New Prime minister

Posted on September 6, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged cost of living, Crime?, Environment, inflation, national health service, People, policy, political parties, Politics, Serious, social care, ThinkingLeave a comment

Our new Prime minister is a woman. She is choosing her cabinet at the moment which is very diverse. That’s great, but most of them are her supporters. Where are the people to quietly tell her that her ideas may be wrong? Sycophantic behaviour is not good for running a country. There are dictators who have yes men telling them their ideas are wonderful. But at this time of crisis we need people who are serious about changing things, taking sensible decisions rather than populist policies that grab headlines. I know I’m being political, but sometimes you have to say something.

Things she needs to deal with: inflation, cost of living, the environment, national health service, climate change, social care, crime. Who would want the job?

Flowers abstract

Posted on September 5, 2022 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Abstract, Art, Easle, evenings, Ill, Life, Painting, Sad, shingles, Thinking, Time, WorldLeave a comment

I need to get my paints out again. Doodling abstracts on my phone is OK, but I’ve hit a bit of a block at the moment. I have an easle set up on a chair but it’s covered in post and bits of paperwork. I think it’s because of having shingles. A lot less painful but I’m not getting out much. I haven’t done things I planned to do like going for walks with my hubby. Now the nights are drawing in. Soon the clocks will go back and it will be darker earlier in the day. Sorry for the meh post!

Gratitudes

Posted on September 4, 2022September 4, 2022 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Art, gratitudes, Help, Life, Positive, Sharing, Sketching, small things, therapeutic, Thinking, three gratitudes4 Comments

I’m getting some help with my mental health and one of the things I’ve taken up is to do a gratitude diary. Basically you write down three things you are grateful for every day. I do it before bed, and I remember small things that have made me happy during the day. Not big dramatic things (today was a bit of an exception because two things were slightly more important) on other days I’ve included the cat on my lap, or standing in the garden full of flowers.

So why do it? It appears to rewire your brain, cutting down on negative thoughts and turning them positive. I have been advised to do it for at least 28 days. I’m not suggesting anyone else does it, but it’s helping me.

Photosynthesis

Posted on August 26, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged botany, Green, Growth, Life, photosynthesis, Plants, Programme, starch, Thinking, TVLeave a comment

It took centuries to discover why plants are (usually) green and how they grow and create food from thin air. I was watching a programme about botany last night and there was a long explanation about the science of it.

First people experimented by weighing a plant before and after tending it for five years and finding that although it gained weight it did not affect the soil. Then they tried growing plants but without light, which meant they would not thrive. They realised that they created starch in their leaves, but took time realising they absorbed carbon dioxide and gave out oxygen as a byproduct.

The whole programme was very informative but I wasn’t taking notes. But the idea that humans could understand it and may be able to use the process artificially is amazing. The ability to turn sunlight into fuel would be something that could help humankind.

Nights drawing in

Posted on August 22, 2022 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Art, British summer time, Bulbs, Daylight, Fine Art, Greenwich mean time, led lights, Painting, ThinkingLeave a comment

The sun is setting earlier now. It was dark at 9pm today, and the sunrise is later too. In September we will reach the point when day and night are of equal length. Then in October we will revert back to Greenwich mean time and lose an hour of daylight in the evening. Although we gain an hour on the morning I think it’s sad to get darknrss earlier just when you want to cling to brightness.

Why talk about this? I need to get a daylight bulb. I find if I paint in normal electric light the colours I use look different from in the daytime. They are often distorted, I find I can’t see yellow properly compared with white. I also think LED lights are a lot dimmer than the old 100 watt bulbs and you can’t get a bright enough equivalent. I want to be able to see colours properly so I can paint better.

Tomorrow

Posted on August 22, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Choice, Decision, Life, Poem, Poetry, Rest, Thinking, Thoughts, Time, Today, Tomorrow, WordsLeave a comment

What will tomorrow bring?

I asked myself,

What sort of thing?

A new idea,

a chance to change

A friend in touch

There is so much

To think about

So instead,

Today

I will rest a while

Gather my strength

And deal with it all

TOMORROW

Not today.

Artemis probe

Posted on August 19, 2022August 20, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged artemis, lunar, Mars, Moon, moon mission, Nasa, person of colour, rocket, Thinking, WomanLeave a comment

I saw there is an unmanned mission to the moon called Artemis. Its from NASA and its part of a plan to send a team including woman and a person of colour to the moon. Its fifty three years since the first men landed on the Moon.

I looked up Artemis and she was the Greek goddess of hunting, Similar to the roman goddess Diana. I suppose its a good name for it. I wonder when it will happen. I hope it does. I think it’s possible, but I really think it’s unlikely that we will ever go to Mars?

Yin-yang

Posted on August 19, 2022 Posted in UncategorizedTagged Art, Life, Memories, Pareidolia, Pattern, Random, Thinking, wallpaperLeave a comment

Made a coffee, but as often happens I saw a pattern as the cream swirled over the top. I took a photo, which isn’t very good, because I thought it looks like the yin-yang symbol.

I have always, for as long as I remember, found shapes in patterns, from imagined fairies in rose wallpaper, to dragons on tablecloth fabric. I have a mind that has a creative bent. Pareidolia is sometimes fun, sometimes irritating. But I use it for my art.

Retraining my brain

Posted on August 17, 2022August 18, 2022 Posted in Sketching, UncategorizedTagged Diary, Grateful, gratitudes, Help, Life, Positive, psychology, retraining, Sketches, ThinkingLeave a comment

I’m trying to be more positive and to retrain my brain at the moment. The idea is that every evening for at least twenty eight days you try and write three gratitudes to get on a more positive train if thought. They shouldn’t be massive things that are overwhelming, but small things, little things you recognise as something to cherish. I’m on day eight and I think it’s helping a bit. I’m trying to encourage my hubby to do it too. Of course I have included sketches, it makes things more real.

Got to paint more

Posted on August 16, 2022 Posted in Fine Art, UncategorizedTagged Art, Commission, Craft, Design, Fine Art, Ideas, Painting, sales, small paintings, ThinkingLeave a comment

I’ve been asked to paint some of my small paintings, bees, birds, cats, maybe dogs, flowers. But I might add a few small mechanical paintings too.

How can I know my audience? Mainly by what has sold before, but also what is liked on social media. I cannot paint exactly what someone wants without getting a description of a commission from them, but I can try to get an inkling of what is interesting. For instance I have been painting more abstract images, but I feel they are more fine art subjects. If someone buys a tiny painting is that more of a craft piece. I need to know because if I carry on I need to earn a crust or two, even if it’s only a crumb sized one! We will see.

Mallaband-Brown

Tag: Thinking