Category: Serendipity

#1302 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Serendipity, Yardening2 Comments
View from the Studio

In the pink, the view from the studio. We are exactly a year on from having trellis added to our garden wall to extend the height of our North and East facing yard walls. After that all our walls needed painting so we lost almost all of last year’s  peak growing season for our new project of growing climbing plants. So this Spring has been a revelation. The climbers are climbing and mingling exactly as we hoped they would.  Not completely hiding the neighborhood cats  that promenade on the tops of our walls but almost, which leads to a quieter life dog-wise.

After a weekend of potting and preening all anyone needs to do now is bloom and grow. Lets see how that goes.

#1301 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Serendipity1 Comment

What does “having it all” mean to you? Is it attainable?

I was a working mother in the 80′,90’s and the noughties. I was also doing on-call, studying and caring at a distance for ailing parents.  If the traditional media of the time was to be believed I was actually,  ” having it all”.

Obviously it was attainable but only with the support of a husband, two wonderful child-minders. Brenda and Bev, and the most fabulous children.

A Glass ceiling.

” Having it all” was exhausting and, at the time, essential. It is what women had/have to do just to get to the glass ceiling, never mind crack the effing thing.

A cracked glass ceiling.

Life was all about spinning plates, lists and always having a plan B.

” Having it all” was actually just a phase and an informal training scheme for extreme multitasking. A hugely valuable skill that I treasure, but do I ever need to ” Have it all” again.

No Thank You

Not, ” having it all” is far better than ” having it all” but I would not have missed ” having it all” however hard it was at the time.

#1300 theoldmortuary ponders. Part 2

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Family, Serendipity3 Comments
Fishing in Tranquility Bay

Who would you like to talk to soon?

Part 2 the blog I would have written if I hadn’t written Part 1.

#1299 theoldmortuary ponders. Part 1.

It would be great to have a natter with my Dad. But as he has been in another realm for 30 years, I would have to say that if I can postpone that natter for as long as possible, I would be very grateful . Especially as we would then be in a position of having an eternity of nattering, perhaps.

I have been having a bit of survivor guilt recently,having outlived both my parents by 4 years. I am probably unrecognisable from the 36 year old they left behind so that would be quite the big subject. I feel guilty because they were never able to be the grandparents they could have been due to ill health and caring responsibilities.. I am lucky enough to be a Nana to 3 delightful granddaughters.It is such a life enhancing role. I am sad that both my parents and children missed out on knowing each other well. My own grandparents born in 1888 and 1898, part of the ‘lost’ generation who had survived two world wars, were never as thrilled to be with me as I am with my small people. As long as I was quiet and with my head in a book they were content to let me be. My other female grandparent was born in the First World War and was a busy businesswoman by the time she was my grandparent. She dropped into my life as an infrequent but glamorous visitor exuding American-style glamour and smelling of perfume, cigarettes and gin and tonic evenings. A heady mix in rural Essex. Also hardly the sort of grandparent required in the 2020’s.. I don’t think bonding  and building a relationship with me was a priority  for them.

But their children, my parents, would have been fabulous grandparents if they had had the chance.

So like much of my adult life I have to make ‘grandparenting’ up as I go along. I must say I find it all rather lovely, hence the survivors guilt and the desire for that conversation, but not any time soon.

Fishing in Tranquility Bay

#1299 theoldmortuary ponders. Part 1.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Serendipity3 Comments
Fishing in Tranquility Bay. Early morning.

Who would you like to talk to soon?

As I was about to write this blog I had a call from friends in Australia. So much fun and laughter in a phone call. They were driving home from an author talk at The Hellenic Cultural Museum.

We had been out last night listening to an author talk too.

What is the glue of a friendship that has at its roots two awkward 11 year olds meeting under an Oak tree in an Essex village 55 years ago. And which is currently 4 people who love to holiday together despite living half a world apart and on opposite time zones. Coffee, silliness, that can be tracked to those awkward 11 year olds. A love of Greece and life in general. The seas around us in those 55 years have been rough at times, but calmer waters and laughter is the balm of an old/refurbished, friendship.

Maybe Fishing in Tranquility Bay is the glue. Just happy to share whatever loveliness we pull out of the great sea of life. That we can share and laugh about over a real world cup of coffee or a group call at opposite ends of our day.

Fishing in Tranquility Bay. Early Evening.

#1298 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn art, Colour, Paintings, Serendipity1 Comment

Yesterdays blog about my collection of water colours prompted a bit of digging around in art folders.

#1297 theoldmortuary ponders.

I always thought this failed attempt at a colour wheel looked a little like a Phoenix from the side .

