An Advertisement

I am highly delighted and proud to be exhibiting at the Woolpack Inn, Boot in the beautiful countryside of Eskdale, for the entire month of November.  

This is a unique and welcoming pub in the western part of the Lake District which boasts excellent food and hospitality and will be hosting a wine festival from 19th - 22nd November,
which I'm sure will be fantastic!! 

woolpack.co.uk

In addition to this, I will be very busy over the next few weeks during the run up to Christmas and I would like to take this opportunity to advertise the events I will be attending.  

If you are in the area and would like to visit and offer your support to a wide array of artisans and creative people and at the same time get yourself some unique and individual gifts, we would all be highly delighted to see you!!

Christmas Farmers' Market, less than one minute off the M6 (junction 36), so if you're off on your travels stop off and have a browse at the stalls - there will, no doubt, be excellent cake!!

Rheged is one of the Lake District's major tourist attractions, just off junction 40 of the M6 and features many retail outlets, a wide range of places to eat, huge 3D cinema screen plus art gallery.

 The Christmas Market takes place over the weekend of 12th and 13th December. 

 I will be there on the Sunday with my stall and will also be there after Christmas (27th December to 3rd January) with my very own retail unit in Rheged's Winter Wonderland which features 

9m helterskelter plus other marvellous and exciting attractions and activities.

If you would like to have a look at my work my portfolio is available on my website and I would be happy to sell any of my cards and prints or original artwork to you if you would like to contact me.  In fact, if you would like to give me any feedback on my artwork or just to say 'hello' I would be extremely pleased to hear from you!

jaynelancaster.wordpress.com/gallery

jaynelancaster-artist@hotmail.com

Impressions of Blackpool

The other week, against my better judgement, I promised to take the teenagers and their friends to Blackpool Pleasure Beach.  Having not set foot in the place since I was not much more than a teenager myself, ie, an awful long time ago(!!) and my memories of it were of a noisy, scruffy, busy and quite depressing place full of alcohol fueled gangs, I was not expecting much 'pleasure' to be had on my part by the whole experience.

However, once inside the gates I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by the transformation and quite extensive regeneration that the 'resort' has undergone.  At times I forgot I was in northern England and thought I was in Disneyland!!  I was expecting Mickey Mouse to pop up at any moment but instead we got Spongebob Squarepants and Shaun the Sheep!  Everywhere looked clean and fresh and the staff were verging on polite and friendly.  I may even go so far as to say I was impressed...and I'm not easily impressed by anything!

And I even went on a couple of rides (see below for proof)! ...Blackpool, it's been a pleasure!

There is a minion in there somewhere, dodging the (according to my daughter) very scary sky rockets.

It was indeed a riveting ride!!

Spongebob Squarepants riding some green seaweedy looking monstrosity, possibly masquerading as a seahorse.

People everywhere, with backpacks, queuing...

A Welsh Sketchbook

I have just spent an interesting week in Wales with a friend and children on the Mawddach Estuary overlooking the seaside town of Barmouth, during which I had lovely company throughout and met many delightful and interesting people (not to mention purple dogs and escapee rabbits).

My initial reservations and mild panic at being in the middle of nowhere with no wifi access, no mobile phone signal and no television or radio vanished within a couple of days and I was able to relax and forget about the outside world.  In fact, if I had been given the option of staying for longer I would have jumped at the chance!  (Even though the toilet had broken halfway through the week and we all had to use the outside loo (complete with original Victorian seat)! - bit like camping really).

The Blue Lake

Bridge at Arthog Falls

Cregennan Lake

Looking towards Barmouth

Mawddach Estuary

Mawddach Estuary

The Clock Tower, Mawddach Estuary

House at Mawddach Crescent

Shadow

Copious Pleasure and Pain with Mork and Mindy in the Smoke

Rough Translation:  'There was a lot of wind and rain in London'.

I didn't think it rained in London... but when it does, it does!!

Pelicans in St James' Park

Pigeons in St James' Park

I'd forgotten to bring my nanny goat, having to go in search of Auntie Ella... and the dustbin lids were Doctor Crippen and taters in the mould.

