OMG! They are my dog's ultimate nightmare. I have grown to hate them on his behalf, and will drive a long way with him safely in my car, classical music playing until it's all over.
I hate the randomness of folk just letting them off whenever, with no penalty. I don't even find them beautiful anymore. My dog barks and shakes and has even peed as he tried to burrow under our bedding.
But the drone displays that are now becoming popular are brilliant - silent, creative, and very beautiful against a night sky.
I'm all for silence, just silence with the occasional nightbird call, a breeze whispering through the trees and on the beach, waves breathing in and out. That'll do me.
But all that said, great post, Rebecca - once again, delighting me with light and sound.
Thanks so much, Prue. I really feel for the animals at around this time of year - how can they possibly understand that it's *just* fun (not that I think it is!) and will be over soon? And it's not just pets at home either, but cattle and horses - they too must be terrified. When Jim had a dog this was always a very, very stressful time - he absolutely hated the bangs.
Silence is golden. And you've given me such a soothing moment with your talk of nightbird calls, a whispering breeze and the waves breathing in and out. Thank you so much for that.
Great post and such a trigger for so many of us! I loved/hated them as a kid, and you are right, in the US it was mainly in summer. But where I lived, in San Francisco, we usually had the evening fog roll in and obscure the fireworks so after all the pfaff of driving in traffic to find a place to see them, they would often just be some dimmed colour fizzling behind a white shroud. Ho-hum. When I moved the UK, my first 5th of November I was really excited. Then a rogue firework at a new friends back garden shot past my ear (I was inside the house!) and exploded next to me. No more local fireworks for me. Plymouth is the home of the National Fireworks championships, and we watched the two nights of competition each August, and like you, always on or around my birthday, from across the harbour, up on a hill. That was a good way to do it. Loved your artwork of the fireworks: evocative of their charm with none of the scary explosive bits included! And Jim's photos are brilliant too. Thanks for sharing your story!
Nov 25, 2023·edited Nov 25, 2023Liked by Rebecca Holden
I love the sketch of you by you! I struggle with drawing people and you nailed it for me, with your almost non-gesturing pose that still holds energy, framed by the windows and structure outside of the windows. I said, "Wow!" when I saw it. 😲 You are fluent in drawing.
And I totally relate to saving a drawing or painting from the brink, " With what very quickly began to look like blowsy chrysanthemums blooming at night I panicked and added more and more streams, reaching for coloured pencils and then white gel pen in my efforts to render my chrysanths into fireworks." I have been there SO many times and my thought is always, "Oh dear, what have I done, and can this be saved?"
Congrats on embracing the process of making art, which can be SO freeing! One of my drawing instructors said on the first day of class, "Lose the 'preciousness' of every mark you make. Throw stuff away if you don't like it!" Though I throw little away, I appreciate the freedom of embracing the process of making art. Sometimes the process is so uplifting the result becomes secondary, especially in a quiet, comfy house with one's favorite hot or cold beverage 👩🎨 ☕️, sans loud noises.
Thanks, Mary, that's so kind of you! I cheated rather, by getting Jim to take a picture of me looking out of the window - and of course it helps that it's my back view rather than my face! 🤣 But I accept your lovely compliment, and am very grateful for it - thank you! 😘
'Lose the 'preciousness' of every mark you make...' is such an important instruction! And sometimes - often, actually - the unintended marks, the 'I wish I hadn't put that there' bits, end up being the best parts of all!
Process is everything - making art for fun is the best bit! In my previous life working with glass I loved it the most when I was just exploring and doing my own thing. When I started taking orders for specific work it all became results-driven rather than process-driven, and I didn't like that nearly as much!
You're welcome, and I totally agree with you about the unintended often becomes a beautiful detail. And YES! about doing commissions and orders. Mine NEVER turned out the way I (or my customers) wanted them to. I will not do commissions as it takes the joy and fun out of it for me, too.
