Category: Art

Dram Fools

Lead with Your Heart is my favourite musically, Halfway Home contains my favourite lyrics, and if I’m allowed a third choice it would have to be The legend of Dram Fools or Whisky River just for the mad joy and fun of it!

Dram Fools

ad hoc post – 6

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Dram Fools

My nephew, Gavin Landless, was in the UK recently for a visit with his partner, Donna. They came to catch up with various friends and relatives and came over to see me and my Donna at our home in Cirencester. Gavin’s Mum, Cindy (my sister), came with them.

I’ve always liked Gavin, it’s interesting to chat with him as we do have several shared interests, and it was great to meet Donna as well. While he was with us he handed me a CD. For quite some time, Gavin and his friend Bob have been writing their own music and lyrics and performing locally in the part of upstate New York where they live, Syracuse. It occurred to Gavin that they had enough songs for a CD, Bob agreed, and Gavin, who once had a professional role in music production, set to work. They employed other musicians to enlarge the instrumental range and the CD, Dram Fools was released and seems to be doing well. It deserves to!

They try to define their style, writing on the website:

Think vocal-driven R&B-jazz-pop-Celtic-alternative and you’ll have, well, still no idea really. So it’s better to just follow them, listen to a few tracks, and find your favorite song!

So perhaps I’ll simply say that it’s hard to decide which is my favourite song because they are all really, really good. But I have to pick one or two, don’t I? – Lead with Your Heart is my favourite musically, Halfway Home contains my favourite lyrics, and if I’m allowed a third choice it would have to be The legend of Dram Fools or Whisky River just for the mad joy and fun of it!

Keep going Bob and Gavin, Dram Fools you may call yourselves, but you’ve got something good going here!

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Image of the day – 75
A new Christmas song
Another great song from Sarah

Latest news on the Lion

I was able to put the puzzle together during a recent holiday in the Lake District. A jigsaw is a family tradition for us every year, we usually do a 1000-piece, commercial cardboard puzzle but I’d say the lion was rather more difficult.

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Image of the day – 175

What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye. I’m posting an image every few days.

Click to enlarge

My Sister, Rachael decided she wanted to learn to make traditional wooden jigsaws and bought a power scroll saw to learn the skills and processes involved. Having mastered the process she asked me for a clear photo of the lion picture I made in 1969. I had to take the picture out of the frame to avoid reflections in the image. I also had to adjust the image shape in GIMP to correct the geometry, and I increased the contrast to bring the black and white parts of the image closer to the way they originally appeared. Rachael used my image file to get the lion picture printed on plywood ready for cutting. She didn’t tell me she was making the jigsaw as a gift for me, so it was a lovely surprise when she handed the pieces over in a decorative container. I’m so impressed that Rachael has learned to design and cut jigsaws. She is also restoring old jigsaws, cutting replacement pieces if they are missing and lost. She even paints the new pieces to match the rest of the puzzle when necessary. So clever!

With the help of my wife, daughters and grandchildren, I was able to put the puzzle together during a recent holiday in the Lake District. A jigsaw is a family tradition for us every year, we usually do a 1000-piece, commercial cardboard puzzle but I’d say the lion was rather more difficult. Today’s image shows the completed jigsaw.

The jigsaw of life

Life is sometimes a bit like doing a jigsaw. Nothing seems to fit at first, but once you have some pieces in place it begins to get easier as you recognise more pieces with just that shade of colour or a similar texture. It takes a long time, but you get there in the end. Perseverance is necessary to complete a jigsaw, that’s another thing that’s true in life, you have to persevere; giving up is not an option. Attention to detail is crucial for a successful outcome.

Can you think of other parallels between jigsaw building and life? If so, drop me a line in the comments section below.

Two short videos about cutting the jigsaw

The two videos below show my very clever sister, Rachael, working on the jigsaw. In the first one she talks briefly about the cutouts and little lion shapes (or ‘whimsies’ to use the proper jigsaw terminology). You can see these clearly if you look at the photo at the top of the article. The second video shows a small extract of the cutting process.

Techie video

A techie maths video all about jigsaws and the number of pieces in each, picture shape ratios, piece shape ratios, probably far more than you want to know. None of it applies to the Lion jigsaw as that’s hand cut, each piece is unique and there are no rows or columns.

