Day 557...Getting Arty!

Day 557...

Today was a Sunday with a purpose as we had an event booked to attend.

But before we headed out the door Simon managed to get another layer of plaster filler onto the walls that he is repairing with a view that tomorrow he will be able to sand back and hopefully have a smooth and even surface ready to paint.

So late morning we set off for Nottingham and ordinarily we would have driven into the city as it's only around twenty minutes away but today there was the Robin Hood half marathon taking place which meant most roads from our direction were at best restricted but most were closed. Thankfully, we have a tram that runs into Nottingham and which has a terminus just a couple of miles from home so we decided to make that our mode of transport for the day.

And whilst the tram is a great service; easy to use, free parking at the terminus, relatively clean and no more costly than car parking charges in the city it does take around double the amount of time compared to driving. And I will admit that by the time we got to our stop the tram was quite full and I was beginning to feel a little claustrophobic and also wished that other passengers had perhaps used a little more deodorant!! 

As we are not great users of public transport it was interesting to note that the take-up of people wearing masks was around fifty-fifty. We have opted to not wear masks as we don't feel the evidence supports their benefit to us or anyone around us and am I always astounded, and confused, at the way in which people do use them. Groups where some were and some weren't, couples were one half wasn't, people with the mask under their chin, getting onto the tram without a mask and walking through people to find a seat and only putting a mask on once they were seated - just seems to go against what they would appear to believe in. 

Arriving in Nottingham we were a little early so we stopped for a coffee before heading to the Canalhouse pub where, in their upstairs function room, Dr Sketchy's Nottingham was taking place. This is a burlesque/cabaret themed life drawing event that we have been going to for a fair few years now. Our last in person event was in February 2020 and although host and performer Scarlett Daggers had held a few online events it was great to be back doing something that had previously been one of our regular outings.

Dr Sketchy's are held all around the world and the Nottingham event has been running for 12 years. Simon, being the artist in the family, had discovered it many years ago and had attended a handful on his own before he eventually persuaded me to join him and 'have a go'. I am no artist by any stretch of the imagination, but the whole point of Dr Sketchy's is for anyone, of any ability, to come along and draw, enjoy the entertainment (the models will also perform), have a drink, maybe something to eat and giggle at the choice of music played by DJ Spike as he attempts to put the models off their poses with his musical choices.

It really is a very open and relaxed affair welcoming all abilities, all ages and all backgrounds. It's chance to switch off for a couple of hours or so, get out the pencils and doodle....or in the case of Simon get out the digital drawing tablet and create some wonderful images. 

Today, we had Scarlett Daggers modelling along with Starla Bright, who also entertained us with a cheeky burlesque number. We started off with a few one minute poses, then a few more two minutes poses, some five minute ones followed by 10 and 15 minutes ones before finishing off the afternoon with a 20 minute pose.

Here are just a few of my 'efforts';

Two minute poses - Scarlett Daggers

Five minute pose - Scarlett Daggers

Fifteen minute pose - Scarlett Daggers

Twenty minute pose - Starla Bright

As it is a while since I have picked up pencil and paper I was pretty happy with my results, and despite hating (and therefore avoiding) drawing faces I was pleasantly surprised with my efforts on my last drawing of Starla and when she commented that she liked it and thought it reminded her of her sister I was a bit shocked and maybe a little pleased with myself!

And with pencils packed away it was time to head home but with a date in late November in the diary for their next event. We had a small wait for the tram and found ourselves standing for the majority of the forty minute journey home.

Back home it was time for a coffee and chance to look over what we had done this afternoon with the obligatory posting to social media. Here are a couple of Simon's pieces...

Starla Bright

Scarlett Daggers

So nice to have a Sunday that revolved around actually getting out and 'doing something' and doing something that we have always done in the way we have always done it.

See you all tomorrow.

xx

Day 511 - Nottingham Castle

Day 511...

Today we headed off into Nottingham once more but today we had tickets to visit Nottingham Castle.

We arrived ahead of our timed ticket and so stopped for a coffee before heading on our way. As we approached the castle we spotted a small art gallery that had some really interesting pieces that looked like they were created out of resin. As Molly is currently experimenting with different mediums, including resin, we decided to pop in and have a look. 

The space is part of the Nottingham Society of Artists and the gallery is constantly changing providing an exhibition space for artists. The current exhibit is called 'Colour in Motion' by the artist Carole Ellis and we had the chance to chat with Carole and hear about her process and inspiration. She was a lovely lady, very passionate about her art and very much enjoying the chance to display (and sell) her current art collection. We want to take Molly to show her the collection as we feel it would give her the chance to chat with a fellow artist and perhaps pick up some ideas and inspiration herself...fingers crossed we might be able to do that tomorrow.

It was then our pre-booked time to visit the castle, or technically I think it is now a ducal palace! I must have learnt something today...but seriously it was a fascinating place to visit. The castle had been closed the last few years as it underwent a multi-million pound refurbishment, although it had been more than few years since we had last visited as I seem to remember the kids being on the small side!

In fact it was 2005 when we last visited, as I found these photos!!

But we had a lovely time wandering around the grounds and taking in the extensive views over Nottingham city...there's a good reason for building castles and the like upon high as the vantage point is astounding.

