Not a Lot Blog

I don't have a great deal to talk about and even though some professionals say that it is best not to blog when you have little to say but I feel it is best to fill the large voids of posts that I have a tendency to do when I am busy with other things.

However, I have just started my Photoshop course which I am thrilled about; thank goodness I have learnt about layering and creating banner adds because Photoshop is not user friendly. Layering, masking, adding layers, moving them, deleting them, resizing images etc is just a mind fry but I had lots of practice on my first day so I think I can handle it.  Now I have to decide which version of Photoshop to purchase, it ain't cheap and they have released a cloud version that you pay month-to-month, I will not be getting that at this point. It will be useful when I want to retouch images, change colours etc, I also need to know how to create a design from scratch but I have not gotten that far yet.

I took my kids on Pro-D day to an art class at Port Moody Art Centre where they created puppets and a theatre which I thought was fantastic. Using pieces of cardboard, beads etc. It reminded me when I was a kid, making my own toys with things around the house. It get's their creative juices flowing and gets them thinking in ways that school perhaps restrains. As far as I am concerned art is great for everyone, all ages but especially kids; pictures are the first thing they are able to put on paper before letters and numbers, it is a way of expressing themselves, tell a story that they can't yet write in words. Next time I will get them in the clay class, I didn't work with clay much as a kid. Ironic really since I come from a city known for its pottery industry, with great producers like Wedgewood, Spode and Moorcroft. I interviewed a number of senior people at these places as part of my dissertation. Very interesting why some succeeded and others lost their way, it is not clear cut but it was well worth investigating. Gosh! I miss my university days where I was able to research and use my mind openly.

Here is to my Not A Lot blog!

Barlaston Hall

Barlaston Hall - Staffordshire, UK

A quirky painting of Barlaston Hall. I like the rich colours and the wobbly shape. I was trying out the same style as the Gladstone Pottery Museum.

Stephanie Matthews

Gladstone Pottery Museum

Gladstone Pottery Museum, Longton, Stoke on Trent.

This is a painting of Gladstone Pottery Museum in Stoke on Trent painted with acrylics on canvas that I did, not too long ago. Imagine it without the people (the image has changed since I painted it). A colleague of mine who is now a full time artist, Laura Zerebski does the most brilliant, vibrant of paintings of places in British Columbia. I thought I would try and produce something similar but in my style of painting. I also wanted to practice and copy other painters since this is the best way to learn and develop your own style.

Stephanie Matthews