Magnificent Mark Making
I think I look quite serious in this portrait.
I never really do backgrounds in my portraits. Choosing the background is important, to help give meanings. I might use this as a piece for a larger finished painting.
To be continued…
I remember one car journey to Cornwall especially well. The M4 motorway was having its yearly resurfacing in the middle of the school holidays. We had been driving forever with the caravan on the back of the car and the road was narrowing to 2 lanes, from 3.
Dad was driving and was in the middle lane, carefully letting in the last car beside him, when from no where, a driver tried to push in front out of turn.
With the grace of a mechanic who know the ability of his machinery, Dad, accelerated forward blocking the road and with the window down, yelled, “Eat Cone, dickhead.”
I’ll never forget that.
If man, or a gender neutral being, was born to fly he (she/they/them) would have had wings…I’m sure that’s a quote?
I don’t fly well. I don’t do heights that well, and planes have a habit of being quite far from the ground.
It won’t surprise you that I have only flown once. To Ireland to review a research project looking at diabetes in Cystic Fibrosis. On reflection the plane journey was okay, the taxi journey to the facility was quite scary.
That flight was my first, and as a celebration I got to meet the pilot and sit in his chair. Quite a nice thing at the age of 38!
“Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.” — Ian Malcolm, Jurassic Park.
I heard a story about a man on a train, who would deliberately sit opposite people with the same crossword. As the journey progressed he would laugh and make comments on clues, on the silent train.
Happy as Larry (where did that phrase originate?), he would fill in the crossword in record time.
When he left the train he would leave his crossword on his empty seat, then run out of the doors and peer at the complexed face of the person looking at his answers.
For the entire journey he had filled the crossword with gibberish.
It doesn’t mater what sort of cable I have they always ends up in knots.
When we went camping recently I laid out the cable carefully from the electric point to the tent. There were no kinks, no coils of cable, just a lovely straight line.
As we packed up and I collected the cable back in…Knots. Where do they come from? Is it me, am I destined to a life of knotted cables?
Aside from electric cables, my next pet hate is headphone wires. I have to use a wired headset for work, and it knots. I coil it carefully but when I go to use it…Knots. It’s crazy.
Knots law – If a length of cable is left alone it will tangle.
A post inspired by a collage prompt – Strong.
I did try to do strength training, muscle building with weights at home. This was before Kaftrio – the magic Cystic Fibrosis medication. It’s hard work lifting and lowering weights for most people but when you are low on oxygen it’s even more challenging.
Before Kaftrio lifting was only a problem if I had to move – such as lifting a monitor and then moving it to a new home. The limits of my lung capacity allow the lift, but not the movement. This is difficult to explain when you show no physical symptoms.
Do you ever wonder what it would be like to live somewhere else? Air BnB has a lot to answer for! Letting a house for an overnight stay. If you are a regular watcher/reader of my work you will be aware of my obsession with Saundersfoot in Wales.
This is a house in Wiseman’s Bridge, a slight walk away from Saundersfoot. I do wonder what it would be like to live in Wales in the bleak Winter. Would I enjoy it as much? I would say yes. I love being near the sea.
We have holidayed so much in Wales and apart from missing family, (it’s only a 4 hour drive), I would happily move to Saundersfoot.
There is something mesmerising about the weeping willow. It seems to almost flow to the ground like a dress. There was one in my junior school playground and we had to line up against it waiting for lunch.
For an artist the willow tree had a special connection. Willow is used to make charcoal which is one of my favourite art materials. It is a very tactile medium. You can add water too it and make a watercolour.
It also powders and makes quite the mess of the carpets. I’ve been in the dog house many a times for that!
“My wife has good taste. She has seen very few of my movies” – Boris Karloff
My Frankenstein will always be Robert De Niro. I had to study the book and film as part of my A level course at College. Funny fact. I almost got accused of plagiarism when a group of us studied and used the same research text in an essay. Our tutor stepped in to put things right.
I think Boris is right though. When I broadcast on hospital radio I can tell when I am funny, if my other half doesn’t find it amusing, I’m on the right track. Spouses expect better of you and perhaps, refuse to laugh!
Making of Video
I’m not a duck to water type of person.
My wife and son love boats which is why I always seem to find myself bobbing about and focusing on the horizon whenever we go on holiday. If there is a nice slow boat with a restaurant and steady views, I can guarantee that there will also be a thrill seeker ride – of which I have to endure.
Even when the boat ride looks calm, something will happen. Like the rowing boat we took in Norfolk, that slowly filled with water.
I don’t think a life at sea was meant for me.
