Took this photo from the car, driving towards Owd Bett's to watch the fireworks over the City ..... was thinking maybe we would drive into the City and see them closer (I LOVE fireworks) but then again Im not so keen on crowds.  I like watching them up in the hills.... space and a different perspective.  

This year.... there didnt seem to be as many spectacular bursts ....the recession? ..... but, there were more children in the small group of us that gather up there once a year, and they lit sparklers in the first few moments of 2014..... and it was lovely. 

So, A New Year and a new light ..... closer... and held by hands that are full of innocence and still forming .... and they always drawing circles .............

.......Just watched a programme taped by a friend.... Her Master's Voice  ....there's a small snippet here -  www.youtube.com/watch?v=09z2seL4NF8‎

   - about a journey undertaken by Nina Conti, a ventriloquist.  I expected to be a little disturbed (watched a horror film as a kid that scared me BIG TIME) and a little ..... bored?   I did not expect to be so moved and enchanted and, though I am indeed disturbed, it is for different reasons.
She was at a turning point/crisis point in her life and had more or less decided to turn away from ventriloquism. She planned to tell Ken Campbell (her ex-lover and mentor) about her decision when she discovered he had died .... and so her journey begins .... I know watching this is meaningful coz of my emotional reaction to it .... but the grey matter hasnt caught up with the heart yet ............

As Im filled with ideas, longings, hopes, misgivings for the coming new year, I am clearing away the clutter that has invaded my studio ......... the Christmas Card Box, Wrapping Paper Box, cellotape, scissors and all seasonal leftovers ......and underneath it all was the palette from my painting of Keevah Mae.  I noticed it formed a circular movement and checked out the plates and palettes I'd worked from and lazily put on the shelf under my desk without cleaning ...... more circles.  Its significance is personal; I remember a conversation I had late one night in the City Centre Streets, when I was in my 20's.   A group of us were giving out hot soup and sandwiches.  I was paired up with a guy who was a Christian and he was asking me about my faith ...... his faith had form and words and well-known stories peopled by heros and heroines .... mine didnt have words or form yet and my 'stories' were still being written with no beginnings or endings.  He was a lovely guy but he was compelled to find out where I was coming from so he started to ask me about love ..... true love ...... and he and I found out at the same time what I really believed.  I said love needs to form a circle otherwise it never fulfils its potential..... which is endless............... This truth, for me,  has stood the test of time  ...... 

.....Ive just had the privilege of painting John, known in his family as Big G. He is 90 years young and his son-in-law Martin, also an artist ...  http://www.cobbybrook.co.uk  ..... told me a little bit about John's life.... so inspiring... and written in his face.   Ive just spent the happiest 2 days painting Ive had in a looong time .......THANK YOU to Martin and his family and John x