Saturday, January 15, 2022

Paint and Sequins


Another picture from Croydon, this one showing the very '60s office building known as AMP House. (It's named for the Australian Mutual Provident insurance company, its original occupant when it opened in 1968.) The Croydonist has some more good images, featuring some recent interior art installations, and author John Grindrod calls it "one of my favorite buildings in the town, chiefly because of the amazing atomic-age relief above the entrance, and the concrete chevron panels surrounding it."

Mid-century architecture often gets short shrift, but I tend to like those '60s clean lines. Grindrod does too, and his post (linked above) shows many other similar buildings of that vintage. Apparently Croydon went through some boom years for office development in the '60s and '70s partly because of laws restricting tower construction in Central London.

Thank goodness -- the weekend! I know it's kind of ridiculous for me to complain of fatigue given that I've only worked one week, after three off. But man, what a week. My mission this weekend is to finally finish my last Newbery, "The Story of Mankind" -- I'm up to the Reformation -- as well as take some walks with the camera.

In other news, my brother reports that his GMO pumpkin is finally rotting. He said: "Be sure to tell your blog readers so they understand that I do in fact know the difference between real and plastic pumpkins! Ha!"


And blogger Vivian Swift, who is a skilled watercolor artist, has painted a portrait of Olga! You can see the process here (scroll about a third of the way down). Vivian contacted me a couple of weeks ago with a request for photos of Olga, so I sent her some including one we'd taken on the beach in Broadstairs. That's the one she chose to use as a model, and it's interesting to read how she assessed the image and the difficulties posed by painting a mostly white dog with pink skin tones, and to see the process she used to bring Olga to life on paper.

She's promised to send me the paintings, so I can't wait to see them in person.


Finally, in the "clothes I wish I owned when I was a kid" category, my co-worker had a shirt with her yesterday belonging to her kindergarten-age son. Have you seen these shirts with sequins that you can brush one way for one color and another way for another? My thrilling video demonstrates the effect. Apparently you can also buy shirts where the sequins are printed with portraits of your spouse or child or pet, so you can brush them one way to reveal the picture and another to conceal it. And I thought Pupsocks were impressive! (So last year, now.)

45 comments:

Frances said...

My grandkids have t shirts and bags etc that have those sequins on....great aren't they? The painting of Olga is lovely. Lucky you to be getting it...for free? (Would normally cost a small fortune, I have thought about getting Alexi " painted" but the cost put me off!)

Moving with Mitchell said...

The watercolor is exquisite. Vivian Swift has some exceptional talent (and of course the perfect subject). Fascinating to watch her process. Hmmm, a sequin T-shirt of SG? Maybe not. But it’s still fun and I’m still trying to come down from that thrilling video.

Yorkshire Pudding said...

Three cheers for Vivian Swift! Her eye for detail is remarkable and she's so patient too. She has immortalised Olga so that when you and Dave are resting in your high chairs in "The Whispering Pines" retirement home you will be able to look up and see your old friend's portrait and you'll say, "She was a good dawg!" with a tear in your eye, remembering all those dog walks down Billy Fury Way.

Anonymous said...

Some people did very nicely when AMP demutualised? But then there was a scandal. The art work over the entrance is quite good.

Your brother thought the pumpkin would last as long as a Big Mac?

The tee is way cool. Love it.

crafty cat corner said...

The portrait is wonderful, o to be able to paint like that. I bet you will be so pleased with it when it is finished.
Briony
x

Boud said...

That's some talent, in Olga's portrait. Very sensitive. You're going to treasure it.

I love the clothes as toys idea! Now I want brushy sequin shirts, too. Or anything.

Jeanie said...

I've followed Vivian for years and am fortunate enough to have two paintings of Lizzie she has done. She aced it with Olga. Just reading her post is a fascinating tutorial on how to paint and this one -- a gem!

Ms. Moon said...

You are going to cherish that portrait of Olga forever. I had no idea Vivian was an artist. And yet- obviously she very much is!
Those "magic" sequin things were very big here a few years ago. We first noticed them on pillows and then eventually, they began showing up on clothing. They're so fun!

Ellen D. said...

That's a great portrait of Olga and I did enjoy the funny posts on Vivian's blog. Have a great weekend, Steve!

Mary said...

Like others, I am in awe of Vivian's talent. Her Olga painting will be a real treasure for you and Dave.

Anonymous said...

Double Wow! That painting of Olga is so beautiful. I'm looking forward to seeing the work progress. Vivian is such a fine artist. And that sequin tee-shirt is so cool. What a grand idea.

Sabine said...

Great work on Olga. What a lovely idea to have a painting in the end.
These T shirts, bane of my life right now as grandchild insists to demonstrate it daily over zoom (do you see it Granny, DO YOU? GRANNY!!!!) and well, we all see it now.

