This is Northern Flower, a shop in the Northern Quarter of Manchester. I did this digital painting as part of my Tour of the Northern Quarter series back in February, when the store had no signage. Since then, a rather cool Gaudi-style mosaic has appeared, so I’ve done an update because it’s such a great sign. Below you can see my source picture, which is a bit grumpy and grey…
Posts Tagged With: Mark Wallis
Northern Flower – digital painting
The Best of The Vibes: Part 1
To celebrate my first year of blogging, here are some of my best pictures from The Vibes. Each image links back to it’s original post, so have fun exploring!

The Vibes wins The Kreativ Blogger Award!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I feel fabulous and I have Elliot to thank for my nomination. He’s a writer and poet and has a great blog, Brainsplats so check the link. Of course I graciously accept – although I did run round whooping like a lunatic when I received it a week or two ago… but nobody saw me. So, dignified deep breath.
The seven facts about me are;
- I lived in Amsterdam for two years but I didn’t inhale
- I occasionally paint oil paintings, more of that in the near future.
- I love cats, the way they arrive in our lives with no luggage or tenancy agreement and turn us into their slaves while being unconditionally adored.
- I used to be a DJ in Manchester during the Madchester and Rave eras, but I still have incredibly sensitive hearing.
- I love gardening. Have no idea how that happened.
- All mathematical components in my brain are missing, presumed stifled by more interesting talents. I actually count on my fingers.
- There is a very strange symmetrical, geometric symbol on the back of my neck. It’s a birthmark, but it looks like a crop circle…
You weren’t expecting that last one, were you?
I’m passing this award on to the following nominees, and if you’ve already won it, then think of this as a second opinion…
The Creative Cat– Bernadette E Kazmarski – Wonderful paintings of animals and people complete with witty commentary.
Sheila Hurst – Reading, writing, dreaming – Photographer, writer and poet – transports me to the kind of places I’d like to be.
Bali-Style-Life – Tanya Paton, New Zealander living and painting in Bali, joyful, expressive and colourful.
On The Way – Bonnie Hull – Artist, photographer and writer – a great art journal.
Kiwsparks – Kathryn Sparks – Artist, designer and writer from Dallas – A lively spirited view of life in paint, prose and poetry.
Hands on Bowie – Herman and his cat Bowie. The cutest (and biggest) British Shorthair you will ever see!
Karma Sleeps on Top – Lina A Corrillo, engaging, passionate Creative Writing and Journalism student from Bogota studying in London.
Happy Birthday! The Vibes is One Year Old

Break out the bubbly, because The Vibes has been vibrating for a whole twelve months.
The best thing about blogging has been connecting with artists, photographers, poets and other creative types. I love the Nature, Photography and Art pages: that’s where I find the wow factor. The worst thing is the hate speech on the ‘religious’ topic pages. There’s a lot of people out there with issues and it ain’t pretty.
The hardest thing was customizing my theme until I’d wrestled the Adventure Journal into something that reflected my personality. I’ve managed to build myself a bit of a profile on WordPress, shown off my artwork and photography and upset some Cross People.
It all began with a modest post about sprinkling the ashes of my beloved cat around Merlin’s Well in Alderley Edge. I think the Wizard and King Arthur would be proud of the travel/photography scrapbook which has emerged since then. And it has to be said: when I press Like, it means I really like something and I’m not just being a shameless blogtrollop. So, hi to all my followers, thanks for sticking with me and here’s to another year!
Now. Is there an electrician in the house?
Postcard From Bishop’s Stortford

It’s funny going back to your place of birth, secretly hoping that it still looks like the place you left behind, and your house hasn’t been replaced by a Tesco or Starbucks. I was relieved to see that nothing much had changed when I returned to Bishop’s Stortford in Hertfordshire after more than thirty years. Give or take the odd PVC window frame, and a rash of Ground Forced gardens, it was exactly how I remembered it. I have a lot of happy, hazy memories of growing up here, and we moved away ‘up north’ when I was eight. Relocating to Cheshire was like a cold shower compared to this sleepy, sunny market town in the Home Counties. We went from Cider With Rosie to Wuthering Heights on a one-way ticket. This short film is a tour of my childhood…
Press Quality for HD and watch in fullscreen.
The video features the track Since I left You by The Avalanches, my all time favourite song, which samples old soul band The Main Attraction and Rose Royce, amongst others. It’s a burst of sunshine, and makes me happy every time I hear it.

















