Brighton, murmurations and a concert.

On the 3rd of February my son and I took the plunge and went to Brighton to attend a James Blunt concert. Regardless that we were only 2 of about 6 people in the entire venue wearing masks, we had a fantastic evening and came away without having contracted covid.

James Blunt is not everyones cup of tea, but his concerts are amazing; the atmosphere, his song writing skills, the singing, just the whole entertainment package. My son and I were lucky enough to also see him in February 2020, his one concert before Covid hit and everything, together with the rest of his tour came to a standstill. This Brighton concert was the restart to the tour that didn't happen.

We arrived in Brighton in the late afternoon, just in time to watch the starlings performing their murmurations and it was mesmerising. It built up from a few birds and continued with more and more arriving and then all of a sudden it was over and they disappeared under the pier to roost.

After the captivation of the Starlings we had a lovely meal in Pho and then onto the Brighton Centre for the concert.

We arrived home around 12:45 after a really lovely afternoon and night out.

Ellie in 5 shades of grey - portraits in oil week 2

This week we had a new sitter and could only use black and white paint. We had to mix up 5 shades of grey, ranging from dark to light, with the third being the mid tone.

Using just tones 2 and 4, we first had to paint a thumbnail head to test our colour mixing and then move on to paint Ellie just to show the shadow and light. Learning to read the darks and lights in two tones was difficult, even with squinting at the sitter. The ear was actually in shadow and the cheek bones on the left were not. 

Once we had our shadows and lights we started to add the other tones. At one point I was ok with what I had produced and wish I'd taken an interim photo, but then Ellie moved and I made the mistake of changing things. At the end of the class I ended up with a portrait that had the nose was too long, the shape of the face needed modifying, the lighter paint around the mouth made it look odd and for some reason I made the eyes look to the left. 

On Sunday, before I cleaned the paint from the pallet I thought I'd just spend a few minutes touching it up and I got a bit carried away. Although I am really happy with the results I am also pretty nervous that I've done too much and that people will not be best pleased, when the idea is to continue with in the next session. 

The many stages of Nigel

I've finished Nigel and quite happy with how he turned out for a first attempt. 

Grisaille underpainting from first week

First tentative steps at adding colour

Nigel at the end of the classroom session

I wanted to finish the painting when I got home as a record of any progress I may make. The art teacher kept saying to be brave with the shadows and to go darker. Too dark here, Nigel looks like he has terrible bruises.

Too dark

Better, should have left alone at this stage

Too dark again and starting to get muddy

I waited until the next day, lightened up once more, then cleaned up the paint and brushes to stop me fiddling any more.

Finished Nigel

Portraits in oil

I've started a portrait in oils class at my local arts centre, which should be interesting as having owned oil paints for years I've only used them on two previous occasions and have never painted from life. 

The majority of the people in the class appeared to be regulars and just got set up and stuck in, whereas I stood there like a rabbit caught in headlights, not really knowing where to begin. Our model for the afternoon was Nigel and I was on the last easel with a complete profile view. 

To start our paintings we had to do a Grisaille drawing with raw umber and thinners, using a brush as a drawing tool to work out the angles, placement of features, shadows and highlights. My proportions weren't too bad but by the time the first session was over I hadn't really got any features in, my brush was too small and my nerves stopped me just getting stuck in.

The second session was about quickly painting in the whole area of the head and then wiping away to create the highlights and shadows. This way of working was better for me, it took away the fear of the white board and I also used a bigger brush.

I've chosen my second painting to be the one that I will start adding colour to next week. 

A New Year - here we go again!

Last year I was absolutely determined to get fit and lose the weight I had put on. My posts along with my enthusiasm disappeared in May and since then everything has just about gone to pot. Not only am I now creeping back to my heaviest recorded weight, but I have also lost any level of fitness that I may have had.  

Peri-menopause isn't helping the situation one little bit. Another recent blood test has shown that I am even more post menopausal than I was in May, which seems absurd because I have not yet been through the menopause. My doctor agreed this week to check out my estrogen levels, in conjunction with the normal hormone test they have done, so I'll see what comes up from the test some time next week. 

Some of my main current Peri-menopause/menopausal symptoms, in no particular order are: weight gain, depression, terrible anxiety, general aches and pains, fatigue, insomnia and night time hot flushes. Fortunately the migraines and headaches have calmed down and have got to the stage where they are more unusual than common place and I am very grateful for that.

I also have an autoimmune disease called Palmoplantar Pustulosis (PPP) and although I count myself lucky that its on the soles of my feet and not the palms of my hands (I can hide it), I find it really stressful  and at times extremely painful. Interestingly six years ago I followed the 8 week Blood sugar diet and whilst I did this to lose weight, my PPP cleared up for the first time in years. I am very confident that the change to my PPP was due to the lack of gluten and grains.

In contrast with the blood sugar diet (a low calorie, low carb, but high animal protein diet), for the last year I have been trying to follow the Starch Solution way of eating; a whole food plant based diet, that concentrates on consuming mainly starches. Although people get fantastic results, both reversing diseases and losing weight, it doesn't work for me. Not only I have put on a lot of weight, although I haven't stuck to anything 100% of the time, but my PPP is worse than ever, which is concerning.  

And so in conclusion - I know I want to be whole food and plant based, but the plan is to also go gluten and grain free, at least for a while to see what happens to my feet and if I can again put my PPP into remission. I have rejoined the gym and hope to get back to where I can enjoy going again and start to see some changes in my fitness levels and all round wellbeing. Fingers crossed that this year I will at least stick to something. 

A beautiful collagraph by Alfred - aged 7

My grandson came over just before Christmas and I asked him to do a drawing for me on a bit of tetra pack. He draw this beautiful Christmas tree, along with its lights and presents underneath. 

I went over it with a drypoint needle and printed it up on my Xcut Xpress and it printed up beautifully. 

My daughter was thrilled with her framed present from Alfred and I just now need to print some more copies for other members of the family who also fell in love with it.