Almost perfect afternoon

After some sad family news I got in the car this afternoon thinking I'd head into town and pluck up the courage to do a few furtive sketches out the window of some hip coffee shop. Instead I ended up in our very own Obs Lower Main Rd. And I even found a good parking spot, which happened to be outside Revolution Records. My prejudices as to what bikers who sell second hand vinyl would listen to on a Monday afternoon were challenged. The jazz spilling onto the pavement made me reluctant to leave the car (silly, didn't go in and ask what it was) - perfect music for my mood and a perfect view to draw. It was all about to fall in a heap when I discovered I had my sketch pad but nothing to draw with. But, lucky me, I was parked directly opposite the art supply shop. Good excuse to spend 20 minutes browsing, came out with paint, a new sketch book, and yes, a black ink pen and a pencil.


Back in the car:

Then, just to make my little Observatory visit complete, I popped across the road into the deli and did another sketch while sipping on an organic beetroot and orange juice.

Back Again

Seeing as I'm on sabbatical, and supposedly drawing and painting all the time, I thought I should start this up again. Maybe I will - for myself of course seeing as the few followers I had have, I'm sure, long since moved on to better, more interesting blogs by diligent bloggers.

Cool patterns

A few Saturdays ago I spent the afternoon hanging out with my friend Heather in her studio. My intention was to just relax and catch up, while she did a bit of pottering around. Thank goodness I brought my sketch pad though. After an hour of sitting with my feet up watching Heather industriously churn out these little purses (OK, it would seem that they were for NY Times readers), I started feeling like a big sloth. A good thing too, because instead of just admiring the cool patterns made by the rafters overhead, I actually got off my butt and captured them with a pencil and a camera. I'm quite keen to turn these into a painting.

Artists I like: Bernd and Hilla Becher

It is not surprising that I was awestruck the first time I stumbled across the work of Bernd and Hilla Becher.

Coal Bunkers, 1974, Tate Gallery

Pitheads, 1974, Tate Gallery
I'm not going to waffle on about what they're up to and why I like them, it's quite obvious.Click here for more images  and interesting clip on youtube where they talk about their work. I thought again of their work when I looked at this pic I took the other day. Could not resist the pale metal against the pale sky.

And here's a quick sketch. Driving in the Drakensberg a few summers ago we skidded to a halt on a lonely dirt road when we came round a corner and saw this watchtower on a hill in the horizon.

When the dishes pile up

At the end of last year the-blog-I-started-for-fun was starting to feel like a dirty pile of dishes lurking in the kitchen.  I was just planning to take a break for a week or two. But the week or two turned into a dry three months. The creative juices have just not been flowing. I have done exactly two sketches in the last few months, both views from the big couch I spent most of my December holiday not getting up from. I will pretend they are symbolic to make them more interesting: The abovementioned dirty dishes and the dark passage of blocked creativity that I've just stumbled out of thanks to most unexpected circumstances. So, those of you are still reading, watch this space.

 

 

Little ones

Here's what has been keeping me busy the last few weeks. They are all A5 size. I've quite enjoyed working on this small format, it's forced me to simplify images.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spencer Street Studio Cart Horse Exhibition

The exhibition I mentioned in my previous post is coming together. The feature piece is this awesome one above. Painted collectively by giving a number of different painters individual squares of abstract looking patterns and textures, all now put together to form this big proud cart horse. Here's more about it.

Also on show and for sale will be lots of little blocks and some canvases by various painters in the studio. Some of mine will be up too. Will post a preview tomorrow.