a few photos , well two isn't a few; its two, but the Dome at Whitley BAy is having a face lift and at present it is crowned with scaffolding and looks interesting. this one is actually a reflection but you probably knew that already.
while this is a rare sketch rare because for every sketch these days I probably take about 200-300 photographs. It is Hexham and I am attempting to paint it but am fairly dissatisfied so far.

here is another one of the Dome. Nice thing about this time of year: good skies.

blue water

well for better or for worse I changed the sky and water from orange to blue, where it began if I remember correctly. It is a bit tamer and I'm not too happy with it but there you go , can't win them all.

one good thing about summer being past is the beginning of very nice morning skies without getting up early!
these are pigeons!

I've got a bit confused about which is which and what is what regarding these orange pictures,

this is in fact the latest I was tempted this moring to repaint with a blue sky which is where it started but I shall wait and see. It looks a bit cliched at the moment.

I've been working on the Orange skied (sky-ed?)Newcastle scene not sure if I ''m flogging dead horse but it is challenging trying to make it look well. more worth while. Adtually it looks the same perhaps this is a repeat!!

the other one I have changed a bit but it is still unresolved in several areas that is to say several areas look a bit rubbish to me.

Went to an opening of an exhibition in Newcastle last night probably against my better judgement I rarely enjoy openings, I almost always go alone and almost always nobody talks to me1 sad or what billy no mates.

In the event wasn't wrong nobody spoke to me, the art was good, challenging, but why invite people then ignore them flipping heck these artists! a law unto themselves.

anyway: why worry?

here are some very nice photos of great pink clouds form yesterday evening, nearly made me late for a class but worth it. I seem to have put one on twice.

sad manikin

here is another in the short series of paintings based on Newcastle bridges, a view I see when on my bike and rounding the last bend. It had a boring blue sky so I brightened it up, not everyone likes the orange but I do. Not quite sure about the reflections- I need to practice. I saw this mainikin standing there looking depressed or perhaps he's in the naughty corner.
while here is a manikin looking art a painting held by its own shadow! surreal or what?

I haven't put much new on recently; partly because I am lazy, partly because I seem to have run out of wit, completely witless I am. and partly because of the paucity of comments, flipping heck !am I talking to myself here?

anyfway here am a new painting one of a series of Newcastle bridge paintings, this one from a another angle from the High Level Bridge newly opened to pedestrians and people peddling like myself. I have actually titivated it a bit since this photo, I didn't like the top bits the Sage and Millennium Bridge were interfering with the composition and with the main bridge, too many curves, I also simplified the water too busy.

below: Shelob has her lunch- it is autumn the time big spiders appear in our garden, apparently people have been finding large and reportedly deadly spiders in bunches of bananas, Brazilian Wandering spiders, to be specific, deadly apparently although when I read a bit on them only a very small proportion of bitten folk need anti venom (perhaps the majority are too dead to need it!, not really it seems these deadly things aren't usually all that deadly but I would still not want to get bitten myself)
here is another version of st Mary's island a little less tidy it is easy to make the scene too picturesque, although of course it is picturesque but reality needs a bit more messing with I think.