New paintings and regular art updates.
Digital manipulation of paving blocks. The colours are from water and green algae on the blocks. The perspective of them means that because I have mirrored them both side to side and up and down there appears to be a bulge in the centre of the picture. I again used the Layout app that comes with Instagram to do the mirroring.
Half past five in the evening and the clouds scud by. There’s still light in the sky but the rain showers keep pounding the windows. I love the newly washed look of the air. Almost sparkling. When I came here forty years ago there was far more heavy industry in the area. Smoke and dust polluted the air. A smog sometimes settled over the city and you could smell the fumes from the tyre factory or enamel being fired onto pottery if the wind was in the right direction. Now the wind is more a carrier of sound. The local A road and the motorway. The occasional sound of pile drivers when new buildings are erected, which is not very often. Sometimes smoke travels on the forlorn breeze as an old building accidentally burns down. So sad. So much bustle gone. We are a warehouse city of poorly paid jobs. No real chances. No ambition if the naysayers are believed. I think we can do better. Think creative, be creative. Let a bit of light shine on us. X
It’s very windy outside. I took two photos within a couple of minutes of each other. One had a bit of blue sky in it, the other was much cloudier and more turbulent. The pink developed then faded quickly. I mirrored the two photos so you can compare the colours next to each other. Darkness is gathering. I want to snuggle up and hibernate!
I wish I lived on the other side of the hill.
Red sky at night! Wish I could have got up the hill. But it faded quickly after taking this shot. I’ve seen a couple of photos on Facebook which were taken by other people.
A gale force wind and storms are forecast for later tonight up in the north of the UK. But that’s mainly Scotland. Hopefully this means that the weather here will be OK. Its still a long time till spring. Lots of cold, wet, windy weather still to come.
Dry throat
Dry cough
Feeling under the weather
Like a desert
Full of spiky cactus
Stuck in my throat
Cold and tired
Frosty and foggy brained.
Bring back cool showers
And gentle breezes.
Taking time
To recover.
I’m sitting here with my fleece on and a dressing gown on top of my normal clothes. It’s not that cold, around freezing outside. The heating is on, and a little oil heater. But it’s drafty. When it gets this cold in the house I sometimes put my gas cooker on. I can cook a meal and warm the house up. If I get too cold I’ll go to bed and read a book. We have a radiator on in the bedroom. I am trying to save energy. Gas and electricity prices which have been capped are set to rise around 50% in April. Many people will struggle to pay. One energy company recently gave some energy saving tips:
‘cuddle a pet’, ‘eat porridge’ and ‘do star jumps’! It’s nice to know they care.
Meanwhile our ruling political party seems to have turned into a ‘Part-aaay’ over the last couple of years! Marvellous leadership… Not.
A couple of years ago I painted this picture of Earth. I was trying to get the shading right so the clouds sit above the surface was difficult. This is North America, Canada and part of Mexico and the Caribbean.
I hope the cloud shapes work and you can see the weather patterns. I wonder if anyone would be interested in paintings of worlds. It’s something I’m interested in. I’ve painted pictures of Jupiter and other astronomical images. I don’t use an airbrush for painting so it’s quite hard to get the granularity and softness of space and planets.
Sunset over Westport Lake. We drove there through a cold fog and emerged into a thin mist hanging over the lake. The wildfowl came towards us wanting food but we had gone there on the spur of the moment so had no food. The visitor centre had just closed so we couldn’t get a warm drink. Westport Lake now has parking machines so we had to pay for the privilege of going for a walk. We took a short flat walk around the lake its not far, but far enough for me at the moment. I got left behind a few times but I managed to get round. It’s a start to the new year.
And the year turns. I know when we are past the shortest day when there is still light in the sky at after 5pm. It cheers me up.
Daylight
Delights me
Brightens my mood
Makes me smile
Despite the cloud
Banked up
With rain or sleet
Awakens my spirit
Woken from sleep.
On the windowsill a pale white/pink Amaryllis about to burst into flower and a minature rose, salmon pink and lovely. A present from my hubby for Christmas. They are looking lovely this JANUARY 2022!
Now 2021 is gone, its done. It will never come again. I hope 2022 is better, we see sense about the climate, we do everything we can to stop the spread of Covid. That we start caring for each other and make more of an effort to help those with the least resources.
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Mallaband-Brown