PVA glue around the edge of a jar lid will print a nice circle on a piece of paper. Add more glue for more visible parts of the moon. Sprinkle glitter before the circle dries. Add a few paint and/or crayon clouds to the sky.
Blue Monday
Category: winter
End of year
I printed a midwinter card but didn’t send many copies out into the world. Here it is with an appliqué tree from a few decades ago. The knitted geese are made of aran yarn, too thick but the thinner yarns weren’t available in the colours I wanted at the time.
Footprints
Test prints aren’t looking right, maybe they need some tweaking.
Jack Frost
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.
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.
Increase stitches
Took photos because I always have to ponder where the needle picks up the yarn for an increase.
Other lives
The winter of 1985-86 was spent discussing methods of suicide. Could he wait for ten years or so, to see if circumstances changed? No. The two years of recovery after the last episode had seemed endless to him. When I pointed out that previous overdoses had inspired vomiting, so maybe the physical body had a strong life force, I was apparently ‘sick’.
The aftermath of an overdose isn’t as calm and peaceful as it appears in novels and films.
I thought I could go out for twenty minutes at a time, and would be back with suitable first aid skills. The kitchen knives were hidden. The washing line had been discreetly removed. There wasn’t any strong alcohol around, and he hadn’t been able to get a doctor’s appointment or any useful medication. He hadn’t been outside for weeks.
Who would find the deceased? When the plans seemed to be inevitable I suggested he should be close to a hospital at the end. Other people, who wanted to live, could benefit from healthy discarded organs, couldn’t they? This thought wasn’t well received.
Mostly you are the main character in the story. Sometimes you are helping someone else’s tale to unfold. There again, you might unwittingly be in the background of a much bigger drama. Your actions might affect the audience for many years hence.
The shortest day
Shortest day of the water tiger year. Apparently it’s best to gather energy during the winter, to be ready for spring.
Midwinter Dance
It might look more cold and blizzard-like with a black sky? Originally I was pondering the lack of snow in our future, as well as the unpleasantness of dancing in slush.
That time of year again
berry daines 