Author: theoldmortuary.design

theoldmortuary has been a blog for about five years. It has evolved into an almost daily event. Pondering on the things that are inspired by my daily life. Often mundane, sometimes repetitive I swerve from hyperlocal activity to big and small thoughts without blinking an eye. I am an artist and writer. My hometown is Plymouth in South West England, part of me will always be connected to London and another part loves to travel.

#1345 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Van Life2 Comments

Autumn colours have started to put in an appearance. Late this year. Because of strange weather, leaves have just turned brown and dropped or been blown off.

My first gloriously red leaf arrived on the 3rd of October a whole week later than last year.

Other more personal signs of Autumn arrived only two days ago. My skin and hair suddenly announced that my summer regime of moisturising  and curl protection were not enough for autumns shorter, colder days. Thicker and richer potions are required from now on.

We also set out on a definite post summer trip yesterday. Totnes is a favourite town to visit but it is a hugely popular tourist destination. In Summer the narrow, old streets are full to the brim with people exploring the fascinating shops, cafes and intriguing ambiance of a town that has a unique personality. Not so much of a problem for us, but the dogs resent the busyness when all they want to do is sniff and amble very slowly. Autumn has a quieter vibe that the dogs are happier with.

For a while in the late 80’s and 90’s I worked in Totnes. Having recently moved from Brighton it felt more like home than my actual new home. Visiting always makes my heart and soul feel nourished in lots of ways.

Yesterday in the spirit of drinking coffee in one of the worlds funkiest towns we sat on the funkiest window seats. Swings looking out on the world.

Not far away, another shop was ‘smudging’  the area.  Autumn felt very real and welcome in such an atmosphere.

It is hard not to feel that unusual forces are in control in Totnes. The place has a good proportion of independent businesses, some stay loyal to the locations that I have known for years, while others flit about, changing location and appearance like mythical shape shifters of the buildings world.

I feel our trip to Totnes has properly kick-started autumn/ fall. No more longing for a summer day, just full acceptance of mellower moments.

And finally…

Street Art, Totnes style.

#1344 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Shopping1 Comment
Available retail space.

My morning dog walk with a 3 year old took me past this available retail space, as we were hunting down a toilet.My giddy imagination immediately yearned for an over-stocked corner shop. The sort of corner shop that stands vividly with a warm welcome in residential areas all over Britain and provides mouse traps, condoms and loaves of bread with the musical soundtrack of the owners ethnic origins. Since returning to the West Country I have yet to find a corner shop that welcomes me in, from 6 in the morning until midnight  with a cornucopia of random and yet essential goods, some of which I have never heard of before. The joy of getting the last train home and being able to buy a can of soup and some baclava for supper, in a shop that is warm, exotic smelling and welcoming is hard to quantify. But I didn’t realise how joyous it was until I no longer had it. I doubt this pretty space will ever fulfil my fantasies but there is no harm in dreaming.

Sharp shadows in my fantasy shop.

#1343 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Storms1 Comment

Here is my first portrait of the storm season. Storm Amy.

Storm Amy gave great calm before the storm vibes. Which is when I started sketching her out. The calm patch lasted so long I inadvertently finished the quick sketch. She looked nothing like a storm*.

When Storm Amy crashed to our shores she was wild and gusty but ultimately much kinder to our coastline and river front than we anticipated.

When she coincided with high tide overnight  there was an hour or two of the sounds of a disaster movie. Gusts and booms, crashing waves and a frightened fox screaming in the back lane.

But Amy had already identified herself in these parts as a benign storm, troubling only dustbins  and foxes.

Digitally I double exposed calm Amy with my reference image of a woman in thoughtful repose.

It gave Amy enough grit to make me comfortable with her.  I needed to create a soundscape of the back lane to add some unexpected crash and bang.

The soundscape of our back lane is a weaved collage of an old watercolour sketch. Assembled before having a touch of fox added at the last minute.

Storm Amy, a little underwhelming in these parts

#1342 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn SerendipityLeave a comment

What’s a topic or issue about which you’ve changed your mind?

I am not a huge small talk person. Some people are adept at such things and have one or two key topics to discuss with strangers. When people discover that I dabble with paint and have exhibited a bit, they often ask who my favourite artist is. The truth is that I have a carousel of favourites.

I am not the greatest fan of Salvador Dali but one of his paintings is forever on my carousel of favourites.

So much going on, and that light emerging from the cliff is something I try to emulate often. Just a little peep of unexpected brightness.

Mark Rothko also spins perpetually on my Carousel.

Right now, as I write this, I am eagerly planning a trip to see The Vanity of Small Difference by Grayson Perry. A man who, like me grew up in Essex and observed class and possessions with interest. Same place and we are the same age.

It is 13 years since I last saw his brilliant tapestries. This week I suspect that he, will once again, be my favourite artist when I am fresh from seeing them again.

Does all this switch back of favourites make me fickle? I am the same about everything that I have an interest in. Certainty is, for me, always enlivened by uncertainty and new information.

#1341 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Serendipity1 Comment

Sometimes just five minutes in a day is enough to fuel a blog.

This Saturday blog contains the word ‘erotic’ those of a cautious nature should just stop here.

It also mentions a local tennis club and Lidl, both institutions that were collecting books for charity.

