R's rue

Joash Woodrow (1927-2006) could have easily been quickly forgotten when he died in a Manchester nursing home. It was by pure chance that his rich artistic legacy was discovered. He created hundreds of paintings but they were never seen by others - never sold and never exhibited. They could have all so easily ended up in a skip (American: dumpster) . He lived reclusively in his parents' home in the Chapel Allerton area of north Leeds. Before and just after World War II he received  good formal training at Leeds College of Art and at The Royal College of Art in London. He knew what art was and what it might be. Some time thereafter he appears to have suffered a nervous breakdown and spent the next five decades painting furiously and passionately but without the sustenance that other artists might provide. He didn't even have a telephone. His brother Saul tried to visit him every week but never got to see any of the pictures that Joash had created. It seems that Joash Woodrow...

 Rainy days Are not  My favorite But they Bring My favorites The blooming gardenias And pink azaleas And help  Boom the height Of the mighty sunflower from R's rue https://ift.tt/auDqBpd

 I heard on the radio this morning that people can now apply for a no fault divorce.  I am pleased to hear this, I really am, for it brings a kindness into an often unkind situation . This is a no blame blog today, it’s just a reflective one , so please respect my wishes in any of your comments…the last time I used the word kindness in a blog title the shit really hit the fan. I was sited in my divorce as behaving unreasonably during the marriage  I remember reading the words in that little box the reasons behind them with disbelief and shock. I was stung by the unfairness and fallaciousness of it all. I remember my dumpy Welsh solicitor supplying me with sweet coffee and tissues at the time and she kept saying “ Ignore the words , they are not personal” and I understood just why they were used as there was no other get out clause for my husband to go use and because he wanted to end the marriage he had to say the appropriate words to get the divorce wheels in m...