Benches of Britain

In my ongoing quest to provide you, the good people of cyberspace, information on the best places to park your posterior ... feast your eyes on this beauty we found on the North York Moors - okay there's no back rest but that's a good thing because it prevents people from settling down for too long and hogging the view. More benches to follow no doubt ;-)


Bench with a view


Bench too


The other side of the bench

Such a magnificent return

Where have you all been ... oh, yeah, fair point, it was me that disappeared. I have been mentally posting blog entries but that isn't really the same now is it? I planned to catch up by backdating all those posts so I could fill the void of my disappearance ... but the blogging gods conspired against me and afterall that's not very honest so here goes, little steps ...

Here is a Paul Frank inspired picture that I did for *a very close friend who is a ridiculously modest photographer of note* ... my friend loves Julius so I did it as a surprise gift for her birthday.


... and she liked it so much she framed it and hung it up in her house ... shucks!



That makes a grand total of 4 ... count 'em ... houses with my art works on the wall. 2 of them are now featured on this blog so I'll get the other 2 posted soon for completeness sake (ah, the joy of being a virgo).

Knitting is the new drawing

My First Scarf!

I have been absent from my blog recently for several different reasons ... one of them is my rediscovered love of knitting :-) I'd been thinking for yonks that I should get my Grandma to give me a refresher course (she taught me when I was a nipper) so I managed to visit her last time I was 'down south' and after a 30 minute tutorial session I was away. 3 weeks later and I have drawn almost nothing but I am on my second ball of wool and more than half way towards finishing my first scarf. And it turns out that I work with a keen knitter who goes to a knitting group who meet once a month in the Starbucks above the Borders bookshop in York! I couldn't be more excited with my new skill and although it means I am slightly distracted from my drawing it's lovely and relaxing and addictive and, above all, creative which means I don't feel guilty that I'm neglecting my sketchpad a little.

Don't tell me you're not jealous ...

Polka Dot Folly & Angelica

At 31 and child-free it could be argued that I'm a little old to be buying a £40 children's polka dot teepee from Habitat (search for tent) but all I can say in my defence is that I've wanted one ever since I saw the one they were selling last year ... and it makes me smile whenever I look at it :-) I now have to work out how to make it comfortable enough inside for me to spend more than 30 mins in it at a time ... methinks that some kind of beanbag chair would be just the thing. Ooh did I mention that it's reversible (although you can see the polka dots showing through) and there are nine pockets on the inside and outside for me to slip my essential sitting in a tent belongings into :-) ... happy, happy, joy, joy :-)

EDM - Glasses challenge

'Empty Vessel'

I don't wear glasses but we do own plenty of wine glasses :-) This one is part of a set which were bought for us from our wedding list - it has gold painted glass strands running around it and we also have the matching champagne flutes and even margarita glasses (needless to say we somehow haven't got round to using those yet but they do look awful pretty on the shelf ;-)
~~ I'm particularly proud of getting the word 'miniscus' into a poem ... what skill ;-) ~~

Bike postcard up for grabs ... if your name is Janey

'A Bicycle Made for You'

I had been thinking of drawing my new bike (which I *love*) but didn't get around to it until I saw Janey's cheery bike picture. Janey is a prolific postcard artist who will send you a postcard of your choice for free ... all you have to do to balance out your karma is send a postcard to someone else for free ... so how about it Janey? - this one is reserved for you in return for the one you're sending me ... if you want it just send me an e-mail with your snail mail address :-)

i-Friday ~ Daring ~

'Daringest'

For illustration friday ... in a rush but will catch up with posting stuff soon :-)

i-Friday ~ Reinvent ~

'Self-reinventing Wheels'

This is my entry for the reinvent challenge on illustration friday. I thought I'd embrace the clichés that others were shunning and so here is a machine I've invented which reinvents the wheel into a Madonna-wheel which thenceforth can reinvent itself ... oh yeah and there's speakers built in so Madonna can promote her music and rock while she rolls ... sweet ;-)

Personality type

ENFP - "Journalist". Uncanny sense of the motivations of others. Life is an exciting drama. 8.1% of total population.

similarminds.com

So there you have it - my personality compartmentalised for your convenience ... actually I really do *love* these kinds of personality tests and every time I fill one in I approach it with the virginal white hopeful innocence that it will somehow distil my essence into a truth that I can set my clock, compass and coffee cup by. Alas I am still searching for this elusive oracle but from *far too many* of these personality diviners I can thoroughly assure you that I am ENFP to the bone. So don't try and cross me cos I'll suss you quicker than you can steal my heart, my dreams or my dignity. And if life doesn't bring me enough exciting dramas I am more than capable of creating my own epic dramas so step back and shield your eyes.

EDM - Week 10 - Hands

'Pitta Palm'

Today I spent my lunch hour sat at my desk (I know, I still can't believe I'm finally working either!) sketching my lunch and my hand with my new found loves ... my Rotring art pen and my Letraset ProMarkers. Hey who needs pencils or erasers?!
My Grandma told me I had piano player's fingers and I've always had a burning ambition to play the piano ... heck one day I might even plug in the keyboard that's propped up in my art room and give it a go ;-) ... but anyway there's already one musician in this house so it can survive without me making music for a bit longer.
My new job as a temporary research assistant is going well ... 4 days done and about 5 weeks more still to do. I'm missing having all that free time but not the guilt that went with it :-)

This week's hand challenge didn't frighten me as much as it should have done cos I drew my hand when I flirted with Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain so here's what it looked like in 2002 sketched in pencil ... notice the lack of both engagement and wedding rings:


'An Old Hand'

i-Friday ~ Alone ~

'Travel Alone'