A friend is clearing out her house ready to sell. She had gathered 9 bags of books to donate. One bag contained a collection of 18th Century Erotic Poetry and short stories written in Latin. The tennis club declined the donation. So now, in a small town in Suffolk, the Middle of Lidl will be quite the surprise for local shoppers.

I was reading her Whatsapp and laughing while queuing in a local coffee shop.It is not often that baked goods  can make me chuckle but the Bostock’s on offer tickled my funny bone in a similar way.

Shopping for the unexpected.

P.s unbelievably there are two women on Google called Fanny Bostock.

#1340 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Serendipity1 Comment
Storm Amy, contemplating how much power she will unleash.

This has been a funny week blogwise. With a forgotten one. A hugely over-viewed one( 384!) and one that I wrote and forgot to publish. In between those three, dog walking, normal life, and many sea swims there has not been a lot of down time. Until yesterday when a squeeze- in late lunch date at the local market was cancelled. I read a book about Sport Psychology instead. Storm Amy is on the way. She is the love child of Hurricanes Humbert and Imelda who were jiggy over the Atlantic. Amy made my swim a little like being a lone sock in a washing machine yesterday. Even though she was in her calm phase.

Once again I plan to paint or create an image of each storm that batters our little peninsula. I would rather Amy was spelled Aimee. For some reason it seems easier to visualise a storm with more letters and a double ee. More screechy perhaps. Sea swimming may be off the diary for a few days.

My phone has become a little judgmental recently. The exercise App takes a dim view of anything less than 10,000 steps a day. Never considering my swims as exercise. I also sense a little judgement about my use of a tide and weather App.

#1339 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Firestone BayLeave a comment

Sometimes painting out a burning pondering is exactly the right thing to do.

During my long, lone swims of the last couple of weeks I have been pondering my personal moral compass and its origins, inspirations and foundations.

It will be no surprise that I am a habitual ponderer, questioner and re-evaluater. Add to that a procrastinator, although I procrastinate to re-evaluate and also to allow time and nature to rebalance.

In deciding to paint my moral compass I realised that every day my moral compass is slightly recalibrated by the previous days experience.

To match the 32 points of a compass I wrote 32 words that inform my moral compass. Today I know that I will edit those words a little after more pondering or experience. I wanted to show some core values and the flood of information that we all process on a daily basis. This is very much a work in progress but the compass looks like this currently.

Work in progress

In other news my 50 year old compass is defunct.

I have lost a whole family of watercolours. They were in a really slim, discrete hinged tin. Pale silver in colour. I know I took them out on an adventure but I suspect they were so discrete I completely missed them on my clear up and pack away.

Thankfully I am a watercolour magpie so no real harm. Irritation massive though.

#1338 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Moral Compass1 Comment

And just like that September slips out of our grasp. The transition from Summer into Autumn accomplished almost effortlessly. Apart from some dreadful rainy days I have been swimming most days, sometimes twice. Swimming with the bobbers has been less common as  September is a busy time for busy women. But the swimming community is friendly here so most lone swims have an element of aquatic conversation.

I actually do more swimming and more pondering when I venture out alone.

Yesterday’s big think was how individuals form their unique moral compass. Which made me consider my own. From a practical point that is 32 compass points to fill.

Now that, my friend, is a lot of pondering. I have a mind to visualise and paint my way into this project. I shall ponder at sea and paint in the snugness of an autumnal studio.

Somewhere in a box of memorabilia is my Girl Guide Uniform and tucked in a pocket should be my pocket compass. Unused and unthought about, for 50 years.

Until now…

#1337 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn history, Home, Serendipity1 Comment

Maybe I should forget to write a blog more often. Yesterday’s slightly apologetic blog got more views than usual as you can see from my stats bar.

Somebody must have dropped off to sleep with their finger on the view button!

By way of celebration I have featured a golden horse, just because really, and because horses were the subject of an evening ponder, which was always going to be todays pondering.

We are watching a drama based around the time our house was built and set in a similar location.

A house identical to ours was a very brief twist in the plot. A man rode his horse up to the front door when he needed to visit.*

Obviously horses were the key method of transport. But I had never really visualised one being used in my urban street just as a motorbike would be used to transport a single traveller. My lack of imagination of course but the thought slightly blows my mind.

This would have been an entirely normal view out of our front window. In many ways unimaginable.

A bit like my stats of yesterday.

*

  • I realise that visitors may not have ridden to the front of the property and that riding to the front was a kind of dramatic moment. But honestly riding to the back or the front, who cares! Mindblowing.
  • In a different observation, mine was the sort of house where powerful men kept their illicit lovers, male or female. We have a massive fireplace in one of the bedrooms here. Oh the things it may have seen…

#1336 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn SerendipityLeave a comment

Somehow I dropped a blog yesterday. But I did get a weekend’s worth of newspapers read and we did some of our favourite walks in gorgeous sunshine. I spent some time in a second-hand book shop and kept my hand firmly in my pocket.

Second-hand book shops fill me with nostalgia. Had my parents lived until now they would be in their early nineties. An age when people naturally downsize or naturally move to another realm. The books on their shelves finding their way to second hand book shops the world over.

In consequence,  preloved bookshop shelves look very similar to my parents beloved home library. As do the piles of discarded C.D’s.

I also love the smell of old books.

Better blog reliability from this point on.