Vintage

A friend suggested that when I blog, I should pass on my knowledge of painting techniques and craftwork. However, I think there is ample advice on the internet and u-tube already so I decided against adding to this. Perhaps it is because I don’t think of myself as having a technique but paint and create whatever I feel is in my heart at the time. 

For a long time I had wanted to paint a girl from another era wearing a vintage coat and looking over her shoulder. I can’t tell you the reason for this, maybe she is looking at me or you from a different age!

There is a renewed fascination with vintage wear and the girl in the painting is from the 1930’s era. A time before most of us were born but a time with similarities as we are again in a deep recession with high unemployment rates. The main hobbies in the 1930’s were DIY and gardening so not much change there then either!  Gandhi  was protesting for rights of the people in India and we have had Mandela protesting for rights in South Africa. Hitler was planning to overtake the world and we have terrorists continuing to threaten the world.

If I painted a girl of today, looking over her shoulder, I wonder what life would be like in the decade of 2090.

Communicating with the family

Had a wonderful weekend with my family and friends. One full day BBQ for my daughter’s  40^th birthday and a bank holiday ‘girls’ shopping expedition. It is so wonderful to be in the company of my family as the family is the one place you can be yourself and feel loved and supported unconditionally.

All through my long career as a Health Visitor, I was privileged to be invited into the homes of a variety of families and extended families and I value the importance of a good family. I have supported and advised families on a myriad of subjects and have been a small part in their successes and shared in their sad experiences.  In all of these situations I am reminded of the importance of communication as a lack of communication is often the cause and effect of breakdowns and negative experiences.

A child in one of these families was demonstrating problems with her behavior and I had asked the mother to keep a diary so that we could identify problems and techniques. As an alternative to a written diary, the mother had used a cassette to record events but one day had inadvertently left it recording. When she played back the recording she realised how often this child had been speaking to her or had tried to gain her attention and the mother had not heard her. This had not been done deliberately, but the mother was amazed how often the child had unintentionally been ignored. Needless to say, the situation was reversed, and as the communication improved, her behavior also improved.

 How we interpret the meaning of the spoken word can cause misunderstandings and further hurt if further communication is not used in order to clarify or voice hurts. One of my daughters recently attempted to reassure me about a situation in her life but I had interpreted her justification quite differently and it had not reassured me but had the opposite effect of reinforcing my original concerns. Thankfully this was sorted out a few weeks later as it had started to form a barrier between us.

So in my written communication, I celebrate the true meaning of family, with all its positive and negative aspects, its support, its blessings and most of all, its continuing unconditional love. We don’t choose our family but I am so happy and privileged to have the one I have now.

Roses, roses, roses

My late mother’s favourite flower was the rose and so we had many rose bushes in our garden. The rose is also one of my favourite flowers but only the single colour roses. With this in mind I have painted 3 roses at different stages of flowering.  I have enjoyed painting these flowers as in so doing, it brought back many good memories of my mum and I find painting so relaxing that I now feel so chilled and ‘de-cluttered’. These are painted in oil on canvas measuring 12x12 inches.

Apparently the name ‘rose’ is from the French language and is derived from the Latin ‘Rosa’. There are at least 100 species and there are records of their existence from 500BC. That’s a long time! Roses are everywhere – they are featured in fairy stories, on emblems (the Lancashire Rose), in food such as rose hip syrup, in herbal and folk remedies, used in Chinese medicine and in perfumes. I also have a small rose tattooed on my shoulder. How many of us, as children, have made our own ‘eau de toilette’ by placing rose petals in water for a day or two?

Of course, roses have been painted over the centuries by old masters such as Monet, Cezanne and one of my favourite artists, Renoir.

 My trilogy of roses is dedicated to my mother, who introduced me to the rose with all its beauty which I hope I have been able to portray.

Cheers mum!

Success

I exhibited at another craft fair at the weekend and sold my first 2 paintings. I am so pleased because it means that my work is appreciated by people other than family and I had never actually sold one of my paintings before as they had always been given to family and friends.

