It was another day of fascinating talks on a wide variety of subjects. By now I am starting to see familiar faces attending events and having a quick chat to some people before the sessions starts. I usually don’t stay around after as I am off to the next event . The weather has been cool (14 degrees) but not much rain, so at least I arrive dry .

The John Emmerson Collection at State Library Victoria
Richard Overell and Des Cowley. In 2015, the John Emmerson collection, comprising over 5,000 early English books, with particular emphasis on the English Civil War, was donated to the State Library of Victoria. In this session, they looked at some of the highlights of the Emmerson Collection.

Sir Redmond Barry: The Bibliophile Melbourne Law School Library
Carole Hinchcliff and Wallace Kirsop spoke about Sir Redmond Barry, the bibliophile, his style of book collecting as reflected in his personal library, and the ongoing project to re-create Barry’s library. They examined Barry’s influence on developing the first library collection at The University of Melbourne. A selection of Barry’s writings and books associated with Barry was displayed.

The Birdman and the Museum
Museums Victoria
Belinda Borg, Nik McGrath, Gemma Steele
This show-and-tell offered a unique insight into the relationship between Museums Victoria and the renowned ornithologist and publisher, John Gould, through rarely seen items from the library and archives. Museums Victoria’s librarians and archivists explored historical letters, lists, accounts ledgers and rare books to better understand the relationship between these two scientists.
This show-and-tell offered a unique insight into the relationship between the museum’s first director, Sir Frederick McCoy, and the renowned ornithologist and publisher, John Gould, through rarely seen items from the library and archives.

Juvenile Books on War
Michael O’Brien at Tonic House
This talk explored and uncovered the surprising scope of books on war for children and juveniles. Presenting examples from the Royal United Services Institute of Victoria collection, this engaging discussion showcased family help material, picture books, tales of derring-do, and propaganda, and reflected on the realities and misrepresentations of growing up during conflict.

Today I started with an event with the oldest books and finished at a brand new book launch. !

Medieval and early modern marginalia State Library Victoria
Dr Anna Welch
A face peeping through golden foliage, an inscription to a loved one, an inky fingerprint: marginalia takes many forms. Marks made by individuals in their books are of increasing interest in our digital world; they represent material connections with the past. Anna Welch explained and explored examples of curious marginalia from the SLV’s rich collection of medieval and early modern books.

Parliament of Victoria
Sarah Edwards Heritage Collection Officer

Rakish Plundering or Scientific Enquiry Parliamentary Library
Explorer, naturalist and buccaneer William Dampier was the first Englishman to map parts of Australia. Overlapping the careers of Sir Francis Drake and Captain James Cook, Dampier’s exploits combined the rakish plundering of the former with the scientific enquiry of the latter. We looked at the rare books held in Parliament of Victoria’s Library that showcase cartography and descriptions from early exploration. The maps, instruments and issues of nautical explorers were explained

Australian Toys by Luke Jones 
The Melbourne book launch
Douglas Stewart Fine Books Australian Toys is an illustrated history of Australian manufactured toys from 1900-1965, drawing on the author’s authoritative collection. Luke Jones’ carefully structured collection has been assembled with passion and commitment over a period of more than thirty years, and is unrivalled for its breadth and quality. It provides an ideal platform to illustrate a history of twentieth century Australian manufactured toys, a history which has not previously been substantially documented. A lovely launch of a beautifully produced publication, and lots of interesting people to meet.

The Extraordinary and the Ephemeral: Rare books of the PMI Victorian History Library
PMI Victorian History Library
Ellen Coates
All stories are shaped by the documents that survive to tell them. Founded in 1854, the Prahran Mechanics’ Institute, has accumulated a collection that not only covers the history of Victoria and contains many hidden gems. We were introduced to the treasures of the PMI including letters, ephemera, invitations, dance cards, petitions, plans, and, of course, books.

The day began at State Library of Victoria in a fully booked small session on Library Magic: The W.E. Alma Collection presented by Dominique Dunstan and Nicholas Johnston . This is magic as entertainment, not as spells.

The art of conjuring was a lifelong obsession for Will Alma, and his collection reflects his engagement with all aspects of a magical life: performer, maker, publisher, collector and archivist. Dominique shared an unexpected delight from the collection she has worked with for 20 years. The focus was on the blow book. What are they ? – see this video of Eddie Redmayne and Benedict Cumberbatch Do Magic Tricks – The Graham Norton Show .

