Dbee Robinson Artist - The Fat Struggling Menopausal Artist

Graduation Degree My step son has just got his masters PHD and his graduation ceremony is next week. Not sure what to wear, and I didn't want to wear what I wore at his degree. Just couldn't remember what so  I looked back at Facebook and there you have it. Black with lace trim.....well thats annoying as thats what I was going to wear this time. I'm certainly not going shopping (remember I hate shopping!) for something new so I may wear the first dress I brought for his Brothers wedding which was the wrong colour..... Am I still ahead of the game? Could I be that lucky!! .... Long story  Click here for   Part 1 ,  Part 2 ,    The wedding finale , and  Ahead of the game -  for some light hearted, head slapping entertainment. Guan Ying Now I'm off to check the dress still fits as I cant help but notice my washing machine is shrinking all my clothes!! But first I will continue with my latest commission 'Guan Ying' while I decide ...

At the Palace Theatre   Today I felt like a kid on Christmas morning, and the day certainly did not disappoint. After winning tickets in the  Friday Forty Lottery  we only had a couple of days to wait to see the show, 'Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'. I really didn't believe I would see the show until I had the tickets in my hand and was sitting in my seat. I caught the train up to Waterloo and sat in the Quiet Zone ...with a Hen Party..... That's two phases that truly shouldn't be together. They popped Prosecco and were all as bubbly as the drink they consumed, and I sat there quietly hoping the Bride to Be would be as happily married as I am. Even though I always wear my 'I am a free elf, Dobby has no master' socks when ever he is away on business. ha ha The person winning the tickets has to bring ID to pick them up and I used my Driving Licence which never really looked like me, but since my facial surgery I was sure they would not b...

Steak and Kidney Just been to the Westbourne Cafe  as Friday night is Homemade Pie night. It opens at 6pm so early enough for Hubby and me who are early birds to grab some dinner. I believe you can take your own bottle too but we were happy with a soft drink. And if you wanted to take a wine or beer it would certainly make it a cheap night out!  Now they also have their usual menu but as pie is my Hubbys favourite word then pie it had to be. Some lovely choices of vegetarian, chicken and leek, lamb and mint, steak and kidney, steak and ale and fish. But on chatting to Jules the chef and owner, if they have it and you want it in a pie they will make it for you. Sausage and bean, mash topping, even mac and cheese , etc. they will make it if they can.  Lamb and Mint Hubby had steak and kidney with chips and beans. I chose Lamb and mint with mash and peas. The portions were huge and the pies were full of tender meat, very tasty and not a soggy bottom in ...

For months I have been entering the Friday Forty to win tickets to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child . This week was my lucky week... I won discounted tickets to see both parts of the play for two people. Total cost £80 and I'm told they are good viewing seats too!! How lucky was I, and of course the person I intend to take! After some googling it seems you can't take snacks in, I do hope they let me take my water in. I use a refillable bottle I purchased so I will be upset if they confiscate it as some reviewers and bloggers have said. Anyway, I'm too excited to care. I re read the book yesterday, yup I read the whole book in a day so no painting got done which is a little naughty I know but its really rare I sit and have some 'ME' time, no matter what people think I do all day at home. Guan Yin test piece 2 So I had better stop typing and get painting. Today i'm trailing how to do a Buda / Guan Yin painting for a friend. (My friend and I saw ...

Thought a picture of Scarlet Johanson's nose job would be nicer than me Face Ache! Well that's a name I was used to being called when I was younger, (one of many,) now I actually am a face ache. It's been 3 months since my surgery.  Surgeons call it Rhinoplasty and Septoplasty, but my Husband calls it body juggling, where they moved more bits of my body to sort out my face. So to date I have had, rib bone, pelvis bone, ear skin and cartilage and skin from a place i'd rather not mention, all put into my face to sort out the cleft palate. I have also had a prototype brace which 40 years ago was just fuse wire and clips which impaled itself on the inside of my mouth for over 2 years and cracked my back teeth, had a tooth removed in order to have a bone graft and ended up luckily with a bridge rather than dentures.  And to be honest I have no idea if Scarlet has had a nose job, the picture is meant to show celebrity before and after from a website POP Hitz . Now ...

Two Beautiful, Too Beautiful to stay around forever  I do try and keep my blog light hearted, funny and at times, a little informative. But this week has been a bit gut wrenching. Thank goodness for Art to heal my Heart.   Two Beautiful, Too Beautiful to stay around forever is a Watercolour and ink on rice paper. I had just heard a good friend had unexpectedly died of a heart attack that day, it was Tuesday morning, and I was unconsolable. I couldn't concentrate or even focus on talking let alone doing anything, yet I had booked some Mother and Daughter time and as this is a rare occurrence due to our busy lives I did not want to cancel. So an hour after hearing the news I was off having a manicure with my Daughter. Now she would have been absolutely fine if I had cancelled, but I couldn't even bring myself to tell her. The words just wouldn't come out my mouth, I think I was in shock, so I didn't. It was a weird feeling but in fact was a good distraction. ...