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The lion roars

Lariana’s art

I really like Lariana’s drawings and paintings, as time has passed, they’ve reached a very professional level. All are good, many are outstanding.

Lariana’s drawings and paintings

Larger view

Today I want to write a little about a gifted artist I know. I first saw some of Lariana’s work when she and one of my friends, Kevin, met and later married. Kevin and I go back a number of years as good friends so my wife and I were delighted to get to know Lariana too.

I really like Lariana’s drawings and paintings, as time has passed they’ve reached a very professional level. All are good, many are outstanding. She covers a range of subjects including amusing, playful, cartoonish images that stretch the imagination, pictures connected with following Jesus, pets (Lariana is happy to work from photos of dogs or cats), wild animals (especially African big cats), and portraits (again, she will work from photos).

Lariana is willing to discuss commissions, but she also works on her own ideas and subjects. If you’d like to talk with her about a project you have in mind, or just browse some items she has produced in the past, please contact her on her Facebook page.

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The lion roars

I made a tracing using a soft grade of pencil, then turned the tracing paper over on top of a dull yellow sheet of art-grade paper, and rubbed down the traced lines.

A lion in three colours

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Image 101 – What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye. I’m posting an image every day or so.

Larger view

Meet Leo! I’m going to share the story behind this image.

This image of a lion first appeared printed on paper carrier bags from a British menswear chain in the 1960s. The chain was Foster Brothers, and I had bought something there and was given the paper carrier. I was impressed with the picture on the bag, it was in white, grey (not yellow), and black and I was fascinated at the way it had been rendered in three brightness levels. These days it would be dead easy with image manipulation software, but in the 1960s it must have involved clever photographic printing at high contrast levels and then some work by an artist.

I was so impressed by the image that I decided to make a copy of it for my girlfriend, Judy (later my wife). I made a tracing using a soft grade of pencil, then turned the tracing paper over on top of a dull yellow sheet of art-grade paper, and rubbed down the traced lines to leave an impression on the yellow paper. (For a lion, dull yellow seemed far more suitable than grey.)

Then, using white and black Indian inks, I filled in the traced areas using the carrier bag for guidance. The carrier had a cut-out to act as a handle, so I had to make up the missing area. It took a long time, but the final result is what you see here, and I was pleased with it. I also made a wooden frame for the picture and used a scrap piece of greenhouse glass salvaged from the family’s nursery business, suitably cut to size.

Judy was surprised as she didn’t know I’d been working on it. And she was delighted with it too. It hung on her bedroom wall at her parent’s house, and then after we were married, in our bedsit, then our flat, and finally our house in Yatton. After Judy died in 1995, and Donna and I married, Leo came too and still hangs on the wall in our dining room. I was about 18 when I made the picture, now I’m 76 and I still have it.

That’s the story of how Leo came to be. But I have more to say, not about the picture but about the nature of a lion. I might get to that tomorrow, but if not, then certainly within the next week or two.

When: Summer 1966
Where: Cirencester, Gloucestershire

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Latest news on the Lion

Writing with feathers

Yara has a lovely way with words, especially when you consider that she had to learn English first. Or maybe she expresses herself in a Ukrainian way that English speakers don’t expect.

Here’s more from Yara in Kyiv and her weekly Sunday messages. She stays strong and determined, reporting on events, Ukrainian art and literature, sharing photos and sometimes a video.

I wanted to mention Yara from Ukraine again (aka StrategyWoman) because I’d like you, my readers, to better understand what she and others in Ukraine have to deal with every day. Normal for Ukrainians is not the same as normal in the West – far from it. Yara lives in Kyiv, hears the drones and missiles coming in every night, and the air raid sirens. Her life is not like yours (unless, perhaps, you also live in Ukraine or another country under attack).

Here in the UK, and in western nations more generally, most of us have experienced nothing like this since the Second World War, and you would need to be very old to recall those times.

Yara does not ask us to rescue her, that would be to misunderstand her completely. She wants to live in her own country, not escape to somewhere more peaceful (but nor would she blame those who have left Ukraine). What she does hope for is that we in the west won’t forget about Ukraine.