Then magician and curator Nicholas took us behind the curtain to glimpse the life and times of Alma and his circle in Melbourne. He explained learning tricks and then displayed his card skills !

Japanese Wonders:
Beautiful items from Rare Books at the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne Library
Susan Millard Curator of Rare Books
Japanese culture is renowned for its distinct aesthetic sensibility. Susan showed us a diverse variety of materials and objects of exquisite design, quality, and visual beauty from textiles to woodblock prints, matchboxes, and Manga.

Collecting Useful Books 
Richard Overell at The Melbourne Athenaeum Library
talked about historic practical manuals on seemingly now obscure topics. These guides were amusing, practical and are now highly collectible. Richard examined books on applied science and technology, manuals and trade catalogues.

Looking forward to tomorrow….

Day four of Melbourne Rare Book Week. I attended four of the six events today – too many to choose from!

Gippsland Ephemera  Ephemera Society of Australia Inc.
Gippsland region of Eastern Victoria has a long history of diverse businesses, population and culture. Colin Silcock a Gippsland local, demonstrated how the area represented itself in brochures, business cards, posters, labels etc. Fascinating rare material which promoted tourism, businesses, community and sporting activities, schools and religions were on show. at The Mess Hall Royal Historical Society of Victoria

Innovations in Music 
The Grainger Museum
Heather Gaunt
The Grainger Museum preserves the legacy of renowned Australian composer Percy Grainger. Curator Heather Gaunt gave an engaging overview of the Museum, its fascinating history, thought-provoking collections and future aspirations. This informative talk also focused on the current major exhibition. How it plays: innovations in percussion

Second-hand or Rare? 
A tale of two private libraries
State Library Victoria

In 1923, the coveted private libraries of Robert Carl Sticht and Carlos Barron Lumsden were sold in Melbourne. One collection ended up on the shelves of the prestigious Hill of Content bookstore, the other at the second-hand stall of the Coles Book Arcade. Shane Carmody told the stories of the books and their previous owners and reflected on the twists of fate that turn second-hand books into something rare.

Melbourne Rare Book Week has officially started, with the first event on Friday 5 July . Professor Wallace Kirsop’s “Readers and Books in La Trobe’s Melbourne” set the scene for book retailing and collection in early Melbourne,

I will be sketching at many of the varied and fascinating events over the coming week and posting on facebook at Alissa Duke Art and instagram alissaduke1. I always sketch on location using my watercolour pencils and Lamy Sarafi Joy ink pen in 13 x 19 cm Moleskine watercolour sketchbook. I only add final touches at home and the wording.

Blue skies and sunshine on Saturday for the next Melbourne Rare Book Week event. “A Walk on the Mean Streets : An exploration of the 1880s Melbourne of Fergus Hume” This walk was led by Lucy Sussex,and Chris Browne, both in costume. We visited sites of Melbourne featured in the books of Fergus Hume, the author of The Mystery of a Hansom Cab (1886). The walk featured readings from the works of Fergus Hume at places that were mentioned in the book. When they stopped I sketched. I knew where some stops were and could drew the background in advance on the day. Thanks Melbourne Library Service for this event .

Melbourne Rare Book Week Bulls, Booze & Books: 
Reliving Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, a politically incorrect adventure.
Johnson Society
John Byrne a world-renowned collector of the works of Samuel Johnson, John also collects books on Hemingway and bullfighting. Inspired by a book examining the real-life events behind The Sun Also Rises, John travelled to Spain in 2018 to visit bullrings, bars, restaurants and bookshops. We heard about his adventures and saw rare books from his collection. watercolour pencil and ink pen

Browsing the shelves: Books in an exhibition
Old Treasury Building
Shane Carmody told the story behind the books from the exhibition The Invention of Melbourne: A Baroque Archbishop and a Neo-Gothic Architect to be launched on 31 July. Drawn from the library of James Goold, first Catholic Bishop of Melbourne, the books are just a sample of one of the finest libraries assembled in colonial Melbourne. Shane told the story of Goold and his fabulous library through the books, their authors and publishers.

I will be posting on instagram and facebook daily and every few days to my blog. Then I will return to my regular weekly art blog.

Yesterday was the final in my series of Watercolour Pencil sketching classes at Dromkeen homestead just outside of Melbourne. We had a visually decadent and delicious High Tea sketching class.

