It's all about the benches.

I have no idea why I'm drawn to taking photographs of benches ... I think I just appreciate coming across seating that looks like it's been there forever or like a bit of thought has gone into the design or some planning committee somewhere has taken a risk when it's come to 'bench-commissioning' time. So anyway here are some benches I've snapped in recent weeks so please do take a seat and enjoy the view as the world hurries on past:


'Elegant Iron Bench'

That bench is a short walk from Lendal Bridge alongside the River Ouse. Looks to me like it's watched a *lot* of boats passing by.


'If Only Our Garden Was Bigger'

You wouldn't believe how comfortable this bench was ... and not just because it was the first bench we'd seen in about 3 miles :-) If the weather had been a touch warmer I'd have turned my jacket into a pillow and curled up for a nap. It's in a great spot overlooking York Race Course ... if I was off to the races I'd be there early and stake out my position here for sure ... cooler box to the left, barbeque just over to the right and I'd be sorted for the day.


'Combined Bench'

I love it when old clapped out machines get a new lease in life. I'm sure this little fella could have done without the paintjob from 'T*sh*' but he still looks like a sturdy chap with decades of seating service left in him. You can find this tractor-bench hybrid on cycle path 65 just beyond the York ring road at Rawcliffe. Must get a bit toasty on a sunny summers day and a bit frosty on a brisk winters day but for the other 15 days of the year it must be perfect ;-)

So there you have it, benches 1, 2 and 3 in the Eyespy book of York Benches. More to follow I'm sure.

Your 'Promise' Has Been Duly Discarded and Disregarded

'So Much For Your *New and Unique Promise*'

Far too often the advertising suits get a *little* over-excited and carried away, making overblown statements with no substance to back them up ... so (while I in no way condone littering) it seemed fitting to see this unwanted flyer discarded in an off the beaten track footpath in York. If my corporate branding radar is correct I believe it could be an ad for the AA (the roadside recovery outfit rather than the other one) so heaven knows what the marvelous life-changing £40* (the * in this usually denotes that they are intentionally misleading you and are legally obliged to drop you a clue) is all about ... seems like quite a bit of dosh to me so it would have to be truly exceptional to tempt me (particularly as I'd have to buy a car first).

Sometimes a theme just won't let you go

The Illustration Friday theme from a couple of weeks ago was 'fragile' (you can see my original post for that here) and, as happens with this sort of thing, it kind of infested my subconcious and I started seeing 'fragile' wherever I went. Here are a couple I captured on camera for your viewing pleasure:

'Easter Casualty'
A tragic Cadbury's Creme Egg fails to fulfill its destiny ... so poignant. Let's hope the chicken does come before the egg or we're done for come next Easter.


'Fragile Champagne'
We live very close to the National Railway Museum and I spotted these discarded empty bottles next to their recycling bins. You can hire the museum for corporate schmoozing events and even weddings so I guess they're left over from a recent shin-dig unless they have *exceptionally* good staff catering.

Dull or Arty ... who am I to judge?

'Reflecting on Trees'

I showed this photo to my beloved to see if he'd spot the *clever* thing I'd done ... his remark was something along the lines of "It's a bit dull and washed out, maybe." ... to which I replied triumphantly "Ah ha, but it's a photo of the tree's reflection you see." ... I think I still like it very much, for all its dullness.

i-Friday ~ Crowded ~

'If More Crowded ...'

This is my entry for this weeks Illustration Friday topic. The background is a quote that I've written in gold and silver pens over and over (and over) again in different directions. I showed it to my beloved and he enquired after my mental state (i.e. "Have you gone mad?) ... well perhaps he has a point. Anyone out there deranged enough to work out what the quote is?

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30th March - Bonus entry:


'Urban Sprawl'

This is a photo-shopped photo of some highrise bird boxes near the Rawcliffe stretch of the River Ouse. It was a grey-skied day so I thought I'd muck about with it in Photoshop and see if I could make it look sunny and colourful ... then I stumbled across this effect and forgot all about the sunshine :-) If I actually knew what I was doing with Photoshop I'd probably never have been able to do this - hurrah for blissful creative ignorance.

What does Hellkitten mean? (Specifically rather than generally)

HELLKITTEN

H is for Happy
E is for Explosive
L is for Loud
L is for Luscious
K is for Kind
I is for Intense
T is for Thrilling
T is for Tender
E is for Energetic
N is for Naive

What Does Your Name Mean?