Black and White Cat with Bamboo I was once asked why my paintings were so expensive? It was for a Chinese painting titled 'Black and white cat with bamboo.' Its a large 46cm x 64cm framed watercolour and ink painting on rice paper that had taken many hours to paint in layers as well as traditional style backing with more rice paper and then framed. Now if I paid myself the minimum wage for the 25+ hours I had spent painting it would be far to expensive and no one would buy it, so I thought £65 was a good price. When I explained it was an original painting that wasn't mass produced but created with love and attention to detail in the traditional Chinese way they began to understand.  I then explained it didn't include all the years learning Chinese art techniques or the many hours and experiments that went wrong preparing and trialing this artwork, it was just for the materials, frame and approximate time spent on this artwork alone. They were then astound...

Tom's Commissioning at Sandhurst Yes I still hate shopping, but recently I was ahead of the game! Woo! Hoo! Our Son Tom recently got married and after my Husbands comment on what I planned to wear on his special day I went into a total head spin.  Click here to view Wedding Shopping Traumas and Triumphs.   Anyway back to this story....  In summary I ended up buying 3 dresses for the wedding. After googling and chatting with friends the etiquette and appropriate dress for Sandhurst Commissioning ceremony, Sovereigns parade and formal celebratory lunch, it is similar to wedding attire. And guess what.... One of the dresses (a floaty purple and navy dress with a mandarin collar) I had purchased for his wedding fitted the bill perfectly! It was below the knee, shoulders covered, sleeves to the elbow and definitely no splits. Oh Frabjous day Caloo Calay she chortled in her joy!  Yes, I felt like I had slain my Shopping Jabberwocky!  The ex...

My Nanna and me The Big Day Today is the big reveal and I'm nervous and yet excited too.  Nothing cosmetic here, just a bit of surgery to help me breathe, however with it comes at a price. Without full major surgery on my nose and all the risks that could happen, the price is a probable odd shaped unsymmetrical nose. Well I've had an odd shaped nose all my life and I got quite used to it. It made people remember me easily which could be a good thing. OK it could be a bad thing too but I'm grasping at positives here! My Cleft Palate now fully repaired after a serious infection recently and my breathing now hopefully sorted that should be it for me. One can only hope! I had a little today chuckle as I used to tell a joke about a man with the indestructible face. It was a pretty rubbish drawn out joke with a stupid punch line but it's actually how I feel and every now and again I say the punch line in my head which makes me laugh, which inevitably hurts m...

The Shrubbery Sunrise. I know we all have bad days, but recently I had a particularly 'Blue' day. Even though the sunrise was truly beautiful that morning, and I feel blessed to see such a lovely view from my garden, the memories of this day just made me feel sad as February the 5th was the day my Farther was informed he had Terminal Cancer. Two weeks later he was gone and the hole in my heart has never really healed. So I painted what was in my heart that day, and with the aid of this beautiful sunrise, my Oil on Canvas 'Sunset on a Blue Day' was created.  Sunset on a Blue Day. Later in the week my cousin, who is a Minister, informed us of a special evening coming to the Cowplain Evangelical Church where he recently gave a presentation. The Watoto Children's Choir  was visiting and was an event not to be missed. The children's choir have sung across six continents over the past few years raising awareness for their vision and much needed funds...

Watts Chapel We recently went to Guilford and decided to take the scenic route home via Comptom when we came upon a beautiful little place  Watts Chapel and Cemetery ,  (if you can call a cemetery beautiful that is.) The pictures above and below do not do the the chapel justice, it's truly breathtaking inside and out!  Even the Gravestones are artistic in one way or another with beautiful carvings or poems and some even have funny quotes.  Watts Chapel Interior The detail and passion in the artwork and carvings were inspiring and made me question my own belief which is simple, I believe in Human Beings. You don't need to go to church or temple etc to be a true Believer, Christian, Budist, Muslim etc. Just be a Human Being, my Church is in my heart.  So what is a Human Being? To me is is some one who thinks of others, forgiving, helpful, honest, kind, generous, etc, and puts themselves in others shoes, generally someone who does their very best at be...

Nanna and Me Now I can really see my birth defect was NOT all about me. I was not the only one suffering! This is the earliest photo of me I can find. It is of me and my Nanna who, I was told, had a special spot in her heart for me, as I was 'special'. This photo must have been taken just a few months after my skin graft when my lip was stitched up. (The bone would be grafted to close the hole in the roof of my mouth when I was older) I was a baby born in the 1960's with a Cleft Palate and recently watched 'Call the Midwife.' (https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0c1x6qn/call-the-midwife-series-8-episode-3) The program had a huge effect on me from start to finish. The sense of admiration and sadness for my parents, especially my Mother flowed over me like a Tsunami. I have only really considered how I coped and was affected by my cleft. I was always appreciative to my parents for their love and support with all my issues eating, the operations, dent...

Everyone who really knows me, know that I hate shopping. Not just a dislike, a loathe!! I not only find the whole experience uncomfortable but I have been known to panic and run out a shop. I wouldn't say it was a phobia or anything that serious. But sometimes it is a definite problem for me. A recent wedding had me almost screaming as I just couldn't work out what to wear to please everyone, including myself. Eventually all was sorted, but I was having nightmares over something that should have been exciting and a pleasure. I was ok deciding what to wear to the wedding and had chosen an outfit, then the bride informed me she wanted the bridal party to coordinate colours and I thought that was a lovely idea. So I purchased dress number 2 and Hubby stated it was not formal enough, well this put me in a tailspin. I purchased a third dress, had it checked by Hubby and the Bride to ensure for their approval, but still panicked right up until the day of the wedding. So ...