crows and other stuff that isn't crows

a few more odds and ends

down by the fish quay in the morning, seagull, cloud and sun

mist: don't you just love a bit of mist?

and the sun breaking through the fog; nice.

just a quick doodle really, using white crayon resist and masking fluid. some nice decaying wood friom the park across the road

and a red sun looking like the red bead of a balding man,( or perhaps not.) I just wish I had caught it a few minutes earlier when higher in the sky

a littelbit out of focus I think unless it is my eyes.

I have been reading Crow Country by Mark Cocker, interesting but not compelling, some nice writing though and it makes me notice crows and rooks a bit more.

in the last chapter (or is the penultimate chapter, can't remember) he looks at the issue of people thinking a person who is devoted to an unusual single issue, like crows for example, is 'sad'.

He asks: 'Why is it that people who are absorbed by something are seen as sad? What strange presumption fortifies the unengaged and the dispassionate to express this scorn for the enthusiast? good questions nicely put I thought

Add to that one of my most disliked phrases is 'Get a life!' also: 'cheer up' who ever, feeling downcast, cheered up on being told to do so by some stranger?

the responses to both are unsuitable for family reading.

allenheads & hexham

and the fish quay evening

a few odds and ends

calla

rescued these calla lilies from the bin at church , thought I could get a few photos from them before they withered. lovely shapes in light, look a bit like swan heads. isn't this a lovely bit of bark

and a nice gerbia or something, can't remember the name unless

i have and it's gerbia but it doesn't sound quite right, the spellchecker doesn't like it.

stuck in traffic: not me

this seems to be taking forever to upload the photos, and I have a suspicion they will load in the worng order, anyway here they are.... a scene I pass when I cycle to Newcastle; a nice combination of shapes and colours I think.

poor people, stuck in traffic while I am free as...

a man on a bike

I have the knack of making hats look silly whenever I wear one, its a talent!

latin for turnip

had a nice day saturday with a day long class doing oil painting; subject: a flower. Spent a bit of time beforehand messing around with some photo's I had taken. this is of course not a flower but a sight from a cycle trip to Newcastle on friday.

this is a flower from a bunch the kids bought their ma.
it was evening and the artificial light has brought out some very nice colour to an ordinary flower, this was one of the flowers painted on saturday.

this one was painted too, too a close up of a potted plant; can't remember the name: those ones which are sold early in shops in spring, it will come to me eventually. a kind of primrose?

and this is an acrylic I painted on tuesday. a little bit out of focus I think, when Rapeseed first featuring in fields I though it spoiled the english countryside but I am used to it now and it is nicely dramatic. Just looked up its unfortunate name it comes according to Wilkepedia form the latin for turnip, rapum. ( I came, I saw, I ate a turnip.)

crescent moon and Venus

this is all back to front: I put the recent crescent moon and Venus on first but then added a couple from earlier in the month when there was an amazing orange moon above the sea, also a crescent moon from last month so it is all over the place chronologically speaking. As with the later ones I could do with a. some more expertise and B. a tripod.

there was a lovely crescent moon with Venus above it a few days ago or perhaps a week ago can't remember. It was difficult to photograph well, at last for me it was, not understanding my own camera, not having read the handbook nor having a tripod.

cloud, sheep

a nice fluffy cloud from west of redcar, Heather and I had a litle break a while back not so sure about Redcar but the lady at the b&b was very friendly and it wasn't a long a drive to get somewhere very nice. anothere two versions of the sheep picture. I rarely use pastel so I thought I had better give it a go, I think more pastel went on the floor than on the pictures.