Cat Portrait Demo and the Big Chill, some pics

Barley the Cat, 8" x 6".  Prismacolor and Derwent Coloursoft Pencils on Sennelier La Carte sanded pastel card.

This little picture is featured on the Mighty Art Demos website where I have described in step-by-step detail how it was done on the sanded support, for anyone interested in how I work.  There are also many other fascinating demonstrations on this site by artists using a variety of media - Enjoy!

And......I thought I'd post up a few pics of the extraordinarily snowy weather we are having here in the UK, just in case you didn't know!  This one is a view from my house..........

 

And these two are views of my back garden......

It looks quite pretty doesn't it?  Picture postcard stuff.  Yes...well it would be if we could all go shopping for vital provisions like bread, milk and tea (musn't forget my tea!) via a sleigh pulled by a team of huskies.  Unfortunately, no such transport is available round here and instead, we all have to either don the wellies and trek a mile and a half to the shops or dig out the car (literally) and risk life and limb driving along untreated icy roads.

I shouldn't whinge too much though, after all.......I could be living in Scotland - perish the thought!  Not that I have anything against Scotland, it's just that up there in the Highlands they are having temperatures below - 20 degrees C at night and conditions are said to be akin to those at the South Pole at present.

We are just not used to this white stuff, having had several years of very mild winters hitherto and having been lulled into a false sense of security by theories about global warming.  When we get more than a couple of days of snowy weather on the trot the country starts grinding to a halt.  By the fourth day of this current cold snap, news bulletins were reporting chaos on the roads with gridlock traffic and abandoned cars, schools closing (a highly contentious issue) and a serious decline in retail sales due to people not getting out to the shops!  And...... we've not had a refuse collection for four weeks now!  We'll be getting dysentery next.  Anybody would think there was a war on.   Where will it all end!

I'm beginning to sound like the proverbial grumpy old woman so I'd better stop now.  Roll on Spring, said she, trying to sound cheerful!