We then went inside the castle where there are a number of exhibits. Some are permanent ones which cover the history of Nottingham and specifically the castle, along with Nottingham lace as well as an extensive art gallery. There is also a space which will be used for changing exhibits but which is currently devoted to fashion designer, Paul Smith, who happens to be a  Nottingham local. It was a great exhibit to walk around as it told his story beautifully and uniquely and really impressed upon us not only his skill for fashion design but also the artistry involved. As we were unable to take photos inside the building here are a few more from the outside...

We spent a lovely couple of hours exploring and at just £13 each felt it was really good value for money and somewhere we would be happy to visit again. Before we headed for home we headed instead for a coffee and paid a visit to one of our preferred coffee shops where we were greeted once again with a smile and a chat from the barista who we have gotten to know.

The day was rounded out with taking Molly to and from her kickboxing lesson, with Molly driving us there to get a little more driving experience under her belt.

I will see you all tomorrow.
xx

Day 472...Saturday Art

Day 472...

Well after a particularly rubbish nights sleep (thanks to night sweats!) Saturday morning fnally rolled around.

Before we headed out to get Molly to her guitar lesson Simon jumped online to source some brackets for the garage and to see if we could actually buy them from a DIY store near to where Molly's music school is.

Molly, once again, drove us over to her guitar lesson and once she was dropped off we headed to the aforementioned DIY store. We were able to buy the brackets we needed along with a piece of hardboard so that Simon can construct some storage for some long pieces of strip materials that we have.

We then grabbed a drive thru coffee and had a chat with one of the employees there who we have now become friends with through a need for coffee and a love of tattoos! Molly then drove us home and we took a different route to normal just to mix things up a bit for her and she did brilliantly.

After a quick bite for lunch the next task of the day was for me to collate together some images for my upcoming tattoo. I'd already gathered a few images but liked different parts of each image and wanted these to be 'mashed' together so to speak. So rather than try and explain what I wanted over email to my tattooist Simon offered to work up an idea for me. This meant a few hours sat with Simon at his computer and watching his amazing art skills take three of four different images, plus a little more googling, and create one complete cohesive piece.

Simon in his natural habitat

Can you guess what my next tattoo will be?

I was then able to send Simon's one image plus a few reference pieces over to my tatooist ready for a couple of weeks time...can't wait!

We then used the remainder of the afternoon to put up the brackets we had bought in the garage and were pretty pleased with the results. We just need to cut the hardboard to form a base for the storage and apart from waiting for a tool storage unit to arrive the garage I think is done!

It was then keto pizza time and just as we were cooking we were subject to a massive thunderstorm with extremely heavy rain...so heavy that we had water coming through a few of our windows. Thankfully Molly had the sense to check on a window that she'd opened earlier and in doing so discovered another window that was leaking and letting in a rather large amount of water onto our new wooden floor!! We now have a house covered in towels soaking up water and curtailing the amount of water being let in. At least this confirms that our decision to get new windows fitted in a week or so was is the right decision!

Well, I think that's it for today, time for wine, chocolate and TV.

See you tomorrow.
xx

Day 55

Day 55...

And we have our first lockdown birthday today - Molly!!!

So as is tradition we had breakfast followed by the opening of presents and I have to say I think Molly did rather well this year...I blame online shopping.

And I can now reveal the little bit of artwork I was creating over the weekend, rather than buy a birthday card I decided to have a go at drawing some of Molly's favourite Disney characters and I don't think I did too bad!

And talking of creative endeavours look how Molly's cake turned out...

...layers of cappuccino cake and lemon & poppy seed cake sandwiched with vanilla buttercream and decorated with handmade chocolate swirls! All Molly's handy work!

It was lovely to see a couple of Molly's friends take the time, and make the effort to drop by with some gifts. Both friends visited independently of each other and both kept to the social distancing rules but it was nice to experience a little bit of normality in this crazy world.

My day had rather a heavy work focus as following our governments announcement on Sunday, and then updates yesterday, revealed that not only is the proposed return to school aimed at Reception, year 1 and year 6 children but also early years providers...just like my pre-school. So I read through numerous government documents this morning to try and glean some understanding of what is expected of our pre-school. I then composed emails to staff, my committee and our parents to let them in on what the proposals are and to try to gauge what the parent demand for places would be.

All the information that I have read is, to be honest, pretty vague, full of lots of ifs, maybes, potential and possible statements. This is all predicated on the easing of lockdown measures going well, so that schools should be able to 'welcome more students' from 'potentially, at the earliest, the 1st June'. So I am now having to figure a way forward and plan for possibly opening...at the earliest...on the 1st June while still adhering to social distancing (with under 5's!) and good hygiene. I will admit to my mind being a bit full of stuff and possible scenarios, but I am glad last week I took the time to put some of this down on paper so that I can now start to unpick and hopefully formulate a plan of some sort. I must admit I have been surprised by the number of parents wanting their children to return as I am not sure what I would be doing if I was in their position. We will be returning for possibly 6 or 7 weeks before the summer break...assuming that still happens...I guess at this point all bets are off as they say!

And we had our usual lunchtime walk, another 2 miles in the cold and wind, where has the good weather gone? Oh and chance for me to have a rant at cyclists who insist on cycling on the footpath when there is a clearly marked cycle path on the road which ends up with me and Simon having to walk on the road - argh! Oh and pedestrians who have to walk two abreast rather than single file even though Simon and I always walk single file and move as far away as possible from any other walkers!! Rant over!

Oh and to end the day we had cake...and it was good!

xx