EDM Challenge - Week 7 - In the Kitchen

'Delicious Spread'

Yes it most certainly does what it says on the label ... 'delicious spread with added vitamins' ... apparently some strange folk don't like it but I can't get enough of it. When I was a full time wage slave I got into the habit of making marmite (and here I'm using marmite as a generic descriptor ... like I call our Dyson vacuum cleaner a hoover) on toast and taking it to work with me to eat cold with my first cup of vending machine coffee of the day ... ahhh, the memories. At one point I was sitting next to a marmite-phobe who winced whenever I took my toast out of my bag and used to go out and have a cigarette while I was eating it (so in some way I was hastening his future early demise but I don't like to think about it that way - he's still alive now as far as I know so I didn't hasten it that much) but not before I carried out my daily ritual of turning to him with a look of deep sincerity and asking 'would you like some of my marmite on toast?' ... simple pleasures but *so* rewarding :-D
I will have Marmite (the real thing) if supermarket own-brand yeast extract isn't available for some reason but I have to be careful because Marmite needs to be spread quite thinly whereas yeast extract can be applied quite thickly without becoming unpalatable ... many an onlooker has recoiled with a look of terror and disgust when they've seen how thickly I apply it. A couple of years ago I discovered a new taste sensation ... fried egg on marmited toast ... scrummy!
Inspired by a friend's display of Marmite jars I made it my mission to have one of every size on our kitchen windowsill ... there are four sizes from the cute 57g to the mighty 500g jar (my Mum once claimed she saw an even bigger catering size jar but has yet to provide any concrete evidence) and eating that much Marmite when my preference is for yeast extract was a challenge but the resulting Russian Doll effect was most pleasing visually. They don't actually fit inside one another I hasten to add before you all get excited and rush to your nearest Marmite stockist. In our pre-move decluttering session I decided to send those jars to be reincarnated at the great bottle bank in the sky but I believe I will embark on the challenge again someday soon.
If you are staying in a superior class of hotel or bed and breakfast you may find that you are lucky enough to be greeted at the breakfast table by a basket of fun-size condiments, including 5g plastic pots of Marmite. I myself would never take the risk and often take a jar of marmite with me when I travel. At breakfast the morning after I got married our delightful venue (previously mentioned) did indeed provide the fun-size pots which was just as well because it had slipped my mind and I hadn't packed marmite into our honeymoon luggage. Luckily for me my Mum was staying at wedding venue and I was able to whisper across the breakfast room that I wanted the Marmite from her table to take on honeymoon with us ... quick as a flash Mum did a circuit of the room and smuggled about a dozen pots out for me - I mean I'm sure the venue would have gladly given them to us if she'd asked but why take the risk? This also gave my hubby an additional amusement every morning as he'd wait and see whether I'd remembered to take a pot down to breakfast with me every morning and giggle at my crestfallen face if I'd forgotten. A couple of days he even put one in his pocket in case I'd forgotten ... but mostly he'd just giggle at my marmite-dependency.
Anyhoo that's enough yeast-based spread stories for one day but it you'd like to read more then look at Island Girl's blog (she *believes* Marmite tastes like 'drunken puke' and/or 'bonfire' but I won't hold that against her - perhaps she'd prefer yeast extract like I do ;-) or Robyn's blog which extolls the alleged virtues of Vegemite which I really wanted to like when I tried it (my best friend in high school was from Australia and banged on about it) but it just wasn't the same (i.e. nice tasting) as Marmite or yeast extract to me ... still as they say up North, there's nowt so queer as folk ... and some of my closest friends don't like marmite so I can't be accused of being prejudiced.

Now onto an altogether sweeter spread:


'Gold Comfort'

Mmmm, the glorious sun-filled elixir that is Golden Syrup ~ I love it on toast, pancakes (both the scotch and non-scotch varieties) and in warm milk. The plastic bottle I've drawn for this challenge doesn't have the aesthetic appeal of the original tin but it's much easier to dispense (it's pourable - goodbye sticky teaspoon which you can never quite get all the syrup off) in todays sunlight the plastic bottle comes into its own and shows off the pure liquid gold nectar in its full amber glory, casting shafts of golden light across the surface it sits on (my box of watercolour pencils in case you were wondering) and looks like it contains distilled magic to this artist's eye. If you click on the above picture you'll see from my handwritten notes that the label has the words "out of the strong came sweetness" which I had never seen before (either on the label or anywhere else) but a quick dig around on google reveals that it is a quote from the bible. The full quote is "out of the eater came meat and out of the strong came sweetness" and it's a riddle that Samson set as a challenge to some philistines, apparently ... but hey this ain't Sunday School (even if it is Easter weekend) and I'm the last person who should be waxing lyrical on matters biblical so type it into google if you want to find out more. What I can't work out is how that quote came to be adopted by the Tate & Lyle sugar company ... I know that the chocolate companies in Britain had religious foundations but I'm not aware of the same link with sugar companies - still I'm sure all will become clear in the fullness of time.
I must admit that I wasn't looking forward to doing this week's EDM challenge because I knew that drawing jars was going to be difficult but I stuck with it and am really pleased with the results. It never ceases to amaze me how your mind inteferes with what your eye is seeing when you try to draw something simple and everyday. Both drawings were done with my watercolour pencils (dry), the outlines were done with black ink and the gold on the golden syrup label was done with my gold staedtler triplus pen which I never tire of using (or mentioning) and should probably be negotiating some kind of commission deal with staedtler. I was worried that it wouldn't be fine enough to cope with getting in between the letters but with some deep concentration and an *almost* steady hand I managed to do it all, even where there was only a whisper of white to cover ... and all despite the best efforts of our cats who each had a go at jogging my arm and rubbing their face on the end of my pen whenever it looked like I might be attempting anything tricky.

