I have had so many things to post this year, that I never quite got around to posting. So I will do a quick scan through the photo gallery and see what I can find.
Mainly I have been preoccupied with an embroidered piece for a group show in July. We had to get our draft writing and photos in very early as there is a book to be published to accompany the show. Very exciting indeed. So sorry no finished shots until the exhibition is open. However I did make a short video of me stitching on this piece.
I will just share some photos as I haven’t reached any conclusions about the year. I’ve made work, communed with like-minded friends both online and in person around the world. Thank you all for being open and sharing your year with me as well.
Part of a major piece going on show in 2023.Some silliness with friends in Indonesia. A female (left) and juvenile male (right) Eastern Koels, summer visitors to our part of Australia. Sketching in my own backyard, late December. Sketching in other people’s back yards, Hila, Ambon, Indonesia in October. The Dutch built Immanuel Church, 1659 and locals fishing on the pier.
Well it’s been a while since I posted, mainly because I have been busy finalising my first solo exhibition in Sydney, (more of that in another post). We had to drive up from Canberra for the installation so once we arrived we had some spare time to get some sketching done.
You probably won’t be surpised that this has meant sitting in cafes and sketching, although it’s also been about taking the opportunity to look out at the busy urban settings as much as drawing people. We are staying in the inner-ish suburb of Strathfield, close to the railway station. It’s a lively area with plenty of activity all day.
Early morning coffee sketching at Maldini’s Espresso. The place across the road must have the good dumplings because there were always queues there at night.
The area also has a very strong Korean focus. You can’t go wrong with Korean barbecue restaurants and the style and content of the local grocery and specialty shops is a far cry from what we have in our local area. It makes a heady mix for us sketchers!
We also spent some time at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, where I had just enough time to sketch some sculptures as fit in another cafe sketch.
Lyndon Dadswell, The Birth of Venus, 1944. One of a number of smaller sculptures displayed together.
I love the way these groupings of sculptures relate to each other and the art around them. It was a bit of a challenge to see enough detail in the Dadswell sculpture to draw it, as it was silhouetted against a bright window. The view of the back of the sculpture was much better lit. Unfortunately I didn’t have enough time to sketch that as well.
The rear view of the Birth of Venus by Lyndon Dadswell. One final cafe sketch.
We have been doing a lot of walking since the pandemic started, originally prompted by restricted exercise periods for months at a time. Now walking is a regular activity and each week we try and do a slightly longer walk. We often break this up with a coffee, in our Thermos, or at one of the pop-up coffee carts that seem to be proliferating along popular walking tracks around the city.
Covered with a nice paperbag from a local bookshop
I hate carrying too much on these walks so I now carry this home made 10×14 cm sketchbook made of paper offcuts. Here are some of my recent sketches.
The sketches are adding up!Late afternoon around Lake Tuggeranong Coffee at the pop-up coffee cart Mt Taylor. In reality the Golden Retreiver wasn’t quite that long in the body!😄A Thermos of coffee when we walked around the base of Mt TaylorPatrons at the local coffee shop, a stop on our walk around Lake Tuggeranong Bonus Black Swans with an almost fully grown cygnet.
leonieandrews 