Short but Sweet in Melbourne

 

                                                Flinders Street Station  13cm x 19cm
                                                                   pen on paper

 

 

This week a spur of the moment opportunity arose to accompany my husband on a business trip to Melbourne for two nights. Once he'd left for work the morning after our evening arrival, I trotted off to catch a tram into the city centre. I had been very pleased that fellow art blogger Helen Cooper was able to meet up with me at very short notice. I have admired her work for quite some time and it was wonderful to be able to meet up with her in person. She is such a lovely person and we had a great day together, first we indulged ourselves with tea and cake at the Hopetoun Tearooms in the Block Arcade. I was lucky to get photos before too many people were around. When I visited Melbourne in summer a few years ago there were long lines waiting to get a seat and hordes of people taking photos of the cake display.

 

 The Block arcade was built in the 1890s and its wonderful character has been retained throughout the years.

 

Helen showed me around town for a bit and then we made our way to the art gallery. I was pleased that the wonderful display of handmade poppies remained from the Anzac commemorations from the previous Saturday.

 

 

 

 The gallery was hosting the WW1 Centenary Exhibition

 

http://museumvictoria.com.au/melbournemuseum/whatson/the-ww1-centenary-exhibition/
which was very moving to see and then we enjoyed viewing the general painting collections. I particularly love seeing the Heidelberg School impressionist paintings.

We had a very late lunch in one of the cafes in the Block Lane which feels very European. It was so nice to have Helen's company for the day.

 

I did my sketch of Flinders Street Station the next day when I sallied forth alone. Afterwards I visited a lovely haberdashery shop in one of the old arcades and then trotted up to the Victoria markets.

 

 

There is a lot of character amongst the modern in Melbourne. By early afternoon it was time to head back to the hotel to meet up with my husband and make our way to the airport for the flight home.

 

It was SO cold in Melbourne - real winter weather in the mid-teens Celsius. Perth has been getting a bit cooler but it had been in the high 20sC exactly one week before I flew to Melbourne. Having to wear a scarf and boots was quite a contrast to the previous week when I had my last swim at the beach for the season. I had bought myself a cup of coffee and a piece of cake from the surf club kiosk and made the most of the beautiful weather before the autumn temperatures arrived (which they now have!)

 

 

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!)