Even the most resilient of us all will during this time find life hard on occasion. For me today was for me one of those days. This morning my mind was full of doom, gloom and every sort of difficulty with very little if any form of motivation. But I am lucky to have "The Lovely Liz" and with her, shall we say, her encouragement, we both got going and went for a walk in the local woods for some exerciser, where being surrounded by trees, nature and plenty of mud, my spirits were soon lifted. We had a lovely walk and arrived back home feeling just fine. When feelings of lowness come upon us, as they do to us all, a walk surrounded by nature can be a big help; I know that it works wonders for me.

We met a nice lady who enjoys her art; we chatted for some time as she told me about her work and the difficulty she is finding in not being able to met like minded artists. Tough times are real and creative pastimes help.

The ink above was done last week and is simply a rather ragged, stumpy sort of tree which we all see in any of the hedge rows. But look closely, just get immersed in the differing textures and shapes, and then a ragged bit of hedgerow becomes an amazing space.

Oh well, must get on, see you all soon.

Duncan

Don't say that hair do's are not available during lock down.

Its not often we get snow down here in Surrey, however today we got the real stuff, about eight cm. of it; therefore both of us being big children we just had to go for a walk. So suitably wrapped up, off we went. Seeing this lady with a challenging perm, then more serious aspects appeared; this leaf simply lying on the snow, just gorgeous colours. So always take your camera with you. 

By the way, treat taking snow photos a little like seaside photography. The brightness of those situations confuses the light meters, so over expose by a stop to a stop and a half. 

We spend a great deal of time caring for others and today,  rather nicely, the tables were turned. A neighbor of ours knocked on our door and asked, "Are you both all right and can I do anything for you". Its good to be looked after, so why not check on your neighbor as well.

Tomorrow is a big day for us; as we volunteer at a local hospital we have been offered vaccinations a little earlier than we would otherwise have expected, so tomorrow we get jabbed. Obviously they want us back at work.

Regards Duncan

 

Good morning and today has a sleepy start to all my activities. I laid in bed asleep until nine;  I know that is decadently shameful, but also very nice. Liz is now on a zoom church meeting, so I can run away into the studio and have two lovely hours of peace, quiet and tranquility. Now as much as I love, the lovely Liz, two hours on my own are also lovely.

Browsing through my sketches I came upon a small pen and ink which was produced a few months ago at Hatchlands. So with absolutely no pressure, just in a laid back, chill-out mood, out came the water-colours and  as a result, a very free and easy work-up of the afore mentioned sketch was produced. A loose style was used and applied to such an extent, that it could have very easily have gone horribly wrong; however one hour and ten minuets later, the above appeared.

Oh well, things to do, must get on. See you all soon.

Duncan

 

 I always love it when friends ask for a picture of a place or subject which they love. So Vivian as you love waterfalls, this is for you.

The location is Grindleford Beck in the Peak District, just below Fox House, near to Sheffield;  this place has very special memories for me.

She was in her early teens, she is very special and is also one of my Goddaughters; she  wanted some fun, so with her mother along as well, (I hasten to add that she stayed on the banks) plus a another teenage friend we went to the top of the beck (stream) and descended down through twenty or thirty small waterfalls, I hasten to add, mid stream. We traveled about three quarters of a mile this way, got absolutely soaked and filthy, until we descended as far as the Grindleford Cafe, which is by the railway station, we then climbed our of the beck and had bacon butties. We laughed and laughed. Now that was good fun.

See you soon. Duncan

Well we are properly into the new year now and it is damp, cold and to be honest not very nice outside. So lets go away for a short while, inside our minds, so it won't cost any money, to somewhere altogether warmer. When I want to get away, I am lucky because, out come my sketch books and photos, so that places which I loved to visit, can be revisited and relived all over again. A water-colour or a more finished ink drawing is normally produced and I have enjoyed myself.

 

The above is of Bonney Nuite Bay. on the Island of Jersey in the Channel Islands. It was very pleasantly warm, a gentle sea breeze was blowing and Liz was contented, deep in a jolly good book. That gave me a little freedom to wander and escape for a while.  So I wandered around for a while sketching and taking photos before noticing that at the island end of the jetty, just off to the left of the picture, was a small ice cream shack, lovely; if I remember correctly, mine was a rum and raisin two scoop cornet, my memory does not tell me what Liz had.

So get your photos out and have a go, you might enjoy yourself playing. By the way, painting and playing is very good for you, especially for you mental health, which when you are a little low or fed up which is reasonable at the moment happens, is very important. Why not e-mail me a photo of your painting, I would love to see what you do.

See you soon Duncan.

 

The twelfth day of Christmas, which the Church calendar calls Epiphany;

 the day when traditionally the wise men visited the baby Jesus.

Out walking again this morning and again I met up with the men of bling., whom you will no doubt remember from a few days ago. They were excited as that morning they had seen the baby Jesus. However having had a dream that the local king was a nasty cat, they decided to go another way home. Sadly they were using google maps and their batteries were flat on their sat nav's; so they immediately got lost in the Surrey woods gain. I suggested that they bought an ordinance survey map and a small compass.  Followed by nice chat about how the baby was doing and I sent them off on the right path.

Have you ever been told what to do in a dream? Has God ever spoken to you! In these hard times what do you think He has planned for you? Is there something which you should do?

Have a good think!

Regards Duncan