I was so naïve when I turned my hobby into a business - I had no idea at the time that I would need to supply what customers wanted, rather than simply explore my art for my art's sake! 🤣 *cringe* 😬
Ditto! And, I'm getting ready to give it another go, this time, though, with 'limited supply" notices and "once it's gone, it's gone". No repeats! What I make is what I want to make, not because I anticipate what someone else might like. I'm fine with no sales 😅. I'd rather sell 1 thing and love what I'm doing!
My dad used to do July 4th fireworks displays for our entire neighborhood when we were young, and they were beautiful and exciting, but also terrifying. I'd sit as far from the action as I could with my fingers jammed in my ears in a mild panic the whole time after being briefed on all the horrific things that could go wrong and why I should NEVER touch them as I watched the adults light them off. It's hard to fully enjoy something when there's so much potential for mishap. I'm also a fan of staying out of the thick of things :-)
YES to staying out of the thick of things! 🤣 Thanks so much, Jacquie! Keeping one's distance is a pretty good idea - fireworks are beautiful, but so horrid if things go wrong.
Nov 25, 2023·edited Nov 25, 2023Liked by Rebecca Holden
Rebecca, your fireworks experiece brings close, those unpredictable memories, experienced loudly. During one July independence celebration, we had offered to care for the small children of dear friends, while they traveled on a short, out of country, missionary adventure. We thought, (I thought), what a treat the 2 small children (boy and girl) would experience to see the fireworks downtown, in our small Pennsylvania town. The girl was shy and we heightened the intrigue by describing the firework experience up close. When it was sufficiently dark, and the crowds settled onto their blankets, the first volley erupted. . .which launched the poor girl like a doe into the dark forest. As our friendship and many untoward outcomes flashed before my eyes, I raced into the dark after the startled child. Thankfully, she was quickly recovered. Realizing our, (my!), oversight, we retreated to a less dramatic location. (Children were safely returned as well as cautionary notes regarding fireworks celebrations!)
Now an adult with four young ones in her brood, she always rolls her eyes if I recall, one fireworks night. . .
Thanks, just mud, and gosh, the poor girl was clearly terrified, poor thing! I can totally relate, though. I'm so glad that you found her quickly, and glad that all was well. 😊
Thanks, Linda! I'm really pleased that a couple of years ago the carnival organisers started holding the firework display in a different part of the village - I never used to be able to see if from the house! Very happy that I can, now! 🤣
Thanks, Jen - you're so right about crowds! I reckon I'm pretty allergic to people at the best of times, never mind in a chaotic hubbub on Bonfire Night! 🤣
Thank you for your kind words about my painting! That's something I love about acrylic; the fact that you can put light over dark. At school we only ever used watercolour, and I'd always have to work out in advance which bits to paint in which order. 🤣 (It didn't often end well!)
Great post. We don't like bangs either. Occasionally I've been to really beautiful firework displays, including a 4th July one watched from a boat in Santa Monica or thereabouts. But on the whole we tend to sit here with the cats, jumping out of our skins and quivering.
Great pics by Jim.
Great artwork. I know I should know this, but what is your altered artbook altered FROM?
Thanks, Terry! I really do feel for the animals when there's stuff like this kicking off - and not just pets, but livestock, too. It must be so alarming.
The book is one I'd picked up from a second-hand shop years ago with this kind of purpose in mind. It's a slim hardback volume which opens out flat, and I love that I can either paint over its text and pictures, or leave some words peeping through. I couldn't believe my luck when the pages I was using for my October spread were all about trees and leaves, so I left some of the words and pictures visible. You can see a shot of the book's cover in the set of twelve gallery pictures right at the bottom of the post. I'd intended this Art & Treasures 🖼️ series to last a year, but as after December's spread I'll still have some pages left I might just keep going!
