What a totally unfair thing to say…I have had some of the most beautiful days in the North and of course ‘ …the North remembers…’. In truth it has been one of those horrible days all round as far as the weather is concerned: not that cold but damp and dull. The food at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park was very wholesome and just what you need to deal with the dull nothing of a day outside.
A long time ago I read the Arthur C Clarke short story The Sentinel. It was the inspiration for the film 2001: A Space Odyssey and formed the first act. In the story a structure of incalculable age was found on the surface of the moon. The story ends with the transmission of a signal out into space – although Wiki suggest more but I cannot recall that.
This book flashed back into my mind this afternoon as I clambered over the rocks of Beacon Hill in Leicestershire. This time the structure’s age – less than a hundred years. However the age of the Precambrian rocks that it is sitting on are incalculable. Actually that is not true as their age is known to around 561 million years, but they are some of the oldest rocks anywhere on the surface of the earth. So unlike the structure sitting on the surface they have seen the rise of life on earth and no doubt will still endure long after we humans have passed into dust to be replaced by what no one can know.
I suspect I may well be spending much of the day working on Beryl.
If you are a photographer then there is nothing more enjoyable than walking the countryside on a cold winter’s afternoon with the sun slowly setting. This is the golden hour for any photographer. Through in a bag of primes and well you will have gone to heaven. Nonsensical conceit I know but it did feel a bit special yesterday as I took my new 25mm f2 out for its serious workout. I have decided to move away from the weight of zooms and return back to to my roots with a bag full of primes. It will take a while to truly achieve what I want to do but I’ll get there.
This could be a country lane anywhere in the UK. Nothing out of the ordinary and really nothing to see. Unfortunately, come the 30th March next year this will be the border between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the European Union.
Same as this.
And this.
Everytime I hear a Brexiteer talking about a no deal they always try to reassure people that all we are doing is reverting to our trading position before we entered the EU – back then it was called the Common Market. However, in 1973 these lanes would have been blocked on the Northern Ireland side and there would have been army patrols along the whole of the border. Also in 1973 253 people were killed as a result of this border being in existence oh and the patrols weren’t that effective!
So next time you hear someone banging on about no deal Brexit just spare a thought for the Irish on both sides of the border between the European Union and Great Britain and then ask how a no deal brexit will deal with this border?
I have no idea how I’m going to paint this. This should be interesting…I think?
Some days are good, others less so. Today was a less so day. Hopefully things will be better tomorrow so to try and unwind I spent fines minutes making this sketch. It pleased me.
Last week I wrote a post about the last images of Autumn I would make. Unfortunately whether it was the onset of senility or stupidity I thought that the end of November was last Sunday! However almost as soon as I posted that I realised my error but I thought I would keep it to remind me of of my own hubris (although I don’t believe any deity was involved just me getting ahead of myself.) So as I write this it really is winter, well at least as far as I am concerned, so these are the last images of Autumn as they were definitely captured on the 30th November 2018 at Kedleston Hall..
There reaches a point in any painting that you can’t take it any further. Many times the whole thing has collapsed under weight of the decisions made during the creation of the work. Other times you just know enough is enough. Well I think I have reached that point with this. No more tinkering…honest!
The latest painting I’m working on…December is only 6 hours 36 minutes where I am when writing this but thanks to the joys of insomnia I have been able to really start to work on this painting.
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