If only I'd done this at the beginning!

Well today I added a visitor counter to my blog (right at the *very* bottom of the page) and now it looks very strange - *hey great blog ... it's 5 months old and only had 3 visitors ... way to go norma-no-friends!* I got my free counter from the nice people at statcounter and it was easy enough to add to my blog template following their instructions. So now I can feel downhearted about the lack of visitors as well as the lack of comments ... nah not really, I do this blog as a way towards creative recovery so in some ways the fewer comments and visitors I get the freer I feel to post whatever I want without worrying whether anyone will like it. I need to get into the habit of just creating without relying on someone standing at my elbow stroking my ego and feeding me positive reinforcement - I need to find my own internal source of creative bravery if that makes any sense. That's not to say that I don't appreciate the lovely, supportive comments that folk have been kind enough to post here, just that I mustn't fall into the trap of relying on receiving comments in order to motivate my creativity.
Not sure where adding a statcounter to my blog fits in with all that but I am a curious little kitten after all ;-)

i-Friday ~ Bloom ~

'Chocolate Bloom'

For some reason the first thing that came into my head when I saw this weeks Illustration Friday topic was 'chocolate bloom' which is the white-ish streaks that appear on chocolate if it's been stored somewhere too warm- you can see what it looks like here. I decided that drawing the real thing would be beyond my capabilities so I thought I'd put a flower (or 'bloom' ... see what I did there?) on the chocolate and as it's nearly easter and my Mum's birthday I thought I'd do a bit of multi-tasking and create a handmade birthday card. The thing I find funny about chocolate bloom is that the first time I heard about it was from a card inserted in a box of chocolates assuring the purchasor that chocolate bloom is a beautiful thing and not to fear it and going running into the street screaming or complain and return the chocolates, or words to that effect anyways. If you haven't bought your easter eggs yet then please think about getting Fairtrade ones ... take a look here - I myself have asked hubby for a Green & Black Maya Gold egg which is dark chocolate with orange and spices ... hubby did baulk somewhat when he saw one on sale for £4.99 but I assured him that where ethical issues are concerned size doesn't matter and there is a smaller version available for a less princely sum of £2.99 (I'm secretly hoping he'll splash out on the bigger one though ;-) So now you've switched to fairtrade coffee and tea and sugar ... you have switched, right? ... keep up the good work and go fairtrade with your chocolate. If you need more convincing then take a look here (and think about signing up for the boycott while you're there).

So anyhoo, I did this picture on the back of a blank postcard using my watercolour pencils, white acrylic paint and gold and silver pens (which I *might* have mentioned before) for the lettering which reads "Happy Blooming Birthday ... and a wonderful easter too". I feel certain my mum will love it :-)

And then I was mucking about with the leftover white paint and experimenting painting clouds on a blue painted background (which itself came about from me using up leftover paint a couple of weeks ago) - I was having a fine and dandy time and then noticed that if I tilted my head and squinted my eyes, the two clouds I'd hastily painted looked like a pregnant lady, sort of ... so that's how I ended up doing this bonus painting below. I'm thrilled because it's the first painting I've done that has evolved from just messing around with paint ... that's one step further for my creative recovery, hoorah.


'Bloom and Blossom'

I can't really explain much about this 'blooming lady' except that I think her hair might be petunias ... oh yeah and if you tilt your head and squint your eyes you might just be able to make out two clouds.

By the way ... if you happen upon yesterdays entry you'll see that I had a rough day ... just want to reassure any blog wanderers that do stumble on it that I am feeling *much* better today (hooray for St John's Wort and my own coping abilities). And for those of you who were curious and asked, the job I was going for was a student welfare and education advisor for York Uni's Student Union ... it was a dream job but I didn't get it so I've licked my wounds and am on the look out for the better job that must *surely* be on its way.

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... and I you wouldn't believe what monkey mind said about this weeks topic being bloom after my picture last week told you all that we can't have flowers in our house ;-}

I tried to think positive, honest I did ...