The students arrived at 2pm, entering from the chilly 5 degrees outside to be greeted by the warmth of the lit fireplace and a table beautifully set for a feast.

We spent the first 40 minutes getting to explore and learn about watercolour pencils, waterbrushes and watercolour sketchbooks. Then the coffees, teas, hot chocolates, sandwiches and savories arrived – and the Sketching began!!! There were decisions to be made on what to eat and what to sketch,

At 3.00pm the sweets arrived. A decadent choice to eat and sketch, (and some colourful fruits too). Below are some of the many wonderful sketches from the day. People chose different foods to draw and objects to sketch. The beautiful teacups with their delicate designs also featured in many sketches. I regularly reminded people to eat and drink as it is so easy to get carried away with sketching and forget to eat .

It was a wonderful way to spent a winters’ afternoon, Good company, delicious treats and drawing. What more could you ask for?!

Many thanks to Bernadette and Denise for organising the day and cooking up some amazingly delicious food. Dromkeen is a world famous historic homestead, featuring original Australian book illustration. Their tearoom serves delicious home made food and quality coffee and tea. They provide educational programs for visiting schools, gallery tours for other groups and also provide facilities for business functions, weddings, birthday parties & other special occasions.

I do not have any watercolour pencil sketching classes in the calendar at the moment, but am planning for Spring and Summer ! To find out when new classes are announced, sign up for my newsletter on this website. In the meantime some of my watercolour pencil drawings are available for purchase printed as greeting cards on my ETSY online store.

I recently was appointed Social Media Reporter for Clunes Booktown Festival by Melbourne City of Literature. I sketched at Clunes on the day and wrote about in two blogposts.

• http://alissaduke.com/2019/04/next-weekend-clunes-booktown-festival.html
• http://alissaduke.com/2019/05/clunes-booktown-festival.html

I was also required to submit a Creative Response, The brief : The final creative piece is some form of artwork made in response to your overall festival experience. This piece is to act as a deeper reflection on your part about your experience of the festival, and to give you another opportunity to really get creative and experiment. You can think of this piece as either a summary of your whole experience, or an opportunity to really dive deep into one aspect of your experience you want to explore/portray.

I decided to draw in a book I purchased at Clunes. A previous blogpost described my plan.

Today I can show you all of the sketches that I did in the book I bought at Clunes Booktown Festival. I have all of my Clunes Sketches in a flickr album.

My book is : Language and Ideas: a course in English Expression for Junior Forms. Book 1by Lane, Brereton, Dobell and Nelson published by Hall’s Book Store Pty Ltd Melbourne 1964. 309 pages. Previously owned by David J Netherway (in child’s writing in pencil in the front page). Cost $4

The town of Clunes, the people and the books reflect my experience at Clunes Booktown Festival. Combined together, these three elements created a unique event with a special atmosphere.

Next Saturday I have a Nature Sketching with Watercolour Pencil class at the beautiful Dromkeen homestead, just outside of Melbourne. (there is still one ticket left !! book here )

Today, on a glorious autumnal day I walked to the local Fitzroy Gardens for a trial sketch for the class. I draw the gardens and nature objects often. However, to explain my process to other people requires a bit of thought, as I don’t actually think about how I draw, i just do it.

I also wanted to use the Faber Castell pencils that the students use. They are “student grade” colours (as opposed to the Faber Castell Albrecht Durer grade pencils that I use everyday) and include fewer colours that I have in my sketchkit. I also used the same sketch book that is included in the sketchkit that is provided if they purchase kit through me. Many bring their own gear. You can get an amazing range of colour with just a few colours. I did not even go to the stage of blending colours to get a larger range of colours from five pencils

I sketched with a friend, who is also doing the class next Saturday. While I learnt a lot about what I need to spend more time explaining and focusing on, Anita received a lesson.

My class will still focus on sketching and capturing the moment on the page, I will spend more time on:

• deciding what to sketch
• what to include and leave out
• simplifying shapes
• choosing line, colour, texture to give the impression of detail and depth
• measuring relative distances and sizes
• when and where to add the waterbrush to the page

Weather permitting (a cold, wet change is coming through at the end of the week) I plan to take the class to sketch outside at Dromkeen, as well as collecting object from the grounds and sketching it inside. Either way, it is going to be a great day and I am looking forward to it.