Quintadagio - 54

It seems to have been one thing after another this year! I last posted describing the pack of collapsing cards that was my families health...I soon followed ! Thank you for the nice messages, it wasn't food poisoning...there has been a virus...I believe it's called the Noro Virus or 'Winter Vomiting Bug', and it sure ripped through my family...it's now moved on elsewhere thankfully!

The upshot of these bouts of illness is the fatigue the besets the body afterwards as it tries to recoup the reserves it has lost. It has been no different with me. So ONCE AGAIN my output in work terms has suffered. You know it really annoys and frustrates me immensely that I should have finished this a long time ago...Saying that, here is the progress so far. My little menagerie continues to grow, now featuring a crow. I'd really like to incorporate a Badger and a Hedgehog...but I run the risk of turning my picture into a 'Where's Wally' episode.

Quintadagio - 53

It's been a difficult 48 hours or so.Firstly my youngest son woke at 4:30 yesterday morning vomiting..a change of bedding was needed...but the worst of it being that he sleeps high up in one of those IKEA beds with a desk underneath...so when he was sick he leaned over the edge and I'll leave the rest to your imagination!! Eldest son then fell sick a few hours later..the stage was set for a day of nasty smells and much groaning. They were feeling almost completely better this morning so Will headed off to school and Sam to college.

I then got a call from my daughter's school saying she had been sick and would I go in and fetch her. It's only a mile away, so I walked, but brought her back in a taxi...one home she went on to vomit at 20 minute intervals.I then had a call from Jan who had been working in Nottingham all day...she was driving home trying to suppress waves of nausea...if you've ever had to do that, you'll know how dangerous it can be. One old colleague of mine was so urgently needing to throw up, he tried to aim into the cigarette ashtray that you pull out on the dashboard...obviously it was totally inadequate ....his cassette player never worked again after that!

At time of writing, Annie has thrown up around 15 times and is now tolerating water at last...Jan is curled up in bed having thrown up lots......I've escaped so far...but for how much longer?

The lion shall lay down with the lamb

The image of the lion laying down with the lamb is a powerful concept.The mighty lord of beasts, and the frail timid soon to be Sunday lunch roast lamb. The root of the imagery is of course contained in the Old Testament book of the Bible, Isaiah. The author writes about the lion lying with the calf...the lamb lying with the wolf. The Lion/lamb is in fact a misquote. I don't think however that the lion/lamb pairing is out of context with the Biblical passage and it's imagery.

For the purpose of my artwork however, I am not alluding to any theological context..at least not consciously. My concept is a little more simplistic...I like contrasts and the apparent contradiction and juxtaposition of ideas...I like the iron and steel of the train...the age and bitterness of the Starman..the wide eyed nakedness of the Cello girls.The softness implied by bare feet..the harshness if the gravel... 'Quintadagio' refers to a group of five and a piece of slow stately music...placed in front of the train which weighs many tons and travels at great speed loudly hissing steam, a fire driven behemoth . light and shade...nature and man made....male and female...dream and reality...you get the idea i hope!

The more I think about it, I like the idea of foxes and chickens 'lying down' together....what would the off spring be like, i'd guess we could call it a 'Frickin'.LOL !

Quintadagio - 52

I promise this is the last fox..now each of the girls have their own corresponding foxy accompaniment.But what will the Starman be gifted with?...I like the fact that the fox is a scavenger and also the hunted...perhaps I'll throw a hen in as part of the mix.I like the idea of the Lamb lying down with the Lion!

I owe a very deep apology to all my trusty readers who also have blogs of their own. I've not read any other blogs this year...I really will get around to visiting you all soon!

Quintadagio - 51

I could just make my apologies for having not posted over the couple of days...but the truth is that following the funeral, I seemed to plummet into a dark place. Perhaps that's a little melodramatic, but I found myself not wanting or able to motivate myself to even consider picking up my pen. Today however, I did...the reason?....well, the sun shone...it's been grey and cloudy here with no sign of the sun since last Friday...and one sight of the sun made me feel so much better.So here's another fox!I'll not complete the lower parts until I'm totally sure about the texture of the ground beneath...the scene is set next to a railway line so that should mean gravel...we'll see.

Thelma Ashton - 2 September 1929 - 2 January 2010 .Rest In Peace

As you know, my mother In Law sadly died on Saturday 2nd January...today we had a funeral.After a service before the cremation , we headed back into Derby to the church Thelma attended for a service of Thanksgiving .This is the display Jan assembled at the front of the church.Thelma used to play the violin to a high standard and once played with noted violinist Yehudi Menuhin, she was also an Analytical Chemist ....but above all I knew her as the Mother to my wife and my Mother in Law...a clever intelligent private and caring woman....sadly missed.

