Drawing Tuesday ( and Thursday) : V&A 20th Century and Iron Wharf

 I  went drawing with friends   twice last week  - very different venues  but   both shared the  same  characteristics  of sketching in company and  just as important, wide ranging discussions over lunch in a congenial café !
On Tuesday there were 7 of us drawing in the V&A 20th century  design galleries ( finding your way there and to the members room afterwards even more perplexing than usual  with building work closures!)
 I  drew   Ron Arad chair ' Soft little heavy' in blue biro then attempted to capture the contrasting textures of a  'mobius' basket and pewter bowl in graphite.

 On Thursday I met up with Hazel   at Standard Quay in Faversham  and introduced her to the delights of Iron Wharf.  I've taken loads of photos and keep meaning to go drawing there  but having company gave me the push to actually do so. So  many boats in different states of crumbliness, it's very hard to  choose and settle down to draw. I'll be back soon with  bigger sheets of paper and my paints.

Sketching at British Museum : Barkcloth Spirit Masks

 

Yesterday on ' Drawing Tuesday', we returned to the Barkcloth exhibition at the British Museum. Having seen the exhibition several times now, I knew what I wanted to concentrate  on which was these  three monsters ( or spirit masks )

 

 I started off with a  very quick sketch with a large graphite stick to work out  basic shapes  then started with pencil to work out the elipses of this beast. Lots of rubbing out ( the patterning was added with pen)

 What  interested me most were the  contrasting lines in this mask - the sharp spines of it's snout compared with the organic shapes of the grasses/ fibres. I used several techniques - scoring in the paper  with metal  wire then rubbing over with graphite ; 2h and 4b pencil lines; graphite stick; eraser ( Tombow   2.5 x 5mm).

I liked the effects I achieved - I'm aiming to draw from a blown -up version of this photo to really observe what's going on. 

No time to attempt the 3rd mask (' Cousin It') before  well-deserved lunch (  salad and Portuguese custard tart) . Then I braved the wind and rain to go to the  Courtauld Gallery for  glider paintings of Peter Lanyon - reduced entry with my ArtPass .  Just 2 rooms but spent a long time absorbing their atmosphere. Wonderful.  

 

 

Among Drifts of Sea Thrift

 

 Back rested and revived from my few days away on the Isle of Portland. On arrival at Weymouth, the beach was packed with families enjoying the sun ( and a traditional  Punch and Judy show) - very different from when we visited in March! The first thing I did after I'd dropped my bags off  at the hotel was head out to the  Chesil Beach visitor centre. This was also busy with  visitors - you could hear the determined crunch of feet  heading up the slope from quite a way off. But only a few metres away it was much  more peaceful. The expanse of pink and yellow flowers was glorious and I found a sheltered spot to sketch crouched down among drifts of sea thrift, listening to the sky larks. 

Refreshed after a good night's sleep, I  walked directly from the hotel on one of the 'Legacy  Trails' of the old quarries including DWT King Barrow Quarries nature reserve.  More pinks and yellows including some of my old  favourites from my chalk grassland survey days:



 Polygala vulgaris ( milkwort)

 Hieraceum pilosella ( mouse-ear hawkweed)

 Lots of Common Blue butterflies

 Sculpture both natural wind blown trees and hewn from  stone  like 'Still Falling' by Antony  Gormley ( below) in Tout Quarry

Then a  walk down hill  to lunch at   Jacksons' Gallery with views out to sea and excellent soup, coffee and Florentines .

 

 Inspired  by  the current exhibition by Roy Winstanley , I walked down to Chiswell  and onto the beach for some sketching  and taking lots of photos of weathered surfaces and beach detritus.  

 

  With good timing, I was  in the area during the  ArtWey open studios fortnight so with the weather the following day being rather wet and windy , I headed inland  by bus to Upwey. Bit of a trek from the bus stop   but I was made very welcome at the Gallery on the Wey  ( particularly liked the etchings of Wendy Batt) .

I had a lovely lunch at the Wishing Well Café  after some purchases from Upwey Potters:

                                           Raku 'axe head'  by Bill Crumbleholme

   Dish by Laurence Eastwood

 

 

The Heights hotel where I stayed was a very different experience from our usual 'home-from home' of Ferrybridge Cottages  but perfect for a  brief breathing space . My room was comfortable  and the staff  so helpful and I spent hours looking out at this view  of Chesil from the bistro -  both at breakfast and evening meals I had a window seat. Spectacular. 

 

Running away to sea

We're not too far off putting our house on the market - painting finished, new carpet installed, blinds ordered  so when there was an 'open house' advertised for a  town house we've been tracking on 'Right Move', it seemed a good opportunity  for some further research in Faversham. The journey down was so much greener than last year ( all those apple trees) and there was wonderful local produce on sale in the market. It was a useful exercise   looking round the property - lots of space but   rather dark and a feeling of being hemmed in, so some revisions to the spec needed. After a late pub lunch  writing up my notes I wandered around to remind myself of why we want to move here: the creek, the  history, the countryside, the inspiration.