There's absolutely a place for sparklers in my life, too. I remember having 'indoor fireworks' every Christmas when I was a child - I don't think things like that exist any more; curious tablet- or pyramid-shaped things stuck on tiny squares of cardboard that you'd put on a fireproof plate and light. Some would fizz and sparkle, some would grow into very strange shapes, and all would smoke outrageously. The budgie nearly fell off its perch the first year we had them - in subsequent years we would remove his cage to another room and make sure we kept the windows open. The things that passed for 'safe' forty years ago, ye gods....! 🤣
Oh Rebecca! I hadn't remembered these little things until just now. Your description of them brought back such a vivid memory from when I was about 7 or 8. I could actually smell them here in my living room! Amazing. Thank you.
Definitely fireworks! Your beautiful art does not look like jelly fish or flowers -- with all those bright white points of light it can only be glorious fireworks. These paintings convery such a feeling of celebration. " If only fireworks could exist without the bangs and the smoke" Yes. It terrorizes the animals here. You caption some images as "pictures by Jim Holden". What are these "pictures"? Photos? Paintings? Is Jim an artist as well as a photographer. His fireworks are stunning as well!
When I was a child we spent holidays on my grandparents’ rural property. On the Fourth of July my grandpa would set off these huge bangs from what was sort of a homemade pipe bomb filled with black powder. When I was tiny I’m told I would hide under my crib and cry, but what I actually remember is running around after each explosion gleefully stomping out the multiple tiny grass fires caused by pieces of burning paper towel falling into the grass. It was undoubtedly illegal and in these days of wildfire disaster it seems incomprehensible but we had a wonderful time.
Oh goodness me, Kerry, that sounds terrifying and utterly fantastic all in one go! (I'd absolutely be hiding under the crib, but at the same time I'm impressed at your gleeful fun extinguishing those flames!) 🔥
You and I share the same desire for ideal November evenings.
I live in Canada, and winter fireworks aren't a big thing because of how cold it gets in winter. Summer, however...
Even still, a lot of people object to traditional fireworks here because of the noise, because it scares their best, or because it pollutes the air, and other things. But that doesn't stop people from buying their own and lighting them up whenever they want.
And I guess it's the last thing you'd want to do, to go outside to watch a firework display when it's minus goodness-knows-what out there! 🤣
You're right about the polluting aspect of it all, too - that's one thing I used to hate whenever I did used to venture out into the melée - it was always so fumey and smoky. And as far as the impact on the environment as a whole is concerned, I don't think fireworks do us any favours!
I have two words for you: Ear Plugs. Hehehe. I'm with you, sis. I avoid big crowds and noise. When my daughter was 8 and wanted to see Avril Lavigne in concert with a friend as a bday gift I sent hubby to go with the little girls.
Jim's photos are wonderful and your art is beautiful. The Drone show... wow. I wonder though if it sounded like bees. One drone buzzes. There must have been hundreds of drones at Buckingham Palace. Did it sound like a hive in the sky?
LOL! Ear plugs - great idea! 🤣 Did your hubby enjoy the concert, though?
Oh, I wonder if the drones did make a bit of a noise - they must have done, now I think about it. Mind you, the drone show took place during the jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace, so I doubt anyone would have heard them over the music. At least there weren't any bangs - that's the main thing! 🤣
Hubby loved the concert. He maneuvered the girls into the "mash pit" and was able to be dad-bouncer protecting them from other pushing, screaming girls. (And dads? Hehe.) At one point security plucked our daughter, Samantha, from the pit and put her into an empty area just before the stage. Avril gave Samantha a guitar pick! She still has it.
Thanks, Mitchell!
Fireworks!
OMG! They are my dog's ultimate nightmare. I have grown to hate them on his behalf, and will drive a long way with him safely in my car, classical music playing until it's all over.
I hate the randomness of folk just letting them off whenever, with no penalty. I don't even find them beautiful anymore. My dog barks and shakes and has even peed as he tried to burrow under our bedding.
But the drone displays that are now becoming popular are brilliant - silent, creative, and very beautiful against a night sky.
I'm all for silence, just silence with the occasional nightbird call, a breeze whispering through the trees and on the beach, waves breathing in and out. That'll do me.