Well it's been a tough day but it's nearly over and I'm starting to feel quite at peace about the fact that I didn't get *the* job. It hasn't been confirmed for sure yet but I should have heard by now so it looks like Mr Postie will be bringing me a bad news letter at some point this week. If I sound un-emotional and detached now then don't be mislead ... with reservations I am posting some notes I scribbled at various points during this verrrry long day. If you get annoyed by self-indulgent human misery then look away now.
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My day started at 5.30am which is extremely early by anyone's standards but Hubby was off down south for work so I got up to keep the cats out of his way and help him set off. I didn't go back to bed but sat in my creativity room losing myself in the web on my laptop and generally being quiet, still and mopey.
First entry: 10.44am - I feel a dull, heavy, grinding emptiness and sit here slumped with my head and hands occassionally going limp when I think about *the phonecall* that I have managed to convince myself will not be coming today. And I think I just heard the post dropping through the door and feel sick at the thought of the rejection that might be waiting for me - even though it is almost physically impossible that it will have arrived yet. I have been mentally torturing myself since Friday evening and slept as badly on Friday night as I did the night before the interview. Yesterday and this morning I realised that I felt more at peace with it all but every hour or so the *fear* washes over me and I'm all at sea again. But then I resurface and steel myself to venture downstairs and confront the post like it's some knife-wielding intruder - sigh of deep relief and shallowdisappointment as it's just junk mail (actually since starting to work on altered books nothing is 'just junk mail' anymore, but more on that another time).
Now 11.10am and I am eating 'Magic Mix' - what the doohecky is Magic Mix I hear you cry ... well it's from Holland & Barratt and it contains:
Milk chocolate chunks (16%)
Large stoned raisins (16%)
Broken brazils (14%)
Dried cranberries (12%)
Sliced coconut (12%)
Whole cashews (12%)
Roasted Hazelnuts (10%)
Morello cherries with added apple & cherry juice (8%)
... and as I bought it in a healthfood store you can be sure it's 100% healthy ;-)

11.37am: Slow, hot semi-tears well up in my eyes as my mind reconfirms it "I didn't get the job". It's, you know, just a hunch still but I feel it with intense certainty -

12.00: I'm curled up laying on my side on floor cushions in the reading corner of my creative room. I'm sure now that I would have already heard if I got the job so there you are - I can stop mentally preparing my reaction to *the phonecall*; my acceptance speech, my excited calls to loved ones, my solo champagne celebration, my jubilant post to my blog ... all of it disintegrates away. Each time I have these thoughts my soothing side comes back with a glimmer of hope that 'it ain't over till it's over' and maybe they're just tied up with meetings or getting references or doing HR shit like printing out my staff i.d. and job offer confirmation.
Geez this hurts so badly - I *really* wanted that job, it was perfect for me and now I'll have to get a crappy temp job and *keep looking* and look on the fucking bright side and I don't want to do any of that, I want to be wrong and feel stupid for overreacting and get told 'see, I knew you'd do it' and have a worthwhile, fulfilling career.And to make matters wors it's got to be the nicest weather of the year so far and it's someone else's perfect day, not mine and how am I meant to be absorbed with depression and gloominess on such a fucking sunny day?

12.30pm: Stumble around the house, go downstairs to check I didn't miss the phone ringing while I was in the bathroom - amazing how aggravating it can be having 2 cats following you around and squeeking at you when all you want is long cool dark silence to wrap itself around you and keep you safe until a brighter day arrives.
No phonecalls since yesterday so I drag myself back upstairs and retreat to bed where I can pretend it is not a gorgeous day outside which I should really get myself out into. I'm sure I'd feel better if I did venture out but a) what happens if I burst into tears in the middle of town? b) by the time I've freshened up my tear-stained, puffy-eyed face it will be raining, probably. c)what if *the call* arrives, even though it is now beyond the point of completely unlikely that it will ever come. d) it's half-term hols and lovely weather so town will be full of tourists and mothers with pushcairs and prematurely mature school kids and old people standing in large groups blocking the pavements and taking up the benches and commenting on how quickly the weather has picked up and how they hope it's here to stay and I won't be able to be alone with my solitude anywhere and I'll probably end up in a shop buying things I don't need with money I haven't got (and now won't have for quite a while) and so I think I'll stay indoors with the curtains drawn if it's all the same to you.
1.30pm Woken up by my beloved calling to see if I'm okay - I lie and tell him I'm fine but I'm sure that I don't have the job - he knows I'm lying and makes suitably sympathetic comments.
The strong part from somewhere deep inside me is urging me to get out of bed and get dressed and eat something nourishing. The weak part of me wants to lie in bed with words from my interview (actual and fictionalized ideal) swirling around the room until I fall asleep again - it also wants to either a) eat nothing so that at least the benefit of some weight loss will result from this tragedy b) eat nothing but junk food. Luckily I can see straight through b) and know that my monkey mind is just laying the groundwork for me feeling even worse later and a) will work until I get hungry and reach for the first sugary item in the house, or a whole block of cheese.
On balance I think that my strong side is sounding quite persuasive so I will get up and get dressed and have cheese & yeast extract on toast.

2.06pm: And I have finally managed to un-pin myself from my bed. I have decided that I will get dressed, put on a mask and go out to share my pain with the world and the sunshine.

5.05pm: Just got in from *the outside* - managed okay (it's amazing how much better icecream and squirrels in the park can make you feel - even though the sun had gone in by the time I stepped outside) but struggled on the walk home - felt like I was walking through marshmallows ... and not in a good way.
Checked the phone and still no phone calls so that's it then, the end of that particular dream - I feel like I'm being crushed by gravity and I feel empty and my stomach hurts.
Must look after myself this evening and make it through to tomorrow. Will start by making wholesome vegetable casserole with brown rice and then go from there one step at a time.

Everyday Matters - Week 6 Challenge - Toyland

'The Chair Rose Up ...'

