John Thirtle (1777–1839) was an English watercolour artist and frame- maker. Born in Norwich, where he lived for most of his life, he was a leading member of the Norwich School of painters. He produced frames for paintings by several members of that school, including John Crome and John Sell Cotman. He also worked as a drawing-master, a printseller and a looking glass maker. At the Norwich School's first exhibition in 1805, Thirtle exhibited five paintings as one of the five featured artists. Most of his watercolours are of Norwich and the surrounding Norfolk countryside. His style, influenced by Thomas Girtin, Crome and Cotman, was technically accomplished. His earlier landscapes were painted with a restricted range of buffs, blues and grey-browns, but he later developed a brilliancy of colour, producing works that included angular block forms. His Manuscript Treatise on Watercolour, unpublished before 1977, was probably for his own use, and he exhibited fewer than 100 paintings.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Thirtle

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1605:

The arrest of Guy Fawkes, found during a search of the Palace of Westminster, foiled the Gunpowder Plot, which planned to blow up the House of Lords. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunpowder_Plot

1916:

An armed confrontation in Everett, Washington, between local authorities and members of the Industrial Workers of the World resulted in seven deaths. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everett_massacre

1943:

World War II: An unknown aircraft dropped four bombs on Vatican City, which maintained neutrality during the war. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombing_of_the_Vatican

1990:

Ultra-Zionist rabbi Meir Kahane was assassinated in a New York City hotel by an Arab gunman. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meir_Kahane

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

swole: 1. (chiefly African-American Vernacular, slang) Having large, well- developed muscles; muscular. 2. (slang) Of the penis: erect; of a person: with an erection of the penis; aroused, hard. 3. (slang) Followed by up: upset; experiencing strong negative emotion. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/swole

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Now let us thank the Eternal Power: convincedThat Heaven but tries our virtue by affliction,—That oft the cloud which wraps the present hourServes but to brighten all our future days.   --John Brown https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Brown_%28essayist%29