Combining her with a pigment tray from the near the Vatican and some printing experiments has been interesting.

I think I like her best as a dark disco creature.

The reason for all this artistic time wasting, is that for once I am as prepped as I can be for the next art exhibition. The original works are ready and framed. I have done my experimental print run, and am now just waiting for the real print run to be done. The mounts and envelopes are in the studio. Everything is poised for the next flurry of activity, but creatively I am at an impasse. So footling about with some odds and ends was quite cathartic. I might even have rinsed JMW Turner out of my head.

Or maybe not.

#1297 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Colour, Colour Squares, Paintings, Serendipity5 Comments

Do you have any collections?

This morning I scrolled past the question above. Posed by my blog hosts. I am not by nature a collector of anything, but maybe my stock of watercolours could possibly be considered a collection.

About 50% of my watercolours.

One of the reasons I believe these paints might be considered a collection are the lengths I go to to acquire new colours.

In Athens last September we took a long walk to an untouristy suburb to find an art shop that hand made oil pastels. Now I don’t use oil pastels but being able to visit someone who creates art materials in a centuries-old traditional and artisinal way was too enticing to be missed. He also sold very lovely Greek manufactured water-colours. I bought an Olive Green which is memorably authentically Greek every time I use it.

The picture above is a pigment shop close to the Vatican in Rome. It remained resolutely closed for the whole of our visit. But this picture is almost enough  for me. Almost.

I think if I seek out colours deliberately, in foreign cities, that possibly I might be considered a collector.

I also always make colour charts of my new purchases. Obsessive, hmmm. The jury is out. Am I just an artist or am I a collector?

#1296 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Music, SerendipityLeave a comment
London Concertante

Over the weekend we went ‘out’ out to Exeter Cathedral to hear the music of Radiohead played by a classical music ensemble.

In many respects a surreal experience . Watching the sun go down on the creamy Salcombe Stone of the cathedral’s walls was more magical than the flickering candles that were setting the intended ambience of the performance. Listening to English rock music from the nineties, played by classical musicians in a sacred space made us lose any sense of which century we were in or what genre of music we were listening to.

Outro from Karma Police

Karma Police was not a track played by London Concertante but they were certainly in the building.

https://videopress.com/v/jJoyYH6s?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata&useAverageColor=true

Home

#1294 theoldmortuary ponders

On By theoldmortuary.designIn art, Serendipity1 Comment

Over the weekend I believe I finished my project of creating art inspired by the work of JMW Turner and his locations. I have been focussed on that for about 6 weeks. Doubtless some of the stuff I have learned along the way will stick with me. The random technique that I really like is staining watercolour paper with cold tea. So here are some tiny tomatoes in the saucer of a blue glass cup and saucer caught in sunlight. Nothing Turneresque about it apart from tea stained paper.  To be clear Turner did not dye his paper with tea but it was an option to create paper that was more authentically matched to watercolour paper of 200 years ago. I might also try bolder colours like beetroot or turmeric.

Watch this space.

#1293 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Serendipity, Stonehouse1 Comment
2025 sea swimmers in the style of 1825 JMW Turner. ©theoldmortuary

How do you balance work and home life?

Since I transitioned from a career in Medical Imaging that could never have been a balanced work/life experience to the life of a work from home artist, a state of equilibrium exists most of the time. Our move to a seaside suburb of a city was a deliberate attempt at making life more balanced.To throw a little spice into the mix I also do admin for a tennis club. Prior to that I did admin for a large group of Artists. That involved far too much driving  and artists can be very slippery fish to manage. The tennis club is just a short walk away and the view of the office is enchanting.

©Liz Vass

As it happens some slippery fish also play tennis but not in quite the same proportions as the art group. Beyond the unpredictable admin of a tennis club my work/ life balance pivots on a fulcrum of domestic admin v creativity. The balance changes on a daily basis.

Halfpenny Bridge Stonehouse. ©theoldmortuary

#1292 theoldmortuary ponders.

On By theoldmortuary.designIn Serendipity, YardeningLeave a comment
Dead heading in the yard.

What sacrifices have you made in life?

I don’t believe I have ever made a sacrifice in life.

I have, however,often given up something I valued for the sake of other considerations.

Surely that is just part of normal life and does not deserve the grandiose title of sacrifice.

This morning I got out of a comfy bed to let Hugo out for a wee. An entirely practical consideration in my opinion. I chose to do that.

I am wary of people who say they sacrificed something. The word is just all a bit too ‘drama queen’ for my liking.

But yesterday some light pruning occurred in our yard.  Old blooms cut off to allow new blooms to flourish. That is about as sacrificial as it gets in our house. Anything else is a choice.