This ‘success’ has given me a renewed motivation, not due to any financial motivation but through a sense of achievement and satisfaction. I achieved my aims and so this enabled me to feel good about myself. 

So what is ‘success’? Do we strive to achieve according to the rules and expectations of society or do we strive to achieve according to our own ideals? In other words, are we driven by a sense of personal control or are we controlled by an unseen driving force that we have to meet, in order to retain our stature in society?

Does it matter? Yes I think it does. 

If I look back on the true successes in my life, they are not the qualifications I gained or the advances I made in my employment, they are the personal achievements. Those achievements that helped to increase my confidence and self esteem. The successes that come from within, these are the ones that last a lifetime, that have a more dramatic effect on the psyche.

Sounds quite profound but break it down into the small parts and my successes have been those that have continued to have a positive cause and effect in my life.  Other people may or may not acknowledge my events as successful and quite right, because any success is only a success if it is relevant and beneficial to the individual. 

My own personal successes are those that include being a good role model, an ability to understand, completing tasks, sharing and relinquishing control to a higher power.  How do I measure my own personal success?  Success for me is when I see a smile on my own face or on the faces of others. 

Eureka!!

21 and counting

When I was 21, I remember an old man saying that he wished he was 21 again and knew what he knew now. It must have made some kind of impression on me because I remember that encounter well. Only now that I am older, do I fully realise what he meant and so I have compiled my list of 21 'would and would not's' so that I can truly say - 'if only I was 21 again and knew what I know now'.

1. I would value my own opinion
2. I would alter my priorities
3. I would only work to live not live to work
4. I would converse with more people
5. I would live and let live
6. I would appreciate 'me' as a unique person
7. I would think first, then act
8. I would be more assertive
9. I would be more patient
10. I would know that money doesn't grow on trees
11. I would know that true friends are a Godsend
12. I would not 'need' that sports car
13. I would know that after every sad time comes the smiley time
14. I would know that my first love was not the best
15. I would not try to please everyone
16. I would know there is a grand scheme of things
17. I wouldn't attach so much importance to things
18. I wouldn't be as self conscious but more confident
19. I wouldn't need to check my appearance for the umpteenth time
20. I wouldn't start to smoke 
21. I wouldn't live for weekends and holidays

 But hey, that is now me, umpteen years later and if I knew then what I know now, what would there have been to learn!!

What would your 21 pearls of wisdom be?

Rant of the week

 

I don’t rant often. Usually I am slow to anger and I get annoyed by injustices but this time it is due to incompetence, or to be precise, incompetence by the Post Office. Against my better judgement, I used the Check and Send service offered by the P.O. for a first time passport application for my son. This service is described as stress free, speedy and ensures the application is completed correctly. How wrong can you be?

The application was returned a week later as a whole section had not been completed. OK, I admit I had read the note on this section which said it was to be completed if the child was less than 16 years old so I skipped that part. Now, on further reading, it also said it was to be completed if it was a new passport application. So I skipped it because I thought it was for a child, however, the cashier who was checking the application surely should have noticed this important fact as she was told that it was a new passport application. She checked the form on two separate occasions, was offering a service to ensure it was correct, and then missed it completely!!

To make matters worse, I telephoned the passport department who informed me that the P.O. often get it wrong and it was an expensive service and that I would have been better advised if I had spoken to their office instead for free. GRRRRR!!! I now have to complete the application again and hopefully it will be returned in time for our holiday.

Of course I complained to the P.O. who readily offered a refund and an apology but that is quite flippant and does not address their professional incompetence and misleading advert. If a company advertises a service, it should do what it says on the tin. My rant is about the frequency of failure of this service and of being misled by advertising from a reputable company which resulted in a stressed, time consuming, double hassle, application.

It’s good to rant, it gets rid of the stress that you were promised you wouldn’t have! I will keep you ‘posted’ of any new developments