To guard against our forgetting, she posts weekly messages on Sundays. These provide news, but they are always illustrated by beautiful artworks and photos, and she usually explains something from her daily life and from those around her.

Yara has a lovely way with words, especially when you consider that she had to learn English first. Or maybe she expresses herself in a Ukrainian way that English speakers don’t expect. However that may be, her words are fresh in innovative and interesting turns of phrase. For example:

Every support adds a feather to my wings. Yeah, I use these feathers to write you letters.

And she included the picture of feathers in a nest along with the words above.

If you’re willing to read her Sunday letters you are unlikely to be disappointed. For starters, read her 27th October letter for yourself. Even better, sign up to receive her letters regularly, the links are on Yara’s page. Sign up for free, but if you like what you find, do consider supporting her as well.

Image of the day – 57

Action without thought is usually a waste of effort, thought without action is ineffective. Thinking it through and then doing it is the way to go!

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What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.

I’m posting an image every two days (or as often as I can). A photo, an image from the internet, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.

Stone plaque, Cirencester

This intriguing carved, stone plaque is in Cirencester’s West Market Place, close to the Parish Church. The Latin inscription ‘VIRTUTE ET INGENIO’ is interesting; ‘VIRTUTE’ can mean ‘virtue’, ‘courage’, ‘strength’ or ‘power’; ‘ET’ is ‘and’; while the word ‘INGENIO’ means ‘wit’ in the sense of cleverness, not humour. So the best I can offer is ‘strength and cleverness’, the English expression ‘brawn and brains’ sums it up quite well.

The shield above contains a rampant lion with two tails, holding up what looks like a rose. And on either side is a shoot of ivy, each with one ivy flower cluster. Do those two tails refer to the idea of something twofold, perhaps the need to be strong in both action and thought, body and mind?

Maybe someone in Cirencester knows the meaning and history of this interesting artefact. But meanwhile I’ll just take it as very sound advice that we need to think things through properly, and then act on whatever conclusion we might come to. Action without thought is usually a waste of effort, thought without action is ineffective. Thinking it through and then doing it is the way to go!

Cirencester

For convenience, here’s a list of all the Cirencester area images:

A417 roadworks, Advent Market, Bishops Walk, Baunton, Canal 1, 2, Castle Street, Christmas lights 1, 2, Church 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Churn flood, Countryside, Fallen tree, Fleece, Gasworks, Gloucester Street, Hare 1, 2, Hospital, Market Place 1, Phoenix Fest, Riverside Walk, Stone plaque, Stratton Meadow, Tank traps, View, Wonky 1, 2, Yellow Iris

Themed image collections

The links below will take you to the first post in each collection

Cirencester, Favourites, Irish holiday 2024, Roman villa

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Image of the day – 26

The wallpaper in the image is from Kelmscott Manor in Oxfordshire, once the home of William and Jane Morris.

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What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.

I’m posting an image every day (or as often as I can). A photo, an image from the internet, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.

Wallpaper

Wallpaper – This old-fashioned wallpaper clearly shows how the pattern repeats both vertically and horizontally. You can find repeats like this in vinyl floor coverings, fabrics, wipe-clean tablecloths and more. Materials that look like natural stone or wood can make the repeats harder to spot, but they’re still there.

There’s a trade-off between the cost of producing a larger scale of repeat (to make it harder to detect) and using a small scale of repeat (to minimise the cost).

The wallpaper in the image is from Kelmscott Manor in Oxfordshire, once the home of William and Jane Morris. They both worked on projects connected with the Arts and Crafts movement, and this pattern is an example of some of the designs created by them.

Themed image collections

The links below will take you to the first post in each collection

Cirencester, Favourites, Irish holiday 2024, Roman villa

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If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome!

Image of the day – 14

Any creative work seems quite magical, as what was only in the creator’s mind appears in actuality and can be seen and touched.

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What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.

I’m posting an image every day (or as often as I can). A photo, an image from the internet, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.

Here’s another view of the gardens at Hidcote. Lawrence Johnston designed Hidcote with the concept of ‘garden rooms’, one of which is the focus of this photo. Walking through the Hidcote garden you pass from one room to another, to another repeatedly. There are constant surprises every time you turn a corner or pass through an opening in a hedge. It’s delightful.

