On Saturday I presented at the Melbourne Athenaeum Library. This marked the end of my year long Artist in Residency, I last wrote about this in January, when it was just beginning.

My brief for the Artrist in Residence was “12 illustrations of various aspects of the Athenaeum Library and Archives”.

I gave a one-hour presentation and had lots of questions from the audience. I knew many, but not all, in the audience, either from The Athenaeum events, friends or my own classes. It was a very friendly, relaxed talk.

I explained the commission and my approach. I talked about how I use my watercolour pencils and then the objects I sketched. I then discussed my on-location sketching at events and how that translated to a final drawing.

There is currently a display of the commissioned pieces. On the day I also had my sketchbooks for people to look through.

I am holding two classes on watercolour pencil at the Library.

It was such a wonderful experience and I was honoured to be invited to interpret the collection and add to its history through my Residency.