Author: penwithlit

December 23

A sip and a smoke on the back porch,
then its starts to snow;
it seems the night
has decided to number
its ghosts.

No snowflakes settle; beyond reproach,
all absolved — go, go, —
a cull of light;
as my birthday remembers
its lost.

Carol Ann Duffy (1955 -

December 23

pavlova and BBQ on the beach
the day full of light
and gives warmth
to all the cells
of my now

so many memories have rescinded
like missing snowflakes
that once came to my window
and momentarily settled
before melting away

Richard Scutter

Well interesting that I share a birthday with Carol Ann Duffy. And that she mentions the snow in relation to the passing years as people like ghosts are recalled before fading like disappearing flakes of snow.

It was snowing heavily when I was born. It was so cold, I got quite a shock…

[Photograph by Jianwei Chen]

Once on a morning of sweet recreation

I heard a fair lady a-making her moan,

With sighing and sobbing and sad lamentation,

Aye singing, ‘My Blackbird for ever is flown!

He’s all my heart’s treasure, my joy, and my pleasure,

So justly, my love, my heart follows thee;

And I am resolved, in foul or fair weather,

To seek out my Blackbird, wherever he be.

This song was sung in Scotland both before the 1715 Jacobite Rebellion and after it – and as the Editor of ‘The Jacobite Songs and Ballads’ (1861) makes clear, ‘The Blackbird’ was the nick-name his friends gave to the Old Pretender – James Frances Edward Stuart.

He had a very dark complexion – a characteristic he shared with his father-in-law, Charles II, who was named ‘The Black Boy’ by his mother – and described as a ‘tall, black man’ on Wanted…

A random survey of self-portraits created by women through the centuries

American Painter and illustrator Doris Lee (1904-1983)

Self-Portrait, c.1935 / Oil on canvas / D. Wigmore Fine Art, Inc, New York, NY

[2 embedded links above]

Dec. 30, 2021~ Doris Lee, Unjustly Forgotten, Gets a Belated but Full Blown Tribute
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/30/arts/design/doris-lee-overlooked-artist-exhibition.html

It’s day 17 in the Diamine Inkvent calendar, and check out that cool snowflake:

Day 17’s ink is Diamine Flame, an orange standard ink. Yay for standard inks again!

Diamine Flame is a bright orange with some shading and did I mention that it’s a standard ink? No shimmer, sheen, sparkles or scent. Nice for a change.

I am continuing my animal theme for now, this time with a sketch of a clown fish. You can see Diamine Flame’s shading and outlining properties quite well here”

Diamine Flame is dark enough to be legible without losing its orange nature (it’s not too red, in other words). Will I buy a full bottle of this? Likely not, as I don’t normally use orange inks. It is, however, a well behaved, interesting enough orange ink for…