Linda Sue said...

OLGA!! What a lovely painting of your suede pooch! I love seeing the process from Vivian. It is magic.
The sequin thing has been around here for several years now, mostly on pillows, as washing can be hard on sequins. Popular in pride parades.

Allison said...

Olga's portrait is wonderful. The sequins are kind of fun. Wonder how much damage the do to the washing machine when they fall off.

Sharon said...

That building is great and I found that Grindrod site was also interesting. I loved that NLA Tower building too. That painting of Olga is beautiful and I loved seeing the process. I wish I was that talented with paints. And that sequined shirt is pretty amazing. Lots of fun things today!

Tasker Dunham said...

Looks like she's having her makeup done.

Kelly said...

How nice to have a portrait done of Olga! Love the socks, too. I can remember printing out transfers of photos (dogs and cows) to iron on tee shirts years ago. Not exactly quality, but still fun.

I've seen the sequin clothing (and shoes) before and think it's neat. My kids would have loved that shirt!

Bob said...

Vivian is quite talented, but then the subject matter is also quite lovely!

Beth Reed said...

Oh how cool to have paintings of Olga, how cool it is to watch the process as she did the paintings. Olga makes a wonderful model, I think.

I use to have a small computer bag with that effect. It was wonderful to sit and brush it, write our names in and just see what color would pop up next. My granddaughter loved I gave it to her last year.
Have a wonderful weekend and tell Ola she is soon to be famous lol....

ellen abbott said...

A boy's shirt with sequins? We've come a long way. that is pretty cool though.

The Bug said...

Oh I love that Olga is having her portrait painted! By a very talented artist too - very cool!

I've not seen those sequin things before & now I really feel like I need something with sequins. Or, maybe I can get something with my picture & the picture of a sheep for Mike. Ha!

Wilma said...

The beauty that is Olga has been set onto paper - how wonderful!
The sequinned clothes are new to me; we run about 5 years behind the rest of the world.

Steve Reed said...

I am indeed lucky! I was so happy Vivian was interested in painting Olga. I suspect everyone with kids or grandkids already knows about those sequined shirts!

Steve Reed said...

She did do an amazing job, didn't she? I love how she looked at the image and right away knew what the potential problems might be.

Steve Reed said...

Vivian is artistically patient, but I'm not sure she's politically patient. LOL! (I say that believing that she would agree with me -- and I'm not very politically patient either.)

Steve Reed said...

I had a feeling you'd know the backstory on AMP!

Steve Reed said...

I can't imagine being able to bring out such detail in watercolors. It's remarkable.

Steve Reed said...

Kids have so much fun stuff these days, and I feel like the gender barriers aren't nearly as high -- so boys can wear spangles and even skirts and it's perfectly acceptable. As it should be.

Steve Reed said...

Yeah, I love the way she shows us her process. It is indeed great instruction on painting.

Steve Reed said...

Vivian has published several books featuring her own artwork. She's quite accomplished! I'd never seen the sequins but as I told Frances above, I'm sure everyone with kids and grandkids has known about them for ages.

Steve Reed said...

Vivian really mines the Internet, doesn't she? Or at least Twitter.

Steve Reed said...

I'm so looking forward to seeing it in real life!

Steve Reed said...

The painting is done -- you can see the process on her blog. I'll be sure to show it to everyone once it arrives here and I get it framed.

Steve Reed said...

LOL -- I can totally hear your grandkids saying that!

Steve Reed said...

Oh, I'm sure the LGBTQ community has embraced those sequins! LOL

Steve Reed said...

Yeah, you gotta wonder, though this shirt seemed to be holding together pretty well.

Steve Reed said...

Yeah, the NLA Tower is a great building. And I've spent a lot of time in Lunar House myself, having gone there to renew our visas!

Steve Reed said...

Olga does have black around her eyes that looks a lot like eyeliner!

Steve Reed said...

Oh, I remember those iron-on shirts! Yeah, they never lasted too well, did they?

Steve Reed said...

When artist and subject combine perfectly, it's magic!

Steve Reed said...

I bet your granddaughter treasures that bag! Olga makes a good model as long as you're not relying on her to stand still.

Steve Reed said...

I know -- I said the same thing to Dave. It would have been unthinkable for a boy to wear sequins when and where I was growing up. But how cool that we've gotten past those silly rules!

Steve Reed said...

A sequined sheep shirt (say that three times fast) would be fantastic!

Steve Reed said...

They were new to me too, but as you can see from the comments we're apparently BOTH way behind. LOL

Edna B said...

That's quite an interesting shirt design. The painting of Olga is coming along nicely. It will look good on your wall. Enjoy your day, hugs, Edna B.