Then Sunday and Monday working in the garden sorting out the  crazy paving - some  refitting of the edges like a jigsaw puzzle and filling in the gaps with sand then pea shingle so it blends in very well with existing gravel area.   Ian was in Jonah mode about my methods: hearing "I'd love to be proved wrong" for the nth  time did not improve my mood so I did most of  the work myself.  I shouldn't complain too much though as he's been incredibly supportive including encouraging me to take some time off.

It's been  a hard, relentless few months physically, mentally and emotionally  and I really need a  rest,  so I'm off  for a few days on my own at the Heights Hotel in Portland. I'm taking  some books, my camera and some sketching materials  but no laptop or tablet and looking forward to  seeing the flowers and having some nice meals out. I know it's half term  but I know some quiet spots.

The final straw  was the long anticipated delivery from IKEA this morning  of various bits of  furniture.  The Ivar shelving I ordered for my workroom was all broken !!  I've  some  Ivar units in constant use for years but the quality has nose-dived out of all recognition. Any ideas about alternatives?
So glad I'm running away to the sea tomorrow!!

Sketching in museums - Wellcome Collection

 Another Tuesday sketching with Margaret Cooter and co, this time at the Wellcome Collection with it's bizzare, sometimes macabre  medically linked objects.
I got to combine both amulets and  the difficulties of drawing hands from previous sessions at the  British Museums. There was a case of tiny amulets  in the  reading room ( for warding off evil and bringing good luck ) and a larger display of 'votive offerings' carved in stone.

I concentrated on drawing artificial hands constructed from metal, leather, wood and other materials. Some had more functionality than others but all elicit  sympathy for the original wearer
 Then very good coffee and looking at each others sketchbooks in the excellent café  before heading off the see the Richard Diebenkorn at the Royal Academy ( with a glimpse through half open doors of the Summer Exhibition being installed)

Sketching at British Museum :Assyria Lion Hunts

 Another Tuesday  drawing with Margaret Cooter and Co at the  British Museum , this time in room 10A, Assyria Lion Hunts

 The carving of this 'doghandler'  ( and the pattern on his belt ) were exquisite. I've never really drawn reliefs before and it's difficult to capture the quality of line and the 3D aspect that is neither like sculpture or painting but somewhere in between. I wished I'd chosen something a bit simpler than the stylised hands. Love those thumbs but  an object lesson in drawing what you see rather than what you think you see.

 I  worked with pencil first then moved onto pen  when I got too frustrated losing the structure- and  found I was getting  things wrong in a different way!

  Still a very satisfying morning, not thinking about  being creative but just getting stuck in and observing.

No sketching next Tuesday as it's my birthday but I will be returning to the British Museum for the ' Indigenous Australia'  exhibition which opens on Thursday - these bright poles were already in position.

Sketching Amulets at British Museum

  After a couple of weeks of endlessly moving boxes around and weekends dismantling a wardrobe and bookshelves, it was time to get out the house and to finally get round to  meeting up with Margaret Cooter et al sketching in museums. The destination this week was the Islamic Gallery in the British Museum - the streets were solid with buses due to  Kingsway being closed after the fire last week and it took 20 minutes queuing to get in the building (lots of foreign student groups) so I was a few minutes late. So much gorgeous subject matter  to choose from -  I was sorely tempted by the glass but  got fascinated by the case of amulets including this fabulous cloth covered skull ( love those ears!) . 4 of us met up in the  Galley Café to look at each others drawings and  discuss favourite sketching implements ( a visit to Cornelissens  was a must). It was such a pleasure to  be with like-minded people after a few weeks home alone.

 There were several examples of clothing showing a variety of forms both in the gallery itself and in the section on 'life and death' in the main part of the museum

 I didn't get round to drawing this lovely drum-like  discs containing scared texts finely embroidered around the edges -  I had a preference for the more roughly hewn.

  The necklace above  had alum to  heal bleeding and prevent fires and a tortoise shell for longevity ( but not for the tortoise....)

 This Turkish amulet for a bellwether sheep  was fun  - loved the exuberant tassels and the crude stitching on the leather triangles. As it happens I have some  rusty sheep/goat bells at home in the garden bought in  a very non-touristy market in Turkey in  1990's  - each one has a different tone.

Travelling in  Greece, Turkey,  Tunisia, Iran and Syria , I've long had an interest in amulets and talismen. My copy of Sheila Paine's book is much thumbed even if she did mistake  rue for chickpeas, but then I did myself initially.  The photo above was of the  windscreen of the taxi we had in Syria in 2004 winding up a very narrow steep track to Saladin's castle  I'd wished he's had rather fewer and a better view! You can see how close we were to the taxi in front.

I've been thinking for a while of revisiting my idea of amulets against lost earrings. The journal quilt above I made in 2004  taking photo's of earrings and printing them on fabric combined with real examples attached to 3d  Flying Geese ( perhaps they could be found trapped in the folds...)
I think a visit to Pitt Rivers is long overdue.