This is my drawing of an illustration from my 1952 hardback copy of 'Adventures of the Wishing-Chair' by Enid Blyton. 'The Faraway Tree' books were probably my favourite as a child but there wasn't much in it (actually it was probably only the 'Secret Seven' books that I never really got into). I also loved 'The Secret Island' and dreamed of running away and escaping to our own island where there were no adults and we lived in a house made from the weaved branches of a willow tree with bracken and moss for mattresses. Unfortunately Enid Blyton books don't really stand up to re-reading as an adult but I can't bring myself to get rid of them from our bookshelves. When I was a young child we gave away most of our collection to a jumble sale and then almost instantly wanted them back so we gradually replaced them with our birthday and Christmas money each year (being a twin meant they were replaced twice as quickly). Luckily the Famous Five books which had belonged to my Mum and her brothers and sister still lived at my Grandma's house so they survived the cull. Most of my collection are secondhand so they are a bit scruffy and well-loved - the book I copied this illustration from even has some of the pictures coloured in which I would never have done as a child but it doesn't really bother me now. I think it's funny how adult nostalgia for their childhood has meant that 1st editions of children's books now sell for hundreds of pounds and the less 'loved' a book has been, the higher its value which seems to be completely the wrong way round to me ... who wants a children's book that hasn't been read by generations of children until the dust jacket is torn and discarded and the spine falls off?
My twin sister and I practically lived in our local library and hoovered up any book we could get our hands on until we were about 18 and then just seemed to lose interest overnight. Happily it was only a temporary (if somewhat extended) glitch and about 7 years ago my love affair with books resurfaced with a vengeance. So much so that my husband and I got married in the library of an old manor house (I made my entrance through a secret door in the bookcase ... very 'Famous Five'!) and our new house has a room in it that will eventually become our very own library and dining room. As a child I was never into the Moomintroll books but my husband bought one last year and I was totally captivated. They're such simple, funny (lol and rol - read out loud), heartwarming books and the illustrations are intensely detailed eye-magnets. You can read a whole chapter from one of the books here. I also tracked down a large picture book which is full of Tove Jansson illustrations in glorious technicolour exactly like the one on the cover and just opening it up brightens the darkest of days. If you're like me and have a deep-seated affection for islands, grandmothers and deceptively innocent prose-like books where nothing (and everything) happens you will love Tove's adult book, A Summer Book. And one day I *will* be going on a pilgrimage by steamboat to here and getting my face painted with moomin characters while I make my own pancake ~ and I know that I could be most contented living in a house like this.

i-Friday ~ Fragile ~

'Cat Algebra'

When we were thinking of acquiring some kittens I remember reading that you should imagine having a toddler that could fly around the room. Our darling cats have wings aplenty and over the few years we've had them they've managed to break my favourite vase, some plates, glasses and a bottle of wine (they did that one in the middle of the night so we had to clear up what looked like a red wine lake while we were half asleep) and still they manage to have such looks of innocence on their little faces, like they had nothing to do with it ... must have been some freak indoor mini-tornado or summat. They also like to chomp on any flowers or plants that are brought into the house, so on the few occassions we've had some they end up on display in the bathroom because that's the only room they can't break into! This quickie bit of art is china white charcoal on a background of violet acrylic paint (it would have been black to represent a blackboard if I owned that colour or had better paintshop skills!).

This week's topic was quite apt for me because I've been feeling very fragile. I've got a job interview tomorrow for a job that I *reeeealllly* want to get and preparing for the interview and presentation I have to do (as if having an interview isn't stressful enough!) brings up all those self doubts and fears that they won't see me for the model employee I am ;-) Although I'm still very butterfly stomachy and can't wait for the whole ordeal to be over I'm starting to feel like I'll be reasonably well prepared by the time I walk in there and the job is pretty much my dream job and I have all the skills they need so there's no reason why I don't stand a good chance of getting it ... and then my monkey mind kicks in ~ ~ they've already got someone lined up for it so you're wasting your time ~ ~ you'll go there and then blow it by admitting that you're messy and disorganised and need deadlines and constant encouragement to motivate you ~ ~ you'll come across as either overfamiliar and unprofessional or superior and unapproachable ~ ~ or they'll hate you for a million other reasons that are all within your control ~ ~ in short, you'll screw up and then keep replaying your screw up over and over and over again in your head ~ ~ Then when I've tortured myself for long enough my more rational, soothing side finally gets its butt in gear and reassures me that I have every chance of getting the job and even if someone else was lined up for it I could still get it and anyway the interview experience will prove invaluable even if I don't get it ... and so on. Unfortunately I take more notice of monkey mind than my rational self (who always ends up sounding like my mum or a well-meaning friend who is blind to the realities of the situation) but at the end of the day the only way to get through this without getting scared and going awol is to keep preparing myself for the interview so monkey mind can't tell me I didn't get the job because I was too busy procrastinating and then go there tomorrow and try to be myself (or rather the best public version of me). At times like this I have a strong desire to hibernate or disappear but I find that if I keep breathing and edge forward then I find myself coming out the other side unscathed, a tiny bit braver and wondering what all the fuss was about.