Quintadagio - 50

I thought you might like to see the foxes in context of the whole picture...today I've been working on smaller areas, namely the cello girl's hands, the strings on the cellos and the background.you might be able to see pencil lines showing where I'm considering adding another fox..in fact I'm toying with the idea of having a fox for each girl.

Quintadagio - 49

I did spend yesterday working on the leaflet that will be used at the funeral .It was a privilege to be able to do what i could. I won't publish it here until after the funeral which will be next Monday.

As you can see, I've returned to my foxes today, I'm not happy with the right foreleg here...I'll have to see what I can do to make it better....and I've yet to finish the brush!

As you can see

Quintadagio - 48

I'm slowly increasing the time I'm able to apply to my work at the moment.Today I've concentrated on the foxes...I've just about decided how I want the legs to look, you can see the pencil lines showing the various alternative positions. Tomorrow however i will be working on artwork for the leaflet to be used at my Mother In Law's funeral next week.

Quintadagio - 47

Here's an update on the Foxes progress.I'm fairly happy with the way they're turning out.

Quintadagio - 46

Foxes symbolise many different things to various cultures....Cunning,adaptability, cleverness.....to others, the fox is seen as a visitation from the spirit world.The ancient Celts understood that the fox knew the terrain,woods and sources of food intimately, so would follow the fox as a guide and revere it for it's knowledge and wisdom. I also read that some native American tribes saw the fox as a wise and nobel messenger, whilst others considered the fox to be a trickster luring one to an evil demise.

Quintadagio - 45

I think Bobkat's advice was right...not to feel that I need to resume posting right away. I'm finding work/concentration incredibly difficult. If you're a friend on my Facebook page, you'll have read my status updates which usually concern humour......I love humour and of course it's a way to deal with things.....but it masks the truth in many ways.....it's also a little like switching to auto pilot...the nearest thing I can liken it to is when a person has a terrible head injury, a medically imposed coma is sustained to allow the body to heal and rest....I think we tend to 'switch off' certain public facets so that we can heal and restore in our own way.

I don't know how consistent I can be at the moment...but I will continue..just bear with me.

Quintadagio - 44

Foxes?...
Lots of snow has fallen all over the UK...infact it's probably the longest prolonged spell of snow and ice in nearly 30 years!I took this photo whilst waiting for Annie and her friend to pull the sledge up the very long and steep slope that was behind me!

Twelfth Night snowball fight.

Snow fell today turning just about all the UK into a giant frozen wonderland. Whilst many struggled to cope with the conditions , work at homers like Jan and I enjoyed ourselves. Whilst the sadness we have felt at the death of Jan's Mum on Saturday still bites deeply, we were able join our neighbours in one last Christmas event...it being Twelfth Night, we threw snowballs at each other and for a while , abandon ourselves to some seriously physical stuff. It was cold, it was wet and we had a fantastic time.

We've since come inside to get warm, send Annie off for a bath (Thanks for the photo Annie!) and prepare to take our Christmas decorations down. A lot of our talk and concentration centres around the forthcoming funeral and the arrangements that have to be made. Jan, Colin her Father and her brother David have been working together to make all these arrangements.

We have taken a great deal of comfort from the many very kind wishes and sympathy from our friends here and on Facebook. So I'd like to take this opportunity to say a very heartfelt thank you to everyone who left a message. your words really do have the effect of making us feel supported and loved even though we have never met most of those who comment. The blogging community is brilliant isn't it?

PS: I did work for a couple of hours today...I'll publish the progress tomorrow.

2010..is here.

Hello...may I take this opportunity to wish you a very happy new year.It seems odd to be writing this greeting even though it be only three days into the new year. My absence from posting was initially purposeful as I need to take a Holiday to enjoy Christmas...it was so good to have Jan not working over the period and this meant we were able to do lots of things as a family.

Jan's Mum however was not well, and over the Christmas period began to deteriorate in her health..this necessitated Jan to spend ever more time helping her Dad to care for her mum...getting up in the mornings and bed times etc...

Sadly, yesterday, Jan's Mum took a turn for the worse and had to be rushed to hospital.She sadly died last night peacefully.

We're still in shock and not really thinking of much else at the moment. My holiday from work is not a holiday any more. I will return to work as soon as I am able, which should have been tomorrow.But I know you'll excuse me for a little longer.

My mother In Law was a lovely woman..very intelligent and musical..she owned a degree in Chemistry and was a qualified violin teacher.An incredibly dignified and private person, she was not only to be valued for her very kind and caring nature, but was also the Mother of my very gorgeous wife Janet.

the photos here were taken what seems a lifetime ago, but were in fact on New Years Eve at our friends traditional gathering.It was a beautiful time but now tinged with sadness as one was not aware of the sadness only hours away.

thanks for continuing to read my posts...I'll be back sooner than you might think!