Colours

When I was painting last week, I kept track of some of the colours I was using. Some of them were so gorgeous I found it hard to throw out what was left.

I have found over the last year that the book Blue and Yellow don't Make Green that Brendan got me last Christmas is the best source for colour mixing. If I stick to the basic pigments advised in that book (except for one - more about that later), I get vibrant greens, oranges, purples, greys and browns, and no mud guaranteed. It's well worth the effort.

The only colour that doesn't quite work for me is lemon yellow (PY3). I find that Vanadium yellow (PY184) gives me better greens when I mix it with ultramarine blue (PB29). It's got that bit more punch to it.

No time for painting this week, and the only drawing I've done has been on post-its while waiting for Brendan in the van. We've been busy enough this week, despite the weather that seems to have sent the country into hibernation. This morning, I walked down to a local customer and there wasn't a single car on the main road - it was really eerie. Most schools seem to be closed still. I'm still amazed at how such a small amount of snow (5cm) and temperatures that are not that cold after all (-2 to -4 at night is the coldest Brendan has recorded over the last week or so) can bring the city to a stand-still. Apparently, it took some commuters 4 hours to get home last night. Glad that wasn't me - one of the advantages of working from home. And why the county councils can't get themselves organised to have enough grit for all roads and estates and footpaths, not just main roads, is beyond me. Complete lack of organisation is what it is - OK, we don't get cold weather like this very often (it's the 2nd year in a row, though), but you'd think they'd have some kind of emergency plan through which they could get supplies of grit from other sources. And that they could bring in extra workers to work around the clock. But you can be sure that the guys in the council have got their roads gritted. I just hope I don't break a limb on the ice. In the meantime, our transport minister is on holidays, and there isn't a peep from the rest of the government (Apparently, Willie O'Dea, our minister for Defense, said on the radio that the army wasn't helping because nobody had asked them to! and I won't go on about the useless stuff on his website like €6500 - not a lot of money, but multiply that around the country for each minister or TD to spend in their constituency - spent on environmental projects in Limerick like an "outdoor classroom" - €250, "The Story of the Rubbish Monster" by Conor Dwane - €500 (for what?) etc. etc. You'll find these under "Local News". Would that money not be better spent on national projects?) - End of rant -