Monkey mind also had a field day when he (yeah, my monkey mind's male, a bit like the annoying younger brother I never had, go figure) found out that Illo Friday was going to be closing earlier this week. Given that I've been late submitting for the last 2 weeks he started chirping away that it had all been changed because my art was so bad and they knew that changing to Friday as the closing day would mean I'd never get round to doing it. I explained to monkey mind that he sounded like an ego-maniac who thought the whole universe revolved around him ... he soon shut up after that. I didn't think I'd be posting this week because my entries take quite a while and did I mention that I'm tied up with getting ready for an interview (not that you'd guess from the length of this entry!). My original idea was one that was sparked by this quote I found:
"Marriage is tough, because it is woven of all these various elements, the weak and the strong. "In love-ness" is fragile for it is woven only with the gossamer threads of beauty. It seems to me absurd to talk about "happy" and "unhappy" marriages."
~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh
I'm still planning to do something with it at the weekend so I'll add it here when it's done. I've also got some photos of our cats misbehaving just in case you don't believe my cat formula but the PC that we upload our photos to is misbehaving so that will have to wait.
Anyhoo back to interview preparation for me ... "Please can you tell us what your main weakness is" ... "Well I'm really untidy and I worry and overanalyse *everything* ... now, when would you like me to start working for you?"

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30th April - Finally able to post photos again so here's the photo that proves my formula:

'Wendel the Mathmetician'
... See, Wendel's even trying to eat the flowers in my painting!

Expired Graffiti

'Seen the news recently hotshot?'

Here is another piece of graffiti that's on a wall not too far from our house which always makes me chuckle internally. The Poll Tax (aka Community Charge) was a staggeringly unpopular form of local taxation that contributed to the downfall of Thatcher and caused huge riots in London. It lasted only 3 years from 1990 to 1993 before it was replaced with the less contentious Council Tax which is still in place today. Poll Tax was a system that (roughly speaking) meant that if you were over 18 yrs old and had a head you had to pay Poll Tax. This meant that households with 4 adults living in it paid shed loads more than the multimillionaire singletons living in their mansions ... there was talk at the time of going back to the 17th Century Window Tax or the earlier Hearth Tax but in the end they went for a property value (or brick location) tax which hasn't caused any riots to date.
... I wonder whether the original 'political artist' of this graffiti ever thinks 'I really must get round to going back and painting over that graffiti' whenever they pay their Council Tax bill.

Some Astrological Inspiration

Well I wouldn't run my life by astrology or anything but I always read my horoscope if I come across it in a newspaper or magazine. A couple of weeks ago I signed up for Rob Brezsny's weekly horoscope and this was my one for this week which arrived last Wednesday:
"VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Shortly after the year 1000, Icelandic Vikings made two sojourns in the land that's now called North America. During the second expedition, one of the brave explorers, Gudrid Thorbjarnardottir, gave birth to a son. Snorri Thorfinnsson became the first European born in the New World. I hereby appoint Snorri to be your patron saint in the coming weeks, Virgo. May he inspire you to beget a brainchild as you acclimate yourself to living in a frontier."

This seemed somewhat serendipitous for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I'd been looking up info on vikings earlier in the day while deciding what to draw for Illustration Friday. Secondly, I'd also had an idea about drawing the patron saint of job seekers (I have a job interview this Friday you see). The thing I particularly like about Rob's newsletter is that there's always some homework to do at the bottom of the newsletter. This week it was:
What would the people who love you best say is the most important thing for you to learn?
I like getting e-mails that make me think more about what's going on inside my head even if I don't actually sit down and physically write something down. If you want a weekly dose of inspirational astrology you can subscribe to Rob's newsletter here.

i-Friday ~ ancient ~

'Fortuna favet fatuis'

Well yes, I know that *technically speaking* it's Sunday rather than Friday but I've been busy with house guests and visiting friends ... peeters out.
So anyhoo - I didn't have a clue what to do for this weeks topic of 'ancient' for illustration friday so I typed 'ancient York' into google and had a dig around t'internet. Boy was it an education ... if you'd asked me what order the Anglo-Saxons, Romans and Vikings invaded York I would have got it completely wrong but thanks to the work of some better informed folks (here) I discovered that the Romans were here first. So I settled on *something Roman* as my subject and kept excavating the web until I came across some stuff about the Roman goddess Fortuna who had an altar built in York in her honour. A quick search in google images for 'Fortuna' unearthed this picture of the lady herself and I was sorted for what to draw. Fortuna (meaning 'she who turns the year turn about') was the goddess of fate who ruled oracles, fate, chance and was the protectress of women who had married only once. She symbolizes the capriciousness of life and luck and kept all men at her feet, the prosperous through fear and the unfortunate through hope. St. Augustine questionned why Fortuna was made a goddess 'since she is so blind that she runs to anybody without distinction, and often passes by her admirers to cling to those who despise her'. For everything you could possibly want to know about Fortuna and fortune in general you should go here.
I decided to make her a bit more ethereal so I gave her gold hair and that makes her my second gold haired bewinged creature but I guess all recovering creatives go through that stage ... don't they? ... right? I got very brave and used *actual paint* on this one rather than relying totally on my watercolour pencils then I embellished it with some jewels and pearls courtesy of the jewellery section of our Argos catalogue :-)
I was completely bewitched by the illustration friday submission from 'Kim's Suitcase' and even started making notes for a story inspired by the characters in her picture ... so inspirational!

