon for sale

Shall I buy this cute little stone dragon? Not at THAT price! Do you think I’m made of money? What about the coal it would cost to feed it? And its asleep now but what happens when it wakes up, sneezes, and burns my shoes or the bottom of my coat? I mean he’s really CUTE, don’t you just want to go ahhhh or oooo? I know I do. And what about (whispers) toileting? Can you get a dragon litter tray? Plastic would not do, too caustic……would need stainless steel. Then there’s the vets… innoculations, how do they inject through a stone hide? Something to think about.. I mean, are dragons prone to scale beetle, carbon cough, wing itch? Your guess is as good as mine… What do they drink? water- or lamp oil? I think I will go for a Gargoyle instead. Stick it on the roof and it will be happy drinking rain water and watching birds fly by…

dragon stone

A few weeks ago I got a stone painting kit. I used to paint them a lot. I’ve painted little mice, and hedgehogs and other creatures on stones, so I know what I’m doing.

This dragon stone didn’t turn out as well. It’s a bit too blobby, it lacks definition. you can just about work out what it is but I think I have overworked it. It is meant to be a curled up dragon which has fallen asleep on a red cushion. I think it must be a tiny species of dragon, only about four inches long. You can have small lizards so why not small dragons? I think they live in the cracks in stone walls. They eat lichen and set fire to tiny sticks and grasses if they want to get warm. I wonder if I could turn this into a story? Pixies using them as transport, or for flying after honeybees to raid their hives? Imagination is a mad thing….

Dragon stone

I painted a stone with a dragon design, then I edited it in photodirector. The paint is in little bottles with a nozzle and you use it to add dots and lines onto a surface. I’m a bit unsteady with my hand and arm so it’s more wobbly than I would like. Once it’s dry I might take another photo. As the colours dry they seem to shrink because they seem to have glue in the paints. Especially the ones with added glitter.