Hanging out in Marrickville

Post Office Cafe-charcoal and watercolour

Saturday morning in Marrickville... just like old times. This inner west suburb is  pretty hip and happening now but wasn't really so when we moved here 20 something years ago.  Moved to the next suburb along  a few years ago and it's nice to be back.
Above is the scene as I drank a coffee at the Post Office Cafe on Marrickville Road today.  It's in the original post office, a lovely big building.  There was a fire here last year so was pleased to see it open.

When parking the car in a back street I saw the view below of St Clement's church, Marrickville, seen between buildings- the back of the Chinese Restaurant on the left and Herb Greed Hall on the right ( which I haven't shown)  There was a groovy bicycle parked at the end of the restaurant's parking lot which I was hoping to put in but  cars kept parking in front of it so this part of the idea is not there.
St Clement received a new steeple a few years ago as the original one was falling down.  When walking the dog on a Saturday afternoon I loved to stop to listen to the church bells of St Clement's and watch wedding parties go in or out. Ah, good times...

St Clement's Church as seen between the Chinese restaurant and Herb Greedy Hall

Sketching in the Dark

Watercolour and charcoal

 Drawing in the dark is something I had never done before and it's interesting to give it a try. These were started in the light and then worked as it became darker and darker. I felt the bones of the drawing needed the light so the edges could be found..
These are views from my studio, which faces west, so enjoys the setting sun.
I would like to try some more drawings of the night...

Watercolour and charcoal

Royal Botanic Gardens

Royal Botanic Gardens-watercolour and charcoal

 Sketch club met at Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens yesterday.  The weather was spectacular, especially for this time of year, which is days before winter starts.  The Botanic Gardens are 30 hectares of land  in the heart of the city  facing the harbor.  It was established in 1816 and holds many rare and threatened plants as well as a gallery, wedding venue, restaurants, cafe and greenhouses.

waterclour and charcoal, looking down toward the harbour, Farm Cove

sketch on the bus on the way to Botanic Gardens

White Rabbit Gallery

Bird Cages on ceiling of White Rabbit Gallery cafe

I went to White Rabbit Gallery on Sunday, this private  gallery shows contemporary Chinese art.  The exhibitions change twice a year, a new one is up and I was glad to have a look.  The gallery owner's sister, Phil was there and gave a wonderful tour.  She is such an animated person and her talks are interesting to the extreme.  The art on show is at times shocking, always political, controversial and  fascinating.  I recommend it highly.
Afterwards I had dumplings and tea at the gallery cafe and sketched the bird cages hanging from the ceiling.  Where to start that drawing took a minutes thought as it was weird drawing from the bottom of the page when I was looking up at the ceiling.  But that's what I did and worked forwards.

The collage below was done last year of the exterior of the White Rabbit Gallery.

White Rabbit Gallery, Collage and ink

St Mary's Cathedral

One of the towers, St Mary's, watercolor and pen

         
Some fellow sketchers and I met today at St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney.  St Mary's is a Roman Catholic church of Gothic revival architecture, build in the 19th century.  It's very large and drawing just parts of it seemed the only sensible option.  We spent about one and a half hours inside and it was beautiful, the golden light  pouring through the stained glass windows.  We were there in-between masses and there were a number of tourists and those in quiet contemplation there too.
Afterwards I had a spot of lunch at a cafe overlooking St Mary's and took the opportunity to sketch it from there-see the last pic.

Golden light through the north side windows

Metro St  James Cafe overlooking St Mary's

Kosta Owl

I love this owl which my mother gave me for my birthday, which happened to be yesterday.  It was made by the Swedish glass company Kosta by the designer Victor Lindstrand.  You may know the glass company Kosta Boda but Kosta is actually an earlier form of the firm.  Kosta is  the oldest Swedish glass company, starting in 1742 but it became Kosta Boda in 1976 after a merger of Kosta, Boda and Afors.
This owl's designer Victor Lindstrand was known at Vicke and joined Kosta in 1950, working there until 1973.  He  not only was a glass designer but also a painter and a textile and ceramic designer.
This owl is 4 inches high and is a snowy owl and I think it was created in the 1950's.  There is a smaller owl too, a 3 inch model.
I am very pleased with my gift, thanks mom!

Mother's Day

Watercolour and charcoal, Mother's Day breakfast

To all you moms, have a great day and every one else too, who are lucky enough to spend the day with their mother.  My lovely daughter brought these pastries home from Bourke St Bakery and they were too pretty not to sketch.  Tea is always good in Wedgewood china and I used a vintage cloth to brighten up the scene. The sketch above is A3 size which is twice the size of a normal piece of paper.  The drawings below are post card size.

Pastry Portraits

Rhubarb pastry, ink and watercolour

 Scroll

Chocolate croissant

croissant

Rainy day in the city

Elizabeth Street, watercolour and pen

Here are some sketches done in the city (Sydney) recently.  It was raining pretty heavily and constantly so we needed to be under cover.  A number of sketchers sat in the doorway of Museum train station to capture the street scene and the people who were also in the doorway waiting....  Here are some of my attempts to quickly capture people and horses (see above).

Waiting, watercolour and pen

More waiting, watercolour and pen

Rivendell

The Boat House at Rivendell

Sydney Urban Sketchers met today on a day which mostly cleared of rain, the coldest day since last June.  We met at Concord and first spent some time sketching at the Kokoda Memorial area which was quite jungle like.
We then hiked over to Rivendell which is a convalescent home built in 1893.  It was a private hospital but was free to those who required it.  There are a number of magnificent buildings, separate areas for men, women and children.  There is a wonderful gate house as well as a boat house as the patients could arrive either by water or road.  The property is on the Parramatta River and there are wonderful city views. I chose to draw the boat house which was recently restored.  It is a far cry from the boat houses I am used to in Canada which are decidedly more rustic.

Fellow sketcher at the Kokoda memorial