Graeme Skinner

Switching Off

Graeme — Mon, 14 May 2012 11:41:21 +0000

I have a fairly regular morning wander routine:- phone in pocket, hat on, camera at the ready, and of course my mp3 player on the go. This morning was no different, I wandered down the lane, clambered over a gate and down the hill into a small wood, all the while accompanied by La Tarantella. It was I must admit a pleasant start, but I started to realize as I looked for the right photograph that I was feeling disconnected from the wood, something was missing. Then, as I stood a Blackbird took flight from a nearby tree giving me a bit of a start and I realized I couldn’t hear the wood like I used to. So, I took out the MP3 player, switched it off, pulled the earphones out, and listened to the sounds of the wood around me. A short distance to my right a small stream bubbled over stones and under fallen branches; birds twittered and tweeted around me; leaves rustled in the wind. Suddenly I felt connected to the land and for a while I forgot the camera and pretty much everything else.

When I returned to the real world I remembered the camera and noticed the light breaking through the cloud, and I started snapping away with the camera.

Patches

Graeme — Sat, 12 May 2012 13:42:49 +0000

When I was out wandering with the dog this morning the sky was perfect, a nice strong blue with the odd cloud dotted about. So, when I had to go to the post office a short while later I decided to extend the journey a little and take some photographs while I was out. Getting in the car the sky was showing less blue and more cloud but still looked good. Twenty minutes later it was cloud as far as I could see, so I sat for a moment and watched the clouds swirl and swell, as the clouds changed odd patches of light would appear and disappear at random across the valley. I wasn’t quick enough to capture the majority of ‘light episodes’ but every now and then I fell lucky.

Cloudy

Graeme — Tue, 01 May 2012 16:57:58 +0000

There have been a few odd clouds about today, so we popped out to take a few photographs, not sure the cloud bodes well weather wise for the rest of the day though

That inner wizard

Graeme — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:58:59 +0000

I was trying to come up with an idea for a picture on the theme of mirrors, and I started to think, we don’t always let ourselves see what is really being reflected. So, I opted to paint the stereotypical fantasy geek/nerd in his bedroom with grim looking walls and shelves filled with books. Looking in the mirror he doesn’t see the his drab room or his bald chubby face looking back at him

Catching up

Graeme — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 17:41:39 +0000

Our internet has been down for a short while (ever since a farmer decided to plough through the phone line anyway). So here’s a little bit of catching up photograph wise

Before the dawn by Ullswater

Graeme — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 12:48:29 +0000

There is something to be said for get up at stupid times of the day (or night in this case). So, at 0430hrs I was loading the camera gear in the car and hoping the cloud would vanish from in front of the Moon. As I approached Ullswater the cloud had completely covered the Moon, and I was about to turn around when I decided to stop the car and stand by the lake for a while. I’m glad I did, all I could hear was the water lapping against the stoney shore and the wind rustling a few nearby reeds. It took me a minute or two to remember I had my camera with me So, I took a few photographs while I enjoyed the tranquility. Most of the images are to be used as reference images for paintings, but here’s a couple of them…

You have to wonder

Graeme — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 10:18:33 +0000

I’ve been a member of Amazon Prime for a few years now, and it has to be said, the service is getting really poor. Or should I say it’s poor when they use a particular courier service. On Monday this week I placed an order on Amazon using their Prime service, it wasn’t a particularly exciting order but that’s beside the point Anyway, I received the usual emails from Amazon confirming the order and giving me details of how to track it on the couriers website. The following morning I visited City Links website (the courier in question) and noted that the package was scheduled for delivery that day, I waited, it did not appear :-/ So I contacted City Link, they assured me they were looking into the issue and confirmed the package would be delivered on the Wednesday, so I waited again, and no package arrived. Thursday arrived and checking on the packages status on City Links website showed it again being loaded onto the van and sent out for delivery, it was no surprise that the package did not arrive. Fair enough, it was maybe a bit much to ask, I mean, imagine a courier company actually delivering a package.

Giving up on the whole thing I decided to click the button on the City Link website ‘return to sender’, then I contacted Amazon again and told them it was being returned, they then arranged for a refund. It was therefore a bit of a shock to get a knock on the door this morning from the City Link driver with the package, obviously telling them to return it to sender must translate to deliver it five days late please.

I refused the package, since I’d already told them to return it to sender anyway and Amazon had started the refund process. But I am wondering, why should I pay for a Prime service that is so poor? It’s not the first time that City Link have failed to arrive when they’re supposed to, in fact whenever it’s now at the stage that whenever we see that City Link will be bringing a package we’re starting to guess which day they’ll actually appear.

Quick change

Graeme — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 11:02:46 +0000

It wasn’t that much of a shock that the mini-heatwave we’d been experiencing didn’t last too long, it was a bit of a surprise to see snow falling so enthusiastically. At least I could get home from work and there was enough light for a photograph or two

Panoramic time

Graeme — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 14:39:54 +0000

A couple of panoramics from this morning.

It’s strange….

Graeme — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 06:20:33 +0000

It’s strange how things develop and change when you’re playing with ideas for a painting. I’ve been wondering for a while how I’d paint Bilbo meeting Gandalf for the first time at Bag End, so I sat down with a couple of pencils and a large sketch book and pondered. Nothing came to me, I stared at a blank piece of paper and wondered if it was like they say about carving, the piece is already there you just have to chip away the waste. Well, I tried looking at the paper in different light, from different angles, with my eyes half closed, nothing helped. So, I drew a line, intent on making a mark on the page, the line became a very rough sketch of the gate which led to some background hills…. Now all I have to do is work out what I want to change before I think about painting it