Category Archives: Art

Starfish

Posted on April 13, 2015 by janh1

I bloody hate Antiques Roadshow. I made this declaration after sitting down and watching – because it was on – the valuation of a particularly esoteric old toy. Old toys – apart from ancient, abandoned teddy bears who carry an … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Current Affairs, Seaside | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Geological drawers

Posted on January 11, 2015 by janh1

Am I the only one who has geological drawers? I don’t mean weighed down with rocks, maybe a chunk of gneiss, a spiky bit of rose quartz or a flaky slice of slate complete with fossil fern. What I mean … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Current Affairs, Cycling, Fiction, Literature | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Given the bird

Posted on January 11, 2015 by janh1

You don’t know until you try, they say. Truest thing ever – especially when it comes to bird photography. Things were quite busy at Christmas and the Canon camera didn’t make an appearance what with the battery charger being buried … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Birds, Cats, Photography | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A comical signature dish

Posted on November 24, 2014 by janh1

I’m used to watching Masterchef on TV and feeling teeny pangs of failure and regret, realising that “Oh noooo!” my mille feuille didn’t have enough layers or my tarte tartin should have been puff pastry not shortcrust. To my deep … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Current Affairs, Food | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

A shot in the dark

Posted on November 23, 2014 by janh1

      It was achieved by me, in the spare bedroom in pitch darkness, with two box files balanced on top of each other, covered by a black pashmina with a desk lamp behind and a glass of merlot … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Photography | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Christmess time

Posted on November 23, 2014 by janh1

You can tell we’ve entered the season of Goodwill, Boundless Bling and Over-indulgence when festive Christmas tree pictures are featured in the newspapers. Today’s tree was from Bradford-on-Avon where it’s reported that the poor long-suffering residents had to endure a … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Countryside, Current Affairs | Tagged , , , , , | 11 Comments

If at first you don’t succeed…..

Posted on November 15, 2014 by janh1

Yesterday, I got home from work all enthusiastic about going to see beautiful Gloucester Cathedral all dressed in purple to mark International Pancreatic Cancer Day. It was odd because the purple hue meant that you couldn’t see the tower shining … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Current Affairs, Photography | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

An easier snap

Posted on November 12, 2014 by janh1

Went to my beginners photography class tonight and had a chat to people about how tricky it turned out to be,  trying to snap fireworks – especially when they were in The Wrong Place. It was the combo of darkness, … Continue reading →

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Still life

Posted on November 7, 2014 by janh1

Creating a still life with a camera had never really occurred to me but I was kind of excited by the thought of setting something up in a real photographic studio with proper lighting. My favourite still life paintings are … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Countryside, Photography | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Eats, shoots and gets it out of focus

Posted on November 5, 2014 by janh1

I’ve been on automatic for far too long. So I’m learning to tell my ISO from my elbow and that the F numbers aren’t sweary at all. Manual digital photography should be within my grasp. But the grasp imperceptible and … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Cats, Countryside, Current Affairs | Tagged , , , , , , | 7 Comments