Sculpture by the Sea

 

 Sculpture by the Sea has become a wonderful annual art event at Cottesloe Beach here in Perth. I was disappointed that I had missed seeing it this year because of other commitments - or so I thought! On Sunday night I was excited to discover that it still had one more day to run. I had to meet up with Mum and Dad by late morning but there was just enough time to drive down to Cottesloe beforehand and spend just one hour there to admire as many of the works as possible.

 

 

 I knew I wouldn't have time to see everything, as I wanted to do a sketch while I was there. I had already fallen in love with these beautiful flamingos by Wendi Zhang and decided they would make the perfect sketching subject in the half hour or so that I had left. There weren't many people around when I first arrived so I had plenty of space to sink into the soft sand and sketch. This time I took my watercolours along.

The lack of time forced me to be quick and loose and I loved every minute of it - I was thoroughly engaged in the process. I enjoyed chatting with a few passers-by who took an interest as I was nearing the end. By the time I left, the morning autumn chill was lifting and people were arriving en masse to swim and to enjoy the sculptures. So the timing had been perfect!

 

                                                 Tony Davis - primordial

 

                                                     Sally Stoneman - boulders

primordial

                                               Yuko Takahashi - way of the wind

Russell Sheridan sisters 

                                                        The lovely Cottesloe Beach

                                                       Andrew Burton vessel

Brad Jackson wanderers conventus

                                                     David Cerny babies three pieces

 

I met up with Mum and Dad afterwards at Hillary's Marina and enjoyed a lovely lunch. The London Plane trees are beginning to look autumnal with the leaves becoming rusty. Swarms of white cockatoos decorate the trees like ornaments while taking their morning nap. 

 

 

                                                             View from our table

 

It was such a lovely way to spend a perfect autumn day.

 

I hope you have made it this far, as lastly, but certainly not leastly, I want to say how thrilled I am to be a recipient of Canadian artist, Barbara Muir's Happy Art Award.

 

 Barbara is an exceptionally talented artist and my spirits always lift when I visit her colourful blog. Both her art and words are pure sunshine and joy and she is very generous with her insights on art and life. Luscious and luminous are just two words that come to mind when I think of how to describe her stunning portraits and still life. She has also recently done a series of epic cloudscapes inspired by her latest sojourn in Nova Scotia.

Click here to visit Barbara's inspiring blog.

 

Life's a Beach

 

 I enjoyed catching up with my friend Barbara at the beach yesterday. We bought a take-away coffee to sip while gasbagging on our towels before going in for a divine dip. When she trotted off an hour later to attend her yoga class, I enjoyed a second swim and then did a quick sketch. I wondered about adding colour on my return, but lately I'm feeling loathe to tamper with my sketches after I have left the scene. I must get in the habit of taking my paints with me as well as my pen.

                                     Some snaps I took with my phone while I was down there.

A few colourful feathered visitors we enjoyed during the week.

 

 

I was sorting out some old art-work of mine and came across a few drawings I'd almost forgotten about. I was quite a fan of Patrick Swayze in my younger years!

 

The sketches below I did in a life-drawing class when I was 15 years old. I so enjoyed drawing figures from life and have only attended one life-drawing class since then. Re-visiting these pictures inspires me to feature more figures and faces in my work. I very much enjoyed doing the sketch yesterday of the sunbather. I think what I love most about figures is trying to capture the stance and showing the weight of the muscles (if that makes sense!)