Light Blue Through the Lantern Tower

'All Saints Church, York'

I took this photo *mentally* a couple of weeks ago on a clear blue lunchtime walk through York. Then I had the strange experience of seeing my mental photo on Maggie of Merseyside's photoblog ... it's a church in Liverpool rather than York but it has the same peek-through tower. Today the sky was blue again so I took my camera out with me and got the shot I'd been carrying around in my head. In looking on the web to check the name of the church I found out that the octagonal tower was made open-sided so a lantern could be hung there to help travellers find their way to the city (and God, I suppose) at night . You can read more here.

Enhance Your Life With the Urban Dictionary

I spotted a link to the Urban Dictionary on someone else's blog and thought I'd check if our names are defined on there ... they are so here you go, enjoy:
Helen means:
"fly girl with a nice booty, great looks and sexy laugh. likes to tease and get what she wants. she's good for the WHOLE NIGHT. described as "bangin'"

what...a...helen... *drools*"

Mark means:

"A name usually reserved for a pimp or playa of some sort. Macks tons of bitches, and has the respect of everybody.

Everybody wishes that they could be Mark."

I won't comment on the accuracy but given some of the other definitions I read it could have been a *lot* worse.

You can add your own definitions and put in for amendments of existing ones so if you were that way inclined there is vast scope for some passive aggressive revenge against those who have crossed you.

Everyday Matters - Week 5 Challenge - Bed

Click on the picture below to avoid eyestrain ...

'And So to Bed'

I thought that I would have to tidy up before I could do this challenge but then I realised that I'd probably never get round to it so there you are, our messy bed with my heap of clothes on one corner of it. Imagine what delights you could be in for as the weeks continue ... our bath complete with tide mark, our kitchen floor with unswept crumbs and some dried-on catfood ... oh you lucky people!
Our bedroom actually isn't too bad at the moment (it's all relative!) but I am genetically untidy (and at the same time freakishly aware of the location of all our belongings which is handy)so it's an ongoing battle to maintain a clear pathway to the bed and avoid ankle injuries in the night.
Being unemployed has meant that some new bedroom rules have developed to keep me from driving my husband mad (he works from home you see): First off, no-one stays in bed later than Mark on a weekday (i.e. no later than 8.55am) - unless they are genuinely ill and have a note from their legal guardian; Secondly, daytime naps are frowned on; Thirdly, pyjamas are not suitable attire to be wearing past 9am ... I know it's like some kind of hellish dictatorship.
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When I first scanned and posted this picture it looked very wishy-washy and airy-fairy so I was going to rescan it ... then I realised the issue was with a lack of definition in the original sketch because I used my beloved quilter's pencil which is very light and silvery so ... (and I can hardly believe I really did this) ... I retraced *every single darned line* and it's scanned much better this time (take my word for it) although I lost a bit of colour this time ... no I don't think I'll be going over the colour and reposting it thanks very much ;-)

An Angel for Michelangelo

'See the Angel'

I was prompted to do this piece today by a blog I read recently which encouraged readers to do something creative for Michelangelo Day ... unfortunately I haven't been able to find the blog again (doh!) but when I do, I'll post a link to it here. ~~~ I found the blog so you can read all about the Michelangelo Project on French Toast Girl's website
The quote on it is from Michelangelo and reads: 'I see the angel in the stone, and chip away at everything around it.' The inspiration for my drawing came from my first effort at an altered book (still a work in progress at the moment) which I've also posted below. I've changed the lady a little to make her more angelic and used the most amazing gold and silver pens (Staedtler triplus gel-liners) which shimmer on the page for the quote and her hair and wings and tattoos. I used my trusty quilters pencil to sketch it to begin with and then added some colour with some colour pencils. I love how it turned out and it will be finding its way onto my studio wall very soon :-)


'French Kiss pages 2 & 3'

And while I'm on the subject of angels, here's a photo of some graffiti on a wall near our house. I always wonder what the artist was thinking when they did it. Unfortunately the first time I saw it I also thought it said 'ARSE' so that always goes through my mind aswell.

