17 January 2018

Just Follow The Instructions

just follow the instructions

January is not my favourite month.  Life always seems a bit flat and fraught after Christmas. On Monday I went to Bath to visit my audiology consultant.  The weather and the traffic was a nightmare but at least I wasn’t kept waiting.  On Friday I have to return to Bath to visit my lovely dentist.  I broke another tooth over the weekend.  Kat says I should stop chewing rocks.

The new Vax carpet cleaner arrived this morning.  It’s probably going to take me an hour just to assemble the thing.  I looked at the instructions for use and decided I will leave it to Paul to play with.

Hetty Lawlor's portrait of David Tennant

Last night I watched the first episode of the Sky Portrait Artist of the Year programme.  Nine artists, both amateur and professional were split into three groups to paint a celebrity.  So one group had the Dr Who bloke, David Tennant, another group had singer James Morrison, and the third group had actress Micheala Coel.  The winner of this heat was 17 year old Hetty Lawlor.  Her painting of Tennant was very accomplished but I personally didn’t like the way she used an iPad and copied the image almost exactly like a photograph, barely seeming to refer to the live model.  It’s fun to watch the artists at work and the different approaches and methods they use.  I’m looking forward to next week’s heat – cousin Reggie Yates is one of the sitters!




20 comments:

  1. Oh no Sue, I understand how you feel! My teeth have become very weak of recent. Two molars chipped in the new year and my dentist can't do any serious work on them just yet.
    I hope you get the work done well and fast...without having your pockets emptied!
    Greetings Maria x

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    1. My dentist is a genius when it comes to rebuilding teeth but it will be very expensive. Sigh.

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  2. I would love to have Sky just for The Portrait Artist Programme. Do hope your tooth is sorted out quickly!

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    1. I love these painting programmes, I think the artists are very brave.

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  3. When faced with instructions my mind goes a complete blank. It is a relief to find that I am not alone.

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    1. I just don't have the patience and it annoys me when you have to assemble all the parts yourself these days.

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  4. I hope you will be inspired to paint a few pictures of your own Sue. After constructing the carpet cleaner, Paul could model for you.

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    1. With or without the cleaner?

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    2. Do you mean the new carpet cleaner or Olga your pretty part-time cleaner from Romania?

      By the way Sue, my son will be on "Sunday Brunch" on Channel 4 this coming Sunday. I believe it starts at 9.30am.

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    3. Wow, I shall definitely make a point of watching it this Sunday.

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  5. I have posted today about my dental problems. I find it difficult to talk about.

    I have a friend who copies from photographs. She does it perfectly and is very talented. It has never done it for me and she had to take a lot of stick at art school for it, but there is no getting away from it, it is a great skill and I for one wouldn't mind being able to do it half as well as the experts.

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    1. Ah, I've found you again! I just think it's more of a technical skill rather than expressing yourself in an artistic way. I like paintings to be a bit wild and free.

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    2. Yes, me too. For this reason the poor girl suffered a lot from fellow students being unfriendly and nasty towards her but she really did have a talent for it and her work ended up in restaurants and reception areas and was appreciated by many and she probably makes more money than the rest of us put together!

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  6. Usually a photograph is better than a drawing, or painting, of it; so why bother. I am in the 'direct from life' camp; otherwise, what's the point.

    Our TV was suffering from 'bad weather syndrome' yesterday; so no pictures.

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  7. I bought a Vax carpet cleaner a couple of years ago. By the time I'd assembled it I'd gone off the idea of using it ! However I persevered and it did a very good job.
    I broke a tooth on a raw carrot some time ago - I'm not in any pain, so am still plucking up courage to get it seen to !

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    1. If I don't get my tooth fixed quickly I shall just dwell on it, I have to get unpleasant things ticked off and out of the way quickly. (We're going to launch the Vax on Monday!)

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    2. I'm in head in the sand mode at the moment - until it starts to hurt !

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