I actually chose the quote for last weeks illustration friday theme which was 'travel' but then I was too busy getting employed (yes, you read it right - I'm a wage slave once again, albeit on a 6 week temporary contract) to get anything done. As serendipitous luck would have it, this weeks theme of 'alone' fits just fine so I've gone with my undrawn idea from last week - the extra incubation time hasn't harmed it any I'm sure.
It's drawn with my new Rotring art pen which I love, love, love. I also bought a set of Letraset promarkers which I'm looking forward to experimenting with ... hurrah for wage slavery and being able to afford stuff again.
:-))

My mum's favourite flower

'Daffodil Glimpse'


'A Dull Daffodil Sort of Day'

Those dull daffodils
declining dances,
sitting on the sidelines
for this one
and the next.
Such pale wallflowers
beneath their bonnets,
hanging their heads
all wilted and withdrawn,
hiding away here
from the colour riots
they've heard happening
beyond the bars.

Word Excavation

In certain circles there have been discussions around whether folk go back and read old journals and how they feel about it. As a lifelong serial diary-starter who desperately wanted to be an everyday diary writer but could never manage more than a couple of days straight I have very few journal entries to look back on. I did manage to do two journals worth of morning pages when I was reading The Artist's Way (links to Amazon.com so you can take a look inside the book) by Julia Cameron and when I re-read those entries I'm struck by how repetitive they were ... a typical entry went something along the lines of: It's still dark; I nearly didn't get up this morning; I can't believe I've managed to get up early for x days/weeks; The cats are being a nuisance; Now one of them has snuggled up on my journal and I'm writing around it; My throat is a bit sore this morning, I hope I'm not coming down with something; I don't know what to write; It's getting lighter earlier every morning now. ... Or words to that effect anyway. I felt disappointed when I got to the end of Artist's Way and realised that there was no end and that the idea was to continue with the morning pages indefinitely. Heck I might start them up again at some point but for now I'm having too much fun with my art - any mention of regular writing slots and my rebellious streak starts acting up and getting in the way.
One thing I love looking through are the small notebooks I often chuck into my bag when I'm off on a night out or have by the side of my bed for those pesky sleep-time visitors that scamper round my head until I write them down. I'm always pleasantly surprised by what I've written and usually can't remember the words coming from me at all. Here's an example of something I scribbled in a notebook on 28/2/2003:

Dressed in dreams
Moved to tears
Smiling pockets
Escalating schemes
Tired excuses
Surrounding me
Desperate dances
Chasing words
Born performer
Stealing lies
Elasticated truth
Drenched in you

I have no idea what inspired that flood of words ... was I drunk, bored or just hit round the head with some inspiration? I'll never know why or how I wrote those words but they still speak to me in their strange offbeat way.

If you liked those words in the slightest then promise me you'll visit this special person who I greatly admire for her words and paintings and who inspired me to post the poem in this entry ... but hey don't blame me if you look up again and find it's next week cuz it's that kind of place.

EDM Challenge - Watches

'Shiny Happy Couple'

Last weeks Everyday Matters challenge was to draw your watch or any other piece of jewellery. I wanted to have a go at beating the perfectionist within by sketching something with a pen (gasp ... no way to erase the mistakes!!!) so I bought a technical drawing pen and had a go at drawing my engagement ring ... so far so good ... I had a go at drawing my wedding ring and that came out okay as well ... then it just kind of escalated from there - I had a go at doing the watch that my beloved bought me as a wedding gift and decided to continue the wedding jewellery theme until it seemed downright rude not to include Mark's ring, watch and cufflinks. I painted some sturdy watercolour paper with silver acrylic paint, collaged the drawings with a photo of us on our wedding day and added a quote that I found several weeks ago:
"Marriage is tough, because it is woven of all these various elements, the weak and the strong. 'In-loveness' is fragile for it is woven only with the gossamer threads of beauty." ~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh

BTW the space at the top of the collage is for when I summon the courage to have a go at drawing my tiara :-)

If you go down to the woods today ...

'Wild and Woolly Yorkshire No. 8'
I have no idea *why* there is a large heap of rope and twine on the forest floor but there is.


'Troublesome Bats'
I haven't a clue *what* made the bats implicate themselves with their graffiti but they have.


'Banana Tree'
I can't imagine *how* this banana skin found its way into the hedgerow but there it is for all to see
... actually that last one isn't quite so mysterious - all I'm saying is that *yes* I did play a part in its placement but it was an accident and it's probably safer there than on the footpath after all. It had disappeared when we returned a couple of days later ... must have been one disappointed monkey swinging through the York undergrowth that day.

More of a hindrance than a help ~ A photo-story

In which our anti-hero, Wendel, gets in the way of art:

'If you take one more photo I'll come over there and sit on your artwork ...'


'See, I warned you I'd sit on your art ... and here I am, sitting on your art.'


'A bit more brown just there methinks ... no, not that much! There - you've ruined it now.'

So there you are, every cat's a critic. I often wonder whether Wendel wants to sit on me when I'm drawing because he is an avid patron of the arts and wants to get as close as possible to the act of creation, hoping therein to gain an insight into the very mind of the artist ... but then monkey mind guffaws in the background (spitting out a mouthful of coffee) and between the laughter lets me know that Wendel actually sits on me because he despises my art and hopes to distract me from drawing, thereby saving me from embarrassing myself any further.

Actually any cat-owned blog-readers out there will know the truth all to well ... cats are at heart attention seeking little beggars who will get between you and whatever you are trying to concentrate on.

Just to prove this wasn't an isolated incident here is Wendel sitting on more of my art ... notice how he's listening out with one ear just to check whether his distraction services are needed more somewhere else in the house.


'Can't Get Close Enough to the marmite'

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.