I was glad to see the currant bun!!!

Westminster Rain

Big Ben with Brolly

...for simple sheep; and such are daffodils...

So, we're driving to the supermarket through a small village when I noticed some interesting looking sheep among daffodils in a small enclosure and, thinking that this made a very pretty scene, declared that I would stop on the way back and take a photograph.

A short while later, I duly stopped the car on the side of the main road, much to the disapproval of the teenagers.



'Really?!...you've stopped the car to take a photo of some sheep?!! I didn't think you were serious!!'

Me: 'Of course, look how handsome they are..there's some more round the corner, we'll stop there too...and some cows a bit further on.'

'OMG...you can NOT stop the car to photograph every single farm animal you see...we live in the country...we'll never get anywhere!!! Why are you so WEIRD??!!'

Of course, when the animals do something vaguely interesting, like the pheasant who then strutted out in front of the car, did some wild war dance, then sauntered back into the hedge, I'm fiddling with the camera, trying to stop the car rolling back down the hill and missed the shot!! Amid much laughter, I might add!

If anybody knows what breed of sheep they are, do please tell me.  I think they are Suffolks but I could be very wrong!!



For those of you wondering about the title of this post and why it doesn't make much sense, its a line from the following poem by Keats.

A Thing of Beauty

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:

Its lovliness increases; it will never

Pass into nothingness; but still will keep

A bower quiet for us, and a sleep

Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.

Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing

A flowery band to bind us to the earth,

Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth

Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,

Of all the unhealthy and o'er-darkn'd ways

Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all,

Some shape of beauty moves away the pall

From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon,

Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon

For simple sheep; and such are daffodils

With the green world they live in; and clear rills

That for themselves a cooling covert make

'Gainst the hot season; the mid-forest brake,

Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms:

And such too is the grandeur of the dooms

We have imagined for the mighty dead;

An endless fountain of immortal drink,

Pouring unto us from the heaven's brink.

John Keats

Easter - the Truth...

In order to make the Annual Easter Egg Hunt more entertaining (in particular for me)! and to make The Teenagers do a bit of work for their chocolate, I devised a challenge which I hoped they would find vaguely interesting and they might even remotely enjoy doing!

The task was simple - to create for me a picture of Easter - their own interpretation, anything they wanted, religious, pagan or whatever - all done in Fuzzy Felt.

So, after explaining how fuzzy felt worked (yes, really!!) and once they'd got over the indignation of being presented with some weird frivolity aimed at 3 - 6 year olds, they all accepted the challenge and upon the deadline date, produced two very ingenious and thought provoking creations.

And here they are, with explanations!

Team Georgiastair

This is what the captions say, clockwise starting top left.

In the UK, each child receives an average of 8.8 Easter eggs. That's a lot of chocolate!!! 97,042.1848 eggs given to children a year.

In 2007, an Easter egg covered in diamonds was made and sold for £9 million.  People use Easter to gain money for their own benefit.

43% of children eat their Easter eggs before Easter Sunday, so the true meaning of Easter is lost.

80 million chocolate eggs are sold every year in the UK.  Also, nearly 900,000,000 trees are cut down every year.  Lots of this will go towards packaging for Easter eggs and other Easter products. Cutting down trees means habitats are destroyed and species become extinct.  Easter egg packaging generates 4,000 tons of extra waste.

Almost 1 in 5 (19%) children have eaten so much chocolate they have made themselves ill.

Team Chiri

This comes with a story.

The Origin of the Easter Egg Hunt and other Traditions

Once upon a time, Mrs Hen laid some eggs.  Farmer Jones wanted to take them to market but Mrs Hen didn't want this, so whilst she was trying to get the eggs back to the barn, she accidentally knocked them down the hill (pace egg rolling) where they gathered moss and flowers and other pretty foliage (egg decoration).  Then she asked all the other farm animals to help her get the eggs back and so they all began looking for them.  Hamilton the Pig found them in the back of Farmer Jones' truck, so he then took them to Mrs Hen's house.  And all the eggs were saved!  The animals enjoyed looking for the eggs so much that they decided to do it all again the year after and the year after and the year after.....and so, the Easter Egg Hunt was invented!!   AKA Egster!