'Arise Graffiti'

i-Friday - Jazz

Can't see it good? ... then be my guest and click to make it bigger

'Jazz Mag'

What do you mean 'late'?! How dare you, I've never been so insulted ... well okay, maybe a *little* late but what's 11 hours between friends?
Anyhoo this week on Illustration Friday the topic 'Jazz' had people divided again. Some people lurrrrved the topic and others loathed it. I have to say that my heart sunk when I saw the word Jazz and my first thought was that I'd have a break this week and concentrate on my EDM challenges but I was in two minds about it because it's only my 2nd week after all and I'd feel a bit of a wuss if I didn't have a go. This idea of the magazine cover was the first thing that sprang to mind because of the *bad* jazz (i.e. improvisational, I'll keep playing until you all leave or I die) that sounds like musical masterbation i.e. something best kept in the bedroom and done for your own pleasure, not done on a spotlit stage and inflicted on law abiding concert goers who *just wanted a nice night out for the love of lindor*. I was also inspired by this definition I googled up: 'empty rhetoric or insincere or exaggerated talk; "don't give me any of that jazz" [syn: wind, idle words, nothingness]' - If I get round to doing the piece of art that definition conjoured up in my head I'll post it here.
I used paintshop pro which is a darkly mysterious beast that has until now eluded my efforts to tame it ... it's still not fully housebroken yet but I'll persevere a little longer before I drive out to some distant wilderness one night and abandon it.
I bravely typed "jazz mag" in google and then clicked on the images link and found a fantastic illustrated magazine cover which you can see with your very own ideas by clicking on this link it reminded me of some of the jazz illustrations posted this week and is very groovy indeed.

Of course the only thing worse than *bad* jazz is *bad* jazz with jazz singing over the top ... hell, why sing one syllable when you could sing ten? ... "m-y f-u-u-u-ny-ee vale-en-t-ine-e"

An unguided tour of my art room

These are some photos of my art room (which I'll give a better name once I've thought of one) - it's in the small bedroom upstairs in our house and it's the first time I've ever had a room of my own to create stuff in. Wendel is in his usual spot by the radiator.

It's quite tidy at the moment because I only finished sorting it out this week ... I can't wait to start getting some of my art work up on the walls.

This my desk, it's a breakfast bar we bought a few years ago when we lived in a flat. It didn't fit in anywhere downstairs but it's perfect for my room so I adopted it :-)

That's Angelica stealing my favourite seat - the floor cushions are ancient I'm planning to make new covers for them once I've learnt to sew. The keyboard in the corner was donated to us by friends years ago and still I haven't started learning to play piano but one day ...

Everyday Matters - Week 3 Challenge

'Big Night Out Bag'

This is one of those handbags with a photo printed on one side - I bought it from a shop called Oasis a couple of years ago specially to take out with me on my hen night ... there was a matching purse as well so I got that ... there was also a matching vanity case which I was very tempted to (to take on honeymoon of course) but I managed to talk myself out of it. It's my favourite bag mainly because of the picture, looks like it might be Sophia Loren to me, which always makes me smile ... what else would you wear to be photographed with a tiger cub - why, it just has to be a tiger skin fur coat (fake fur hopefully) every time. It has also become my 'Big Night Out' bag which I always take if I'm set to party and all glammed up. It's big enough for my purse, phone, keys, lipstick and not much else ... I have managed to cram my wooly hat and gloves into it on occassion but it starts looking a little overstuffed. I just used my quilting pencil to sketch this and it took a mighty long time to finish so I won't be adding a sketch of the matching purse :-) I love the way the scanner made it look like I sketched it with a bright light coming from the right ... what I mean is - I'm really pleased with the way I managed to capture the lighting so well ;-)

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Bonus drawing:


'Cute Purse'

I drew this on March 5th but it seemed to make more sense to post it here rather than create a new post. The cats are actually different colours so I might add some colour and post that piccie here too. I drew it straight off with a pen (Pentel gel pen) which is big news for me because it meant I couldn't re-do bits if they went wrong (that counts as risk taking in my world) ... luckily it came out well first time round - - - I might be brave and use pen more often ;-) This purse is the only one I've owned that attracts comments from people when I get it out to pay for something ... it's a bit fiddly to get coins out of but at least there's something nice for shop staff to look at while I'm fumbling away :-)

Everyday Matters - Week 2 Challenge

'Grown-up Up-lighter'

Just a bag left to draw (which I started doing last night) and I'm all up-to-date with my Everday Matters drawing challenges. This is a picture of the uplighter in our living room which one of our very generous wedding guests bought us from our wedding list. When the bulb went for the first time it suffered a terminal breakdown so we had to get a replacement but the glass shade on the replacement was broken so the replacement lamp had to be replaced aswell. Over 12 months later and it seems to be in fine fetter so fingers crossed it will be lighting up our evenings for many more years to come. Our previous uplighter was from Ikea, cost about 10 quid, is owned by half the British population, refused to stand straight and didn't have a dimmer switch so this one is a vast improvement. The Ikea lamp has now found a home in our dining room ... we don't really do throwing out you see.

Everyday Matters - Week 4

'Gorgeous Mug'

This is a drawing of my favourite mug, bought for me by my husband before we were married. I think of it as my affirmation mug ... heck you never know, I might even believe it one day!
My drink of choice is tea (fairtrade of course) and of late I've been making it milkier than usual and adding a tiny bit of cinammon, along with a spoonful of sugar (again fairtrade). It's my own version of the deliciously comforting Chai tea latte from Starbucks because a) I can't afford to go there very often and b) I wouldn't want to even if I could afford it.