A couple of printing sessions that were more chaotic than usual. Missing pliers meant that I couldn’t get the lid off a blue ink tube. Some leftover black from the previous day seemed a good option. Later, I found another foil-wrapped leftover, a mixture of blue and white.
If Jack Frost has trapped the sun in a block of ice, then that would be the only light source. My first plan was to have a cool grey bluish sky with a bright yellow sun shining through the ice. Now I like the black background better. It still needs some tweaking…
Made a start on a linocut, Jack Frost with the sun trapped in a block of ice. Or is it? Anyway, the repetitive action of cutting small lines isn’t good for the shoulder wound so I’m staying away from the lino today.
Cups, plates and bowls
Tidying some space around the house. The last chimney improvements added a fine layer of dust to this dinner set that has been sitting around for years. Might inspire some still life drawings, or some pasta sauces that will be good in the wider bowls in the corner.
We went for a short walk to the post office and then wandered into the gallery at the library.
Flowers in a phallic totem Flowers in the corner of the car park Exhibition poster Climate Change Reflections
I liked the idea suggested by the empty display cabinet. Viewers have an opportunity to imagine the pieces that could inhabit that space. The reflective images of the lights and window blinds were enough, given the exhibition’s climate change theme. There again, some little models of a future landscape might have been more thought provoking than a bleak emptiness.
The Climate Change figure is made from random detritus. It had an unpleasant smell, which brought back indefinable memories. There were some interesting fish made from toothpaste tubes, also some protest posters. No photos of them. The exhibition is on display for the rest of September 2023.
This was the sketch I was working on when the virus hit. My nose was running while I was bending over the paper. I tried to ignore the symptoms and finish the picture. The aches, pains and tiredness caught up in the end.
Cat inside a number four Cat in long grass with wild garlic
Recent drawings on greetings cards for various life events. Mixed media, Bic Cristal biro (black and green) with watercolour crayons. The cat sitting on a hill is near some wild garlic, which has been given darker green foliage since the photo was taken. I wondered why Ramsbottom is called that, or which other names were considered at that meeting. A bit of etymological reading suggested ransoms and the bottom of a hill. Wild garlic valley, obviously.
The old people used to say they grew sweet peas because you don’t have to bend far to smell the blooms. This is the first time I’ve grown some for a few years. The last attempts ended with little stems surrounded by slug trails.
Today’s drawing of the sweet peas might inspire the usual questions: “but what will you do with it when it’s finished?” etc. Well, since you ask, parts of it might be used for a family tree project. The little spirals are interesting, and could be a useful link between the names and dates of the more complex ancestors.
Knitted yellow circles in red squares Red and yellow stripes All an illusion
Knitted stripes, or ridges of two rows each. Using dark and light yarns and knit or purl stitches, an illusion of a circle in a square. This is the easiest pattern in an article about illusory knitting, but I like it anyway.
Front and back views
Cameras never lie, mine won’t show the red and yellow stripes in the way they’re visible to me.
Knitting a spiral in the round seemed a good idea when it first appeared. I forget that it’s possible to knit in both directions while knitting a tube, so it might work. Using yarn from both ends of the grey, with the rainbow stuff in the middle. Nice reminder of how the ink looked on a zinc lithography plate before printing.
Doctor: “You MUST give up smoking!” Pregnant patient: “But I don’t smoke!!!”
Doctor: “No buts! Smoking is harmful to your baby!” P: “But I can’t give up a habit I don’t have…” D: “That’s a feeble attitude!!!”
This conversation repeated for months. She didn’t listen to anything anyone else said. It was recommended that I should attend a course for people who find giving up smoking very difficult. No appointment arrived so I didn’t think about that, as it wasn’t relevant anyway. The doctor criticised me for not going. I pointed out that she would look ridiculous for sending a non-smoker along. “I’d only smoke if I was on fire…” “Well that’s why you must stop!!!”
I mentioned to the midwife that this constant nagging increased my blood pressure. “Do I really need to come here every week?”
“No…” I was able to stop visiting the Dr, as I wasn’t ill. The appointments didn’t fit the bus timetable so that was a useful detail. Being visited by the midwife instead was far better for everyone.
In today’s news I heard that pregnant smokers are being given £400 as an incentive to stop. Obviously I would have accepted this offer before miraculously giving up my non-existent puffing…
berry daines 