Fabulous effort by both teams.  I was pleasantly surprised at the inventiveness and amount of thought that went into this. Well done, kids!!

I think the Fuzzy Felt Challenge may well become an annual event - in fact, will probably be got out at every available opportunity and quite possibly be used as an A level revision aid.  Who needs revision guides when you've got fuzzy felt - the ultimate teaching resource!!

Without a shadow of a doubt...

...biscuits are barred!!

This is Shadow.

Shadow is not my dog; she belongs to my daughter's friend and her family. During dog walking duty, Shadow frequently finds herself sitting on my doorstep waiting (and waiting...and waiting...) for my teenage daughter to change into suitable dog walking/boy attracting clothing.  It was during one of these interludes, after the usual flurry of excitement and vast amount of fussing over Shadow, that I saw fit to feed the dog a biscuit or two (or three) ...and Shadow would perform some minor trick she'd been taught...and everybody was happy!

Some weeks later, Shadow's owner remarked that Shadow seemed to be incredibly fond of me and wondered why this could be.  After admitting that this was possibly largely due to the fact that I gave Shadow biscuits (of the sweet variety), I was suitably (and quite right too)! reprimanded for destroying Shadow's finely balanced diet and biscuits are now well and truly off the menu!

But Shadow still loves me...

...and lives in perpetual hope of a custard cream and a tummy tickle!!

Ghost of a chance

This weekend saw me exhibiting some of my artwork at a local art exhibition.  Delivery of work was Friday evening, which was all very well, until I realised, with some alarm, that this would involve driving over the haunted bridge..... I wouldn't usually be afraid of the haunted bridge; I've been travelling over it all my life without any sense of foreboding, but due to a recent 'sighting' I have avoided this bridge like the plague and was filled with fear and trepidation at the prospect of having to cross it!!  I had to give myself something of a severe talking to.

"So what if you DO see it?!!  What's going to happen?  What is it possibly going to do?"

"It will be standing in the middle of the bridge in front of the car with its terrifying white face... and it'll have fangs... and it'll scream at me... and I'll have nightmares forevermore..."

"Don't be so ridiculous!!  You're in a car, just drive away... fast!"

"What if it gets in the car?"

"Well, it'll soon get out again, bearing in mind the rubbish you listen to!!   Its eardrums will be blasted!!"

"Do they even have eardrums?  Can they hear?  Can they smell?  OMG, I'm wearing Ghost perfume - what if that attracts it?!!"

And so it went on...

I took my daughter with me for moral support, hugely excited about all matters spooky and supernatural, who insisted on hearing the gory details of the sighting incident just as we approached the bridge.  My nerves were in shreds!!!  Hair standing on end!!!  And the full moon and scudding clouds weren't helping!!

Despite all this, we managed to get over the haunted bridge without incident (and without me shutting my eyes), driving as fast as will allow down a narrow country lane with severe right hand bend and an abundance of potholes. 

I really will have to stop watching Scooby Doo and eating cheese before bedtime!!

These are the exhibits - unfortunately, nothing sold.  Oh, well...after all, there was only ever the ghost of a chance.......

Sketchbook of a Zoo

A fun-filled adventure with teenagers to the local zoo, encountering prairie dog abuse by waterfowl, emu attempting a break-in, rhinoceros food fight, vegetarian penguin and baby jaguar discovering the 'delights' of an electric fence.......ouch!

Decided I really should wear my glasses more often when I declared that the animal galloping along the banking far, far away was a horse - upon closer inspection, said horse turned out to be a wolf, lolloping, not galloping!

Several wolves, in fact!  Well..., I didn't know they'd extended the zoo and got new animals!!

Anyway, despite being the coldest zoo ever and my fingers nearly freezing off, I did manage to do a bit of sketching, enhanced at home with the assistance of photos (so, yes, I cheated)!