But all that said, great post, Rebecca - once again, delighting me with light and sound.
I second this, Prue.
Thanks so much, Prue. I really feel for the animals at around this time of year - how can they possibly understand that it's *just* fun (not that I think it is!) and will be over soon? And it's not just pets at home either, but cattle and horses - they too must be terrified. When Jim had a dog this was always a very, very stressful time - he absolutely hated the bangs.
Silence is golden. And you've given me such a soothing moment with your talk of nightbird calls, a whispering breeze and the waves breathing in and out. Thank you so much for that.
Great post and such a trigger for so many of us! I loved/hated them as a kid, and you are right, in the US it was mainly in summer. But where I lived, in San Francisco, we usually had the evening fog roll in and obscure the fireworks so after all the pfaff of driving in traffic to find a place to see them, they would often just be some dimmed colour fizzling behind a white shroud. Ho-hum. When I moved the UK, my first 5th of November I was really excited. Then a rogue firework at a new friends back garden shot past my ear (I was inside the house!) and exploded next to me. No more local fireworks for me. Plymouth is the home of the National Fireworks championships, and we watched the two nights of competition each August, and like you, always on or around my birthday, from across the harbour, up on a hill. That was a good way to do it. Loved your artwork of the fireworks: evocative of their charm with none of the scary explosive bits included! And Jim's photos are brilliant too. Thanks for sharing your story!
I enjoyed watching the video. Thank you for sharing that. Ive never watched a drone show.
Thank you so much! I'd never seen anything like it before - it was really impressive! 😊
I love the sketch of you by you! I struggle with drawing people and you nailed it for me, with your almost non-gesturing pose that still holds energy, framed by the windows and structure outside of the windows. I said, "Wow!" when I saw it. 😲 You are fluent in drawing.
And I totally relate to saving a drawing or painting from the brink, " With what very quickly began to look like blowsy chrysanthemums blooming at night I panicked and added more and more streams, reaching for coloured pencils and then white gel pen in my efforts to render my chrysanths into fireworks." I have been there SO many times and my thought is always, "Oh dear, what have I done, and can this be saved?"
Congrats on embracing the process of making art, which can be SO freeing! One of my drawing instructors said on the first day of class, "Lose the 'preciousness' of every mark you make. Throw stuff away if you don't like it!" Though I throw little away, I appreciate the freedom of embracing the process of making art. Sometimes the process is so uplifting the result becomes secondary, especially in a quiet, comfy house with one's favorite hot or cold beverage 👩🎨 ☕️, sans loud noises.
P.S. I LOVE Jim's photos.
Thanks, Mary, that's so kind of you! I cheated rather, by getting Jim to take a picture of me looking out of the window - and of course it helps that it's my back view rather than my face! 🤣 But I accept your lovely compliment, and am very grateful for it - thank you! 😘
'Lose the 'preciousness' of every mark you make...' is such an important instruction! And sometimes - often, actually - the unintended marks, the 'I wish I hadn't put that there' bits, end up being the best parts of all!
Process is everything - making art for fun is the best bit! In my previous life working with glass I loved it the most when I was just exploring and doing my own thing. When I started taking orders for specific work it all became results-driven rather than process-driven, and I didn't like that nearly as much!
You're welcome, and I totally agree with you about the unintended often becomes a beautiful detail. And YES! about doing commissions and orders. Mine NEVER turned out the way I (or my customers) wanted them to. I will not do commissions as it takes the joy and fun out of it for me, too.
I'm glad it's not just me, Mary!
I was so naïve when I turned my hobby into a business - I had no idea at the time that I would need to supply what customers wanted, rather than simply explore my art for my art's sake! 🤣 *cringe* 😬
Ditto! And, I'm getting ready to give it another go, this time, though, with 'limited supply" notices and "once it's gone, it's gone". No repeats! What I make is what I want to make, not because I anticipate what someone else might like. I'm fine with no sales 😅. I'd rather sell 1 thing and love what I'm doing!
