“I wandered lonely as a cloud. That floats on high o’er vales and hills.” -William Wordsworth
Clouds Clouds Clouds
A few years ago I was painting daily and I felt really stuck and I couldn’t devote much time to it every day, so I started just painting clouds and used it as an experiment, just using two colours:
A blue or a purple for the sky and sea
And then a red or earthy tone to darken the sea and make the clouds.
I learn a lot just doing these daily.
So what now?
Now I don’t paint clouds unless it is part of a scene.
I also have so many that I have been using a stamp on the back and putting them in with the paintings I sell as thank you notes. It really adds something else.
So if you want a cloud painting, just buy a painting and one will come with it!
Shelters around the coastline of Britain can range from the Victorian, to mock Tudor to some that are more like post war municipal buildings in the style of what you would expect of a substation and not that of an idyllic spot to rest and shelter from the weather.
But whatever they look like we wouldn’t be without them on a rainy day or when the wind is blowing a gale. Being northern the weather is no excuse. And I used to walk home from the day job some times and the rain would start and I would end up drenched, but I would try and find a place to shelter the worst of it and then move on
Shelters are something that I plan to explore more as they really do mark some of the character of seaside towns.
~Joseph
Above Knott End Shelter
Below Shelter on the Isle of Bute
“Ooh, a storm is threatening my very life today.
If I don’t get some shelter ooh yeah I’m gonna fade away”
A short walk from my old day job is Cleveleys Cove Cafe, perched right above the sea, the architecture is quite unusual for a local building. At the start of May though it closed for a time as a film crew descended on Cleveleys and dressed the Cafe and the promenade into something from another world.
I am a massive star wars fan and unfortunately due to back pain I didn’t make it down to look at the set in person but I did see plenty of photographs and footage. And I can’t wait for it to be released on Disney+ at some point in the distant future.
I have an insatiable sweet tooth, and custard is one of my favourite things, I could have it with sweet pies, crumbles, strudels, cake, etc or even just on its own. especially Ambrosia custard, you could almost drink it through a straw it is so good. Cold or hot I’m really not bothered just give me custard
It’s a cold wet Friday Bank Holiday in June, it is also the middle of half term for my children. A few years ago and it would have been my half term too. I would have had four weeks left till summer which was mainly spent cleaning the classrooms and workshops in the school I worked at so if there were visitors over the summer then the spaces would be tidy and safe.
I did that job for many years, there was a time and a season for everything. First term in the September was spent preparing all the projects and materials for the first three years of the high school, whilst they settled into the theory. The second term was a hectic one of ordering materials for GCSE and A-levels, helping them with their projects, it was all hands on deck and I ended up working a lot of Saturday mornings too to help them get through all the practical elements of their course. The Third term was exam prep for the A-levels and GCSEs so I had some support in the first three years of the high schools ages but with all the course work being finished my hectic schedule died down to getting everything neat and tidy.
But what does this have to do with art you may ask. Well I find working easier when I have the house alone, especially as it means I’m not always having to monitor my youngest who is type 1 diabetic but it means I can crank up the music, immerse myself in the noise and paint.
But once the painting is finished , there is a flow of things, photography, editing in Photoshop, writing copy, copy and more copy and then sharing everything on social media and uploading it here to the website. I dreamt for years that I could get someone to do it for me, to get my work out into the world, as I am a quiet sort and don’t really enjoy drawing attention to myself.
What I mean to say is that I think I need to create a time and a season for marketing, for actually getting my work out into the world. To get more people seeing my work, as if they don’t see it they can’t know it exists, they can’t buy it.
On this rainy day all I the thoughts I can think is that my old way of trying to just use social media isn’t working out for me, I need to switch it up, I’m not doing this for fame or fortune, I am doing it as I enjoy it and each painting that I sell allows me to keep making, as painting can be expensive from frames, to paints and canvas, it all adds up. And the more I sell the more I can get my head down and just keep painting and drawing.
So yes, if you are reading this please consider buying something from the shop, even if it is just a print.
Fleetwood Market Days can get quite busy, though not as busy as they were in the days of the ferries where lorries and coaches would compete for space on dock street. During the Covid 19 Pandemic it has felt very empty in the town at times.
