 I hope this finds you safe and well. There has been some more summery weather on the west coast these past few days and I am enjoying starting to see the fruits of my recent labours in the slowly developing "garden". It's like painting a picture, I've come to realise - putting colours and textures together, to create something pleasing to the eye. Of course the garden "picture" does not stay the same, as the seasons come and go, so the gardener must be continually trimming and tweaking, looking, adjusting and adjusting again. It is a continuous work in progress.
Artist Support PledgeSince the Covid-19 lockdown, many artists and makers have been looking for different ways to keep going; exhibitions have been cancelled, gift shops and other outlets such as cafes, restaurants and galleries are closed. A UK based artist, Matthew Burrows, had the idea of setting up the Artist Support Pledge, on Instagram, for artists to support other artists during this difficult time. The concept is simple - an artist posts images of their work, costing no more than £200 each, on Instagram, using the hashtag #artistsupportpledge. Buyers contact the artist directly. When an artist reaches £1000 of sales, they pledge to buy £200-worth of other artists' work. I have recently joined this pledge, and am posting artwork daily on Instagram. Only the items listed there are included in the pledge - I'll be adding more items as time goes on. It seems like a good way of us all supporting each other - of course, you don't have to be an artist to buy works included in the pledge! Some of the artworks I've listed so far are shown above.
PhotographyMany of you already know that as well as painting, I love taking photographs. I know lots of folk have been missing visiting their favourite places in Scotland in recent times, so I've been busy updating my website to include a photography page, showing a selection from my portfolio. This links to another website (Photo4me) where you can buy canvases, prints etc. of my work. There's 10% off just now, on all items - just use the code kindness2020 at checkout.
Card Collections
If you're finding it tricky to get hold of greetings cards just now, I've expanded my card collections - there are now 15 different collections, each with 5 different cards. Hopefully there's something for everyone - shown above are -and below -
As always, thank you so much for your interest in my work, it is greatly appreciated. I am hopeful that there may be some opportunities to share my work in real life before the summer is over. In the meantime, stay safe and well. all the best Jennifer
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 Abigail had only one fault. Being right. Charles had always said so, back in the old days. Days before he died so suddenly, keeling over in the churchyard during that dreadful funeral. Elspeth; that was the woman’s name. Fairfax, or Fairweather, something like that. Grand sort of name for the mousy, waiflike creature with long fair hair who lived at the shabby cottage at the far end of the village. How she’d come to live there, no-one really knew.
Idleness is a sin, as Abigail knows only too well, gazing out at the snow swirling onto the patio and the neat lawn beyond. Jolted back to the present by the harsh ringing of the telephone, she goes through to the hall to answer it. Knowing it will be her son, Simon, she simply says “Hello”. Looking at the black and white graduation photograph of him on the hall table, she listens for a long time, saying nothing. “Mum; Mum, are you still there?” “No Simon, I’m somewhere else entirely.” “Oh come on, Mum, it’s not that bad, is it? Poor Dad didn’t even have a chance to get to know her.” “Quite right, too, she should never have been born.” “Really, Mum, I can’t speak to you about this any more right now; I’ll call back later when you’re in a more reasonable mood.” Simon hung up; Abigail dropped onto the chair by the phone, sat picking absently at a pulled piece of grey wool in her cardigan sleeve. Trust Charles to have gone and done something stupid and then left them to pick up the pieces. Unbelievable, that’s what it was, that her husband of forty years could have had a daughter that none of them had any idea about. Vile thoughts ran through her mind, of revenge and justice and things turning out for the best. What a pity Elspeth had been allergic to peanuts and that she had had no idea about it when she invited her for afternoon tea that day when Charles had been away on business. Extremely unfortunate, too, that Charles’ pre-existing heart condition and the fact that he’d run out of his medication, had meant that he’d dropped dead at his bastard daughter’s funeral. Zealously, Abigail set to work polishing the silver cutlery and laying out cups and saucers for bridge club later on that afternoon.  This is a short story I wrote a number of years ago. It is from my first collection of short stories and has been broadcast on Two Lochs radio in their Westwords programme.
Afternoons in the Brown household were generally given over to drawing spaceships. Barry tended to do intricate scale diagrams of complicated designs. Charlie’s efforts were usually brightly coloured, with birds and animals added for decorative effect. Daphne worked diligently, doing complex calculations concerning power outputs, thruster positions and light year estimations. Every evening, the three siblings would compare notes, pinning their efforts onto a board and pointing out special features. Finishing a spaceship drawing was something none of them had ever achieved. George, their father and inspiration, was long dead. He had been a technician at the local spaceship factory and harboured desires of going to Mars one day. “If only we could get someone to build one of these, to see if it worked!” Daphne said one winter’s evening, her mouth full of tea and bourbon biscuit. “Just let me make some phone calls,” said Barry, brushing custard cream crumbs from his Arran jumper. “Knit one, we could knit one!” shouted Charlie, waving his arms around, a jammie dodger in each hand. Lovingly, his siblings smiled at him and then at each other. “Maybe, Charlie, maybe,” Daphne said, gently. “No, really, I saw a pattern in last month’s “Novelty Knitting for Novices”. Only snag is how many balls of wool we’d need; I think it was two and a half million of blue and one and a half million of white.” “Perhaps we should see how Barry gets on with his phone calls,” said Daphne quietly, watching Barry pick up the phone and dial. “Question for you. Richard, on the funding front. Spaceship project; some fabulous designers have a terrific plan. Time to get up to date and move into new sectors, eh?” Until that moment, neither Daphne nor Charlie had any inkling that Barry was on nodding terms with Sir Richard. Very soon after, the call concluded and Barry was grinning from ear to ear. “We’ve got a deal; he fell for it hook line and sinker! Extra income from our pension payouts next month will make up the balance.” “You’re a genius, Barry!” cried Daphne and Charlie. “Zog, here we come!” shouted the three grey-haired siblings, waving slices of Victoria sponge in celebration. |
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