Mary, you're officially AWESOME! 🙌
My dad used to do July 4th fireworks displays for our entire neighborhood when we were young, and they were beautiful and exciting, but also terrifying. I'd sit as far from the action as I could with my fingers jammed in my ears in a mild panic the whole time after being briefed on all the horrific things that could go wrong and why I should NEVER touch them as I watched the adults light them off. It's hard to fully enjoy something when there's so much potential for mishap. I'm also a fan of staying out of the thick of things :-)
YES to staying out of the thick of things! 🤣 Thanks so much, Jacquie! Keeping one's distance is a pretty good idea - fireworks are beautiful, but so horrid if things go wrong.
Rebecca, your fireworks experiece brings close, those unpredictable memories, experienced loudly. During one July independence celebration, we had offered to care for the small children of dear friends, while they traveled on a short, out of country, missionary adventure. We thought, (I thought), what a treat the 2 small children (boy and girl) would experience to see the fireworks downtown, in our small Pennsylvania town. The girl was shy and we heightened the intrigue by describing the firework experience up close. When it was sufficiently dark, and the crowds settled onto their blankets, the first volley erupted. . .which launched the poor girl like a doe into the dark forest. As our friendship and many untoward outcomes flashed before my eyes, I raced into the dark after the startled child. Thankfully, she was quickly recovered. Realizing our, (my!), oversight, we retreated to a less dramatic location. (Children were safely returned as well as cautionary notes regarding fireworks celebrations!)
Now an adult with four young ones in her brood, she always rolls her eyes if I recall, one fireworks night. . .
Thanks Rebecca!
Thanks, just mud, and gosh, the poor girl was clearly terrified, poor thing! I can totally relate, though. I'm so glad that you found her quickly, and glad that all was well. 😊
If you can see fireworks 🎆 from your window so ideal.
Thanks, Linda! I'm really pleased that a couple of years ago the carnival organisers started holding the firework display in a different part of the village - I never used to be able to see if from the house! Very happy that I can, now! 🤣
The fireworks don’t bother me as much as the crowds do! Very happy to stay home and watch them on TV in my pajamas!
I love the dark background of the fireworks painting. And thanks for describing how you made it - I was wonder how one my create color over the dark.
Thanks, Jen - you're so right about crowds! I reckon I'm pretty allergic to people at the best of times, never mind in a chaotic hubbub on Bonfire Night! 🤣
Thank you for your kind words about my painting! That's something I love about acrylic; the fact that you can put light over dark. At school we only ever used watercolour, and I'd always have to work out in advance which bits to paint in which order. 🤣 (It didn't often end well!)
These should be the universal best joyful list for fall/winter:
“Being at home ✓
Calm ✓
No people ✓
Comfy pyjamas ✓
A mug of tea ✓
Central heating ✓”
I second that, OLR! 🙌 Thank you so much!
Great post. We don't like bangs either. Occasionally I've been to really beautiful firework displays, including a 4th July one watched from a boat in Santa Monica or thereabouts. But on the whole we tend to sit here with the cats, jumping out of our skins and quivering.
Great pics by Jim.
Great artwork. I know I should know this, but what is your altered artbook altered FROM?
Really nice idea to add artist notes.
Thanks, Terry! I really do feel for the animals when there's stuff like this kicking off - and not just pets, but livestock, too. It must be so alarming.
The book is one I'd picked up from a second-hand shop years ago with this kind of purpose in mind. It's a slim hardback volume which opens out flat, and I love that I can either paint over its text and pictures, or leave some words peeping through. I couldn't believe my luck when the pages I was using for my October spread were all about trees and leaves, so I left some of the words and pictures visible. You can see a shot of the book's cover in the set of twelve gallery pictures right at the bottom of the post. I'd intended this Art & Treasures 🖼️ series to last a year, but as after December's spread I'll still have some pages left I might just keep going!
