Wednesday 14 December 2011

Being seated on the Northern Line always feels like a privilege.  This man got on at Elephant and Castle. Gradually I became aware of a stench around me, it became so bad that I didn't breathe properly between London Bridge and Bank. All day I kept revisiting the smell, I thought I had trodden in something foul and kept checking my shoes. It was the man.

Saturday 5 November 2011

Fabric Tower

These fabrics are piled up by the staircase in Angela's house. I was drawing them whilst the sun burst through an open window with the very long lace curtains blowing in the breeze. I was trying to finish the drawing before everyone returned from a tennis game in the next village. Angela had told me that she had obtained the revolving rack the bundles of fabric were stored upon from the drapery department of Dickin's and Jones. Each of the bundles is in fact an antique french bed spread and has a beautifully written label attached to it with string. I made two of these drawