Some questions answered

Several questions were asked about me still having an English accent even after all the years I have been here in the States. Well, I have it still because I have made an effort to keep it. Since I was an English teacher, it was an asset in my job. I like my accent! That doesn’t mean that I dislike the southern accent. My two sons have lovely accents, I think.

OK, what kind of art do I make… I started by doing realistic work, especially portraits. Realism is "safe" for me. I have only to look carefully and draw or paint what I see {not what I think I see} to do something that is recognizable. What I had been doing right up to the time Fred got so ill {which is when I stopped all art} is abstracts. I was first encouraged to do these in a pastel class at the Community College in the part of Vermont where I was living. The instructor was not only teaching technique but actively pushing us to do things we thought difficult. The realism workers were encouraged to be as abstract as we could and the abstract people were encouraged to be realistic. I don’t know about the others, but for me I found if I "listened " {for want of a better word} to what I was painting. it almost told me what it needed. I will see if I can find some links to both realistic and abstract art… OK, this link should take you to my Pastels 2 portfolio. It is mostly realistic, I am afraid. I have several abstract paintings I am going to hang in my apartment. I will take pictures of them.

What part of England am I from? I was born in Nottingham {home of the Sheriff of…}which is almost exactly right in the middle of the country hence I was born in the Midlands.  I left there to go to college in Liverpool {up north!} when I was 18. I moved around a lot all over England after college because I really wasn’t sure what I wanted to teach. My majors in college were art and English literature. I soon learned that art teachers were not in great demand so I concentrated on English.

Ok, Marmite! You either love it or hate it! I love it. Fred hated it! I would say one has to have been exposed to it from childhood except my sister and I didn’t have it until we were teenagers.  My older son loves it. My younger son hates it!

My sons are 21 years apart in age–well, if we are being strictly accurate, it is actually 20 years and 51 weeks… Although they have different fathers, they actually look very much alike except the younger one is taller than the older one. If I didn’t write their names on their baby pictures I would have no idea which kid it was! The older one was born in 1956 and the younger one in 1977. They have both grown up to be very nice people. Not only do I love them, I am happy to say I also like them!

Why am I back in physical therapy such a long time after the surgery? Well, I have just turned 79 and there is only one year before I am 80. Fred started letting himself go downhill when he was about my age and he died when he was 86. His health was a lot worse at this age than mine is now because he had been an insulin-dependent diabetic since he was 50. He was very good at checking his numbers but no matter how careful one is, diabetes damages the body. Now, I am not foolish enough to think that because I do not have diabetes, I will live forever. I have already had two different cancers. I am aware that I no longer have the energy to do what I used to do, but I have decided that I want to enjoy myself as much as I can in these last years. And the first step is to get my hip and back in the best shape I can. So, physical therapy which is definitely helping. The last time I had PT, {about six years ago} I did not do the work after the classes were over. This time, I will continue. I am already seeing improvement and I am well aware what will happen if I stop.

Anything else?