I love this kind of garden and I think you might too, if you ever have a chance to visit Hidcote – take it!

This, to me, says something about the nature of creation in general. There’s a design stage during which the idea of ‘rooms’ is a foundational step, and even some of the layout, or even most of it, take shape in the designer’s imagination. And almost always there’s a second stage after things start to be laid out on the ground (for a garden). In this second stage, it may become clear that improvements are possible once you see the ‘lay of the land’. Little tweaks and changes can improve the design significantly.

But always, in any creative work, something comes into existence that was simply not there before. Any creative work seems quite magical, as what was only in the creator’s mind appears in actuality and can be seen and touched, or in the case of a garden – walked in and admired.

Themed image collections

The links below will take you to the first post in each collection

Cirencester, Favourites, Irish holiday 2024, Roman villa

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If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome!

War, survival, victory

Nobody asks your permission or opinion, and suddenly people and places you love are injured and damaged by bombs and missiles.

Today I want to bring you news from Ukraine. I’m going to do this by giving you a glimpse through the eyes of Yaroslava Antipina who lives in Kyiv; if you want to know about a topic, the best sources always include local people.

The image above shows one of Yara’s pages on the web, here (and elsewhere) she writes regularly to inform her readers about the war, but also about Ukraine and Ukrainians. She shows us the architecture, the places she visits, the art galleries and museums and cathedrals and much, much more. Like all Ukrainians, and like my parent’s generation in the UK, Yara knows what it’s like to be thrust unwillingly into armed conflict. Nobody asks your permission or opinion, and suddenly people and places you love are injured and damaged by bombs and missiles.

But that’s enough from me today. I’m simply going to re-post Yara’s latest Sunday message to her followers. I recommend and urge you to read more of her material, you can find her in various places.

–oOo–

Hi!

I am writing to you from sunny Kyiv. The weather is mild and gentle, and on such days, it is hard to believe that the war is walking heavily somewhere on our land.

The situation in Kyiv is not so bad compared to frontline or near frontline territories. If you come here, you will see a city that tries hard to live. And you even feel this tension, this strong desire to show everyone, especially the enemy, that we are alive and our spirit is strong.

I have just got this thought…

Do you also feel that my letters are like conversations between two people? I hope so.

Okay, in this letter, you will see photos of Ukrainian artists from the so-called Samarkand era. Samarkand is a city in Uzbekistan. From 1941 to 1944, this city became a home for many Ukrainian artists. I will briefly tell you about this era a bit later in the letter. And the photos are from the exhibition I visited this week.

Petro Sulymenko (1914-1996), Sher-Dor, 1942

Some explanation: Sher-Dor Madrasa is a 17th-century madrasa (Islamic school) in the historical centre of Samarkand.

Let’s talk about the war. I rarely tell you about the situation on the frontline. It is a topic better explained by war experts or military personnel. But this week, I heard and read a lot about it, especially Chasiv Yar, so I decided to figure out why Chasiv Yar is so important for the russians.

So, Chasiv Yar is a city in Donetsk Oblast. About 13,000 people lived here, but as of early April, about 700 remained. It is the highest point for hundreds of kilometres around. The city stands on hills that protect it from the east and south like defensive walls.

Chasiv Yar is the ‘gateway’’ to the cities of Kostiantynivka (7 km to the west) and Kramatorsk (25 km to the northwest). If the russian forces manage to capture Chasiv Yar, they will have the opportunity to launch an offensive on them and other settlements of Donetsk Oblast, which still are controlled by Ukraine. You can read a short review in Politico or a detailed explanation of the importance of Chasiv Yar in The New York Times.

Oleksandr Syrotenko (1897-1975), Evening. Samarkand, 1943

I want to add a few lines about the situation in Chasiv Yar now. Of the 700 people still living in the city, 80-85% are older people who refused to evacuate. Their main argument is that this is their home, and they want to stay here till the end.

Since February 2023, Chasiv Yar has had no gas and water supply, electricity, and poor mobile phone connection. Those who have stayed here rely on generators and water from wells to keep themselves alive.

All high-rise buildings in Chasiv Yar have been damaged by shelling; 80% of the damages are critical.

–oOo–

There are four more images of beautiful paintings and more informative text, but I want to encourage you to see those on Yara’s site… Thank you!