I love that this is post 111! I LOVE fireworks. My husbands hides from them. We had sparklers at our wedding - he didn’t mind those...
Thanks, Claire!
There's absolutely a place for sparklers in my life, too. I remember having 'indoor fireworks' every Christmas when I was a child - I don't think things like that exist any more; curious tablet- or pyramid-shaped things stuck on tiny squares of cardboard that you'd put on a fireproof plate and light. Some would fizz and sparkle, some would grow into very strange shapes, and all would smoke outrageously. The budgie nearly fell off its perch the first year we had them - in subsequent years we would remove his cage to another room and make sure we kept the windows open. The things that passed for 'safe' forty years ago, ye gods....! 🤣
Oh Rebecca! I hadn't remembered these little things until just now. Your description of them brought back such a vivid memory from when I was about 7 or 8. I could actually smell them here in my living room! Amazing. Thank you.
Oh, how lovely, Sharron - I'm so glad! 😌
Definitely fireworks! Your beautiful art does not look like jelly fish or flowers -- with all those bright white points of light it can only be glorious fireworks. These paintings convery such a feeling of celebration. " If only fireworks could exist without the bangs and the smoke" Yes. It terrorizes the animals here. You caption some images as "pictures by Jim Holden". What are these "pictures"? Photos? Paintings? Is Jim an artist as well as a photographer. His fireworks are stunning as well!
When I was a child we spent holidays on my grandparents’ rural property. On the Fourth of July my grandpa would set off these huge bangs from what was sort of a homemade pipe bomb filled with black powder. When I was tiny I’m told I would hide under my crib and cry, but what I actually remember is running around after each explosion gleefully stomping out the multiple tiny grass fires caused by pieces of burning paper towel falling into the grass. It was undoubtedly illegal and in these days of wildfire disaster it seems incomprehensible but we had a wonderful time.
Oh goodness me, Kerry, that sounds terrifying and utterly fantastic all in one go! (I'd absolutely be hiding under the crib, but at the same time I'm impressed at your gleeful fun extinguishing those flames!) 🔥
You and I share the same desire for ideal November evenings.
I live in Canada, and winter fireworks aren't a big thing because of how cold it gets in winter. Summer, however...
Even still, a lot of people object to traditional fireworks here because of the noise, because it scares their best, or because it pollutes the air, and other things. But that doesn't stop people from buying their own and lighting them up whenever they want.
We're kindred spirits, David!
And I guess it's the last thing you'd want to do, to go outside to watch a firework display when it's minus goodness-knows-what out there! 🤣
You're right about the polluting aspect of it all, too - that's one thing I used to hate whenever I did used to venture out into the melée - it was always so fumey and smoky. And as far as the impact on the environment as a whole is concerned, I don't think fireworks do us any favours!
I have two words for you: Ear Plugs. Hehehe. I'm with you, sis. I avoid big crowds and noise. When my daughter was 8 and wanted to see Avril Lavigne in concert with a friend as a bday gift I sent hubby to go with the little girls.
Jim's photos are wonderful and your art is beautiful. The Drone show... wow. I wonder though if it sounded like bees. One drone buzzes. There must have been hundreds of drones at Buckingham Palace. Did it sound like a hive in the sky?
LOL! Ear plugs - great idea! 🤣 Did your hubby enjoy the concert, though?
Oh, I wonder if the drones did make a bit of a noise - they must have done, now I think about it. Mind you, the drone show took place during the jubilee concert at Buckingham Palace, so I doubt anyone would have heard them over the music. At least there weren't any bangs - that's the main thing! 🤣
Hubby loved the concert. He maneuvered the girls into the "mash pit" and was able to be dad-bouncer protecting them from other pushing, screaming girls. (And dads? Hehe.) At one point security plucked our daughter, Samantha, from the pit and put her into an empty area just before the stage. Avril gave Samantha a guitar pick! She still has it.
Oh, that's fabulous - a win-win! And wow - the guitar pick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 🙌 AWESOME!