New paintings and regular art updates.
A queue in the rain
For a British barbecue
Waterfall effect is a pain
Smoke and drizzle falling
Barometer says thunder
Must be summer
No chance to simmer
In the sun’s rays
And charcoal briquettes?
Won’t light in the deluge…
Soggy burgers and hotdogs?
Make the most of it..
Next week snow, or fog!
Sunlight on birches
Silver and brown.
Spring is a blooming
In woods and on ground.
Bluebells are over
Now comes the new
Garlands of roses
Covered in dew
Clematis climbing
Lilac are blue
Purple and white
Flowers scented too.
Remember the birches
Other trees shine
Oak tree and walnut
Hornbeam and lime
Oh lovely summer
In you come soon
When sunlight is brightest
At wondrous noon.
Some leaves are falling despite copious rain. It’s mid may up here in the northern hemisphere, but spring and summer feel far away. What is happening ? Is the climate changing? Maybe it’s a slow motion version of the film the day after tomorrow. Some talk of the Gulf stream current dwindling has been mooted over the last few years. The stream pulls up warm water from the Atlantic up the west coast of Wales and Scotland then on up to the Arctic. This floats above cold water travelling underneath it in the opposite direction. But humans seem to have the ability to mess things up. I have no proof of this. I’m merely speculating. But the weather is cold and grey. I think I’ll take a vitamin D tablet.
How do you feel about cold weather?
I like cold weather as long as I can get warm when I need to. I like cold, clear, frosty days. Days when trees look like white sculptures, where hoar frosts build crystals of ice on leaves and twigs. Where spiders webs festoon hedges.
I don’t like warm wet winters, where you go out and your feet feel wet all day. Where the rain blows into your coat hood and trickles down your neck. Cats drive past and spray you with water from the gutter.
I don’t like too hot summers. I can’t cool my house down enough. I feel like I’m melting. Cold showers or an electric fan with a bottle of frozen water in front of it (not too close) are methods to keep cool.
Britain can get very cold and very hot but it rarely stays the same every day. Sometimes we have short heatwaves and cold snaps, but the weather has changed over the last few years. Those mild wet winters are confusing the plants and insects. Life is trying to keep up with man made climate change and I don’t think we are doing enough.
By the sea
Sand soft beneath my feet,
Tide rising, toes tickled by waves.
Starfish paddle with their little feet
Whelks and cockles burrow
Warm splash of water
Buckets and spades
Time to build a sandcastle for me and you.
When do you feel most productive?
I usually feel better in summer, at the moment the daylight is increasing and I feel slightly more productive. I somehow usually come out of myself in the spring, and as the season progresses I feel more enthusiastic.
This year? I don’t know, I’ve spent a lot of time just staring at things. My motivation is really low. I don’t go out much so I probably low on vitamin D. I will try and get over the feeling of sadness and anxiety. I would like to be more productive as the days lengthen. I will have to see what happens.
Mahonia with it’s spiky leaf
Tinged with winter frost
Brushed bronzes
Of Autumn colours
In the Spring.
But orange tints
will be replaced
As soon new life
Engulfs the place
Bright greens and pinks
Yellow flowers
Full of dew
Red, orange, blue
Then colours of
a summer hue..
Till autumn and then
winter comes
And the seasons round
Begins again.
Invent a holiday! Explain how and why everyone should celebrate.
The UK has bank holidays in winter, spring and summer, but nothing in Autumn. We have Rememberence day and Guy Fawkes night in November. But some people don’t get many days off in the year, so why not?
The government would no doubt object to this day off, because it would reduce productivity. But if they had their way we would be on fifty or sixty hour weeks. Elon Musk said this week that all jobs would be taken over by AI or robots, so why not start working towards it now? We could have Autumn cards, buy jigsaw puzzles of gorgeous trees, or squirrels and their nut collections. Hazelnut or Cob nut cakes? Conker fights, displays of autumn flowering crocuses. I would also keep British Summer time so that the evenings stayed lighter and it would cost less in power usage!
Orme art summer challenge 2023. We drew and painted from two seperate pictures. This was the version of a Degas. Each member took a square then it was put back together with each person’s contribution.
So, we have equal amounts of day and night today according to this.
Days will get shorter than nights until the Winter Solstice around the 21st of December 2023, then lengthen again. In the Southern Hemisphere the days will get longer until their Summer Solstice.
I don’t like the lack of sunlight and the change from British Summer time to Greenwich Mean time also gets to me. We lose an hour of evening daylight in October, although we get lighter mornings. But studies in the 1960’s or 1970’s showed that overall there were less accidents when they kept British Summertime for three years. Sadly the change was abandoned.
Maybe we could revisit the idea? Saving an hours electricity in the winter evenings might even help the environment?
Mallaband-Brown