Anticipation versus instant gratificaiton

Image credit: Luke Chesser via Unsplash.com

I have subscription to Spotify. For around £10 a month I have access to virtually every musical genre known to human ears and millions upon millions of tracks. The algorithms know my tastes and provide me with perfect suggestions when I'm looking for something new. It's pure bliss.

My son, who turns into a teenager next month, has suddenly started taking a deeper interest in music. Like me he has varied tastes with his playlists that see country music stars rubbing up against the kind of tunes a parent yells "turn that racket down" at. 'Head-banging music' as my own parents would have called it.

It was back in the early 80s when I made my first purchases of vinyl 7 inches - having finally persuaded Mum and Dad to buy a record player. I remember taking my pocket money to Boots and coming away with Eurthymics Sweet Dreams clutched in my paws (yes, millennials, Boots used to sell music once upon a time!).

There was something to be said about that anticipation. Saving your pennies - £1.20 was a lot back then - and then finally getting the living room to yourself, wiping the dust off the needle and letting the magic happen. It's something my son just won't get. It's all instant gratification and I suppose there's nothing wrong with that. He can go on a musical journey right from the comfort of his phone these days, taking in a bit of early 20th century jazz alongside today's pop funk. His musical education is right there for the taking.

Maybe it's just nostalgia, but there's still something special about slipping the vinyl from the sleeve and hearing that crackle as the needle begins its journey...

When we were young...

I used to love drawing cute little bunnies...

Just found these tucked away in an old art folder. They date back a few years (about 28 to be precise!). I think I was about 13 or 14 when I created these characters. They lived in a smart town house in Mayfair during the season but preferred their country estate - much more suited to rabbits. I'm not sure why his Lordship is dressed in hunting gear though... I would have thought he was a vegetarian!

I guess they were a sort of Downtown Abbey for bunnies. That's the Dowager Countess in the bottom picture - the one with the top hat with a feather who looks like she's about to go out riding (though I do wonder how she's going to get on the back of a horse!). What a 'game' old gal she was... always had a twinkle in her eye when telling a story.

Maybe it's about time I told it for her... what do you think?

Sharing a spot of nostalgia with my friends at Paint Party Friday.

I'm so happy I found them again. What a lovely blast from the past. I can still remember creating them!

Green lady of Fridays

Friday nights just aren't what they used to be. Long gone are the days where you'd find me in some bar in London's West End using my trick of standing sideways to worm my way to the bar quicker. There was never anywhere to sit, but hey where would be the fun in that? We'd go out, more often than not a gaggle of giggling girls, with the intention to mingle, to meet, dance, make eye contact with the opposite sex... fuelled by an intoxicating mix of alcohol, music and bonhomie.

Friday nights meant letting your metaphorical hair down and celebrating the end of the week with a P A R T Y.

Now, a few more years under my belt, things have I admit slowed down a little (for one thing, I can get drunk on only two glasses of wine... would have been a money saver in the old days I can tell you). Last Friday night, with my son sleeping soundly upstairs, my boyfriend fighting mythical creatures on the PC and his daughter watching movies on the TV - I spent my evening drawing!

Not quite the wild times of the 1990s, but actually just lovely! I spent hours on this girl. She is for the theme of green in the Summer of Colour. I pulled out my leafy shades from my prismacolours, took my virgin extra large sketchbook and just drew and shaded and drew and blended - a labour of love. Then, when she was finished, I scanned her and a luscious green background I've painted (but not actually done anything with) and blended them together in the trendy bar known as PhotoShop. The finishing touches to this fantasy cocktail was a giant grungy brush.

She looks a bit like the Absinthe fairy, don't you think?

OK confession, I did also have a glass of wine while I was creating - funnily enough a brand I remember discovering in some fancy bar back in the day ...

PS: While I've got you here, I must tell you about an event happening this September that I would love to attend (but finances and time won't allow this year). It is Sweet Freedom Retreat - where Wild Women go to create. Sounds incredible - especially since my bloggy friend Kelly Berkey will be there teaching. Ah... since I went on the Do what you Love Retreat, I feel an addiction to these gatherings of like-minded souls coming on. An annual treat perhaps?