Rainy Day Thoughts

Rainy Day Thoughts

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.

Painting of skippool Creek

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.

Painting of Blackpool's Giant Mirror Ball on the prom, against a background of a blue shed and plain timber foreground

So yes, if you are reading this please consider buying something from the shop, even if it is just a print.

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Dreaming of Custard

Heavenly Custard

  • Food of the gods?
  • just give me a straw already
  • colours work well together
  • Buy here

Dreaming of Custard


My Sweet tooth

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

Original A5 painting on black card in acrylics.

 

 

 

 

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Shower Time

Shower Gel

  • a weird blue colour
  • I love painting semi transparent containers
  • I take commissions, wink wink nudge nudge
  • Buy Here

Shower Time


Original source of cleanliness

Mint scented is my favourite, though I like lime too, it reminds me of Rowntree’s fruit pastilles and it really makes my mouth water. I have no idea what scent the blue one was only that I liked the colours so I pulled it out of the bathroom to paint it.

A5 painting “Shower Time” Original Source shower gel painted in acrylic

 

 

 

 

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Hartley’s Blackcurrant Jelly

Hartley’s Blackcurrant Jelly


Purple is a good colour

I love blackcurrants and for the past 14 years or so I have had blackcurrant bushes in my garden where ever I have lived. Even here in Fleetwood where we have a yard, I still have a small patch of earth that has a blackcurrant bush in it. All my blackcurrant bushes actually come from the bushes used to make Ribena, as years ago they did a give away, if you sent them labels off their bottles they would send cuttings. So I did and they did, and each time i moved I took cuttings off those plants and took them with me.

Even my grandad has blackcurrant bushes in his garden which were cuttings of my plants, especially when we moved house the last time from having a garden and not being able to produce the same volume as my grandad said they were the best tasting blackcurrants he had tasted we wanted to make sure he had some.

Original A5 acrylic painting on black card

 

Blackcurrants are my favourite

  • I love the semi transparent nature of the jelly casting colour in the shadow
  • Blackcurrant is a very English flavour
  • I love this painting
  • Buy here

 

 

 

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Did you know its the summer?!

Did you know its the summer?!


Or I need antihistamines to see and breathe

It’s summer the weather at point of me sitting here typing is hot, and my face itches, my nose, my eyes and at times my skin. It drives me up the wall, I hate it, I’m not a fan of the warm weather. To make it manageable on days when hay fever is bad I take one so then I can get to work and not be bothered by the itchiness.

If like me you can’t cope buy this, frame it put it near your door as a reminder when you are leaving to take a cheeky antihistamine.  

A5 acrylic painting on black card

 

Benadryl One A Day

  • I suffer from hay-fever
  • Even by the sea it can be bad a times
  • So I keep a supply at hand
  • Buy here

 

 

 

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Tunnock’s Teacakes

Delicious to eat!!

  • wrapped in that signature foil
  • on hot air balloon swatch
  • I just want to eat it
  • Buy here

Tunnock’s Teacakes


Or the reason why I’m overweight!!

The worst kept secret about me is that my wife is from Scotland, so introduced me to a lot of different Scottish foods over the years some good, some potent ways to do yourself a mischief. From Killie Pies, to tablet or a loaf of Mother’s Pride Scottish Plain loaf. But none of these other things compares to a Tunnock’s teacake, chocolate shell hiding gooey marshmallow and a soft biscuit later at the bottom.

They are amazing and every time I see one I want to eat it. They are a favourite in our house and don’t stay in the cupboards for very long.

A5 acrylic painting on black card stock.

 

 

 

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Mr Kipling’s Bakewell Tarts

Mr Kipling’s Bakewell Tarts


Deliciously Good Cakes.. errr tarts

Painting still life is an accessible way to start learning how to paint, I tend towards packaging as it is something that comes and goes through the house, on swatches of different coloured fabrics to just add some interest to what the object is sat on.

There is a lot to consider on a packet from colours, to type and logos and so on. I’m not looking at painting with realism though, I just want it to be fast and fluid and describe a level of energy to my painting.

 

Nothing like a sweet treat

  • they are delicious
  • The box is bright and colourful
  • I want to get back to painting in acrylic too
  • If you are interested in purchasing please contact me