Monthly Archives: November 2019

Blarney Biblio Art Prize entry

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My entry has been accepted into Blarney Books & Art Biblio Art Prize. When you enter the competition you get given a book title to interpret artistically . I entered in June this year and got A year of Wonder : a novel of the plague by Geraldine Brooks. I purchased a second hand copy, knowing that I would draw on the page.

I read the book twice (and really enjoyed it) and have browsed through it numerous times in the last few months. My initial thought was that the drawings I would do in the book would probably be of the plague as it was described on various pages through the book. But in a moment of inspiration I noticed the references to plants in the novel. Looking further, I realised there were many references and knew that this would be my theme.

The novel is set in 1666 when the plague sweeps through England. It is based on the true history of the small Derbyshire village of Eyam that quarantines itself in order to prevent the disease from spreading further. It is written from the point of view of Anna and what she lives through in that time. It includes her observations of the reaction of villagers as they descend into social chaos with increasing fear, paranoia and suspicion. Anna’s resilience grows as she takes on a role as healer. During this time she learns about medicinal plants and they work to help the community at this time.

This weekend I have scanned the pages I have drawn on. I will post the book shortly to arrive in time for the Saturday 7 December Exhibition Opening Night at Blarney Books & Art in Port Fairy. If you are Melbourne, It is about a three hour drive. I would love to know if you are going to visit. My friends Angela & Jodi also have their projects in the exhibition. I believe they have both done paintings for their titles.

You can view all of the above drawings on my Flickr site

I also entered last year, drawing on the pages of a book of my own choice .see my blog post about my entry Blarney 2018 entry

I realised last year that when people were at the exhibition looking at my book, which was displayed open on a bookstand, that they did not turn the pages to look at the different illustrated pages. This weekend I am working on a poster of all the images, which I plan will stand next to the book, and once again, all pages will be bookmarked with a ribbon.

Once again, it will also be available for purchase.

Nature Sketching class

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On Saturday I held a Nature Sketching with Watercolour Pencil class at the beautiful Dromkeen homestead ,just outside of Melbourne. This is a short post showing the sketches I did on the day.

After playing with the watercolour pencils inside and learning what they do, we head outside and observe a tree up close. A little time is spent observing the details, intricacy and character of one tree.

This is a practice sketch I did in the morning. 15 minutes
we then step back and sketch a bigger scene

This final sketch is an explanation of how I built up a page. It is quite hard to explain what you do, when you just do it without thinking. I would love to video this one day.

I had eight enthusiastic students and beautiful day. We were very lucky that the weather cleared and we had a bit of sunshine and warmth.

I have a variety of Watercolour Pencil sketching classes over Spring and Summer at Dromkeen and in Melbourne. Please contact me if you have any questions. See all the details on my website

Sydney sketches

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I was in Sydney for a work conference and I put all of those sketches on last weeks blog. I had arrived a few days early and spent time with Sydney sketching friends. There were hours of chatting and catch up and also pages of sketches. I also sketched before and after work, Here are a few Sydney icons, most of them completed quite quickly.

Sketching at a conference

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Last week I attended a conference in Sydney. Unlike my previous conference in early October the Brisbane Sketchfest 2019 , this was not a Sketching conference, but the International Association of Law Librarians. There were 132 Librarians from 25 countries here in Sydney to learn about the Australian Legal Landscape, A unique learning and professional opportunity for everyone, by attending lectures and social events in day and night.

Of course I sketched, and with the encouragement of the local organisers, shared my sketches on social media. Most sessions went for 45 minutes,but some of the walking tours were an unknown and shorter time. All of my sketches are done on location. This means that they are creating an impression of the moment and are not portraits. They give you a sense of the event, the people and the space they are in.

After one lunchbreak we re-entered the room and one of my sketches was up on the big screen (below) – very exciting. I was introduced to the delegates and my sketches on Twitter were followed and retweeted. It was wonderful to be able to add something a little different to the event.

I also sketched before and after events. There are many sketches of the Sydney Opera House, ferries and Harbour Bridge, and I will be scanning them this week and adding to my flickr account. I put all of my sketches on Flicker. I post one a day to Instagram, some to Facebook and different facebook groups, depending on the sketch.