Daily Drawing : 30DaySketchbookChallenge2020 Part 2

Well I completed the #30daysketchbookchallenge2020   and stuck to the prompts ( mostly) although some of my interpretations  were  a bit  off piste. With the confidence of have drawn for a year, I didn't count it as cheating that some were done in collage, Photoshop, a piece of fabric or a copy of  some artwork done previously rather than   conventional art materials , it was more important that  what I  did   meant something to me or came from my own images . 

Like last year, for January 31st  I did a page of thumbnail sketches ( above) showing my responses to the prompts.  It was great to share my work and to see the imaginative  interpretations  of over 5000 participants (  and several of my friends also took part )     

 Day 15  'Something that Floats'    Day 16 'Something that smells good' 

Day 17 ' Something that smells bad'  Day  18 'Supermarket' 

Day 19 'Technology'           Day   20 'The Four Seasons'

 Day 21 'Reflections'  Day   22 'Cartoon'

Day 23 ' My Hobbies'    Day 24 ' The Zoo' ( woodlice in my compost bin and all the vernacular names for them) 

 Day 25 'Famous People' ( Zandra Rhodes in fluorescent markers)   Day  26 'Fairies and Goblins'  ( ancient goddesses )

Day 27 ' Weird Science'    Day 28 ' Favourite Place' ( Fleet Lagoon while I was there! )

 Day 29 ' Film'  ( Chesil Beach)     Day  30 'Goals'  ( Stitch Samples )

 1 and 2  February  :  Views from underwater camera at Fleet Lagoon;  Streets of Chiswell  

 The prompt for ' My Favourite Place'  was excellently timed for when I was actually at my favourite place, the Chesil Beach visitor centre overlooking  Fleet Lagoon !  And  I made a  good start continuing  in February drawing   while on  holiday in Weymouth.  

Iron Wharf Abstracts

 Our walk on New Year's Eve  finished at Iron Wharf  Boatyard , such an inspiring place, I added  further  images  to my impressive bank of pictures, this  time concentrating on these instant abstract compositions.

 This boat with it's tattered covering  is  a favourite  of mine - it's  up for sale ( well at least the boat is!)

Drawing Tuesday: Keys and Kew

 Drawing Tuesday this week  was  at Richmond Museum - I chose to draw the  keys for the gates of Richmond Park, firstly  a quick outline of the shapes  and how they related to each other and then in more detail  in 4B pencil.  Quite a challenge particularly following the labyrinthine  intricacies of the  teeth or bittings  themselves. Some were double ended  which made me wonder how you carry them?  

Afterwards we had an excellent lunch at the 'Tide Tables'  underneath Richmond Bridge  and then I used the opportunity of being in the area to revisit  Kew with my 'Life Pass'

 It's  over a year since I've been  back, some things like the parakeets flying noisily overhead  and the Pagoda tree are still the same

 But there had been major changes to the Broadwalk and installation of ' The Hive'  and my colleagues  were finally installed in  the Jodrell  after  literally decades of various proposals for moving the lab.

 It was lovely to see them and catch up and I had a guided tour of their new facilities - very strange to see familiar items of equipment  ( even my still-labelled bench trolley) in a different location.  I'm invited back in the Spring.
What felt most odd however was catching a 65 bus to South Ealing  for the Piccadilly Line ,  passing the bus stop very close to my old   home  in Brentford but not getting off.

Drawing Tuesday: Museum of London Docklands

 I haven't been able to  join the 'Drawing Tuesday'  group  for a long time( not since the end of May in M's 'Domestic Museum') so it was lovely to catch up with some members at Docklands Museum.
And I haven't been there  since  2003 when I met  Ian's dad for the first time! Photos from that time below.

  There's been a few changes in that time  but the cranes outside are still there!

I spent a fascinating hour looking round, there's so much of interest.  For drawing purposes  however, a lot of the galleries are  too dark even if the lighting gives strong shadows. I loved the shadows cast by the tools in the forge and the  telescopic  paper model of the Thames  Tunnel.  

  I settled for tools which were in brightly lit cases - initially looking at those for ship building ( my grandfather worked as a pattern maker on the Glasgow shipyards and I still have some of his tools)  but then was attracted by the interesting  shapes of the dock hooks  etc in the 'warehouse of the world' gallery.

 Afterwards in the  café, how could I resist a pirates brownie to go with my coffee!

  Went on an adventure afterwards with Janet and Margaret  with amazing views  of the Thames .

Creative Start to 2016

 

 

 

Happy  New  Year! Thanks for all your good wishes.  Still unpacking boxes  but spending time getting to know our new surroundings : the photos above are from a walk  around the Iron Wharf boatyard  and the  crown spire of St Mary of Charity on the way back from the pub. Lots of inspiration!! 

i

 My studio is now functioning: black plastic shelving constructed, fabric stash boxes un-taped , threads unpacked and sewing machines in action.

 Today was first day of 'Open' exhibition at Creek Creative - I had 3 pieces of work selected and hung. Interesting display of work - the exhibition is on until the 31st ( and I can highly recommend the Café).  Next week is first rehearsal for Haydn's Creation. A good start to  2016!

 

Passing on Liebster Blog Award

Sandra van Velzen ' Rowing in the Morning'

It's not just the series of boats that she's been working on that draws me to  the work of Sandra van Velzen although I love the way she works with photographs, paints , hand dyed fabric and  dense stitching to create atmospheric pieces based on landscapes and  ideas that are important to her.

We met at a SAQA  event at the Festival of Quilts and have maintained the connection, making comments on each others blogs. So it seems appropriate to  pass on the 'Liebster Blog award' I received  from  Uta Lenk  to Sandra, who like Uta, also writes her  blog in 2 languages; in Sandra's case Dutch and English. Apart from  opening a window on art quilts in the Netherlands,  the main reason I  read Sandra's  blog  is for her vivid descriptions of the process of making art: showing work at different stages; asking questions; sharing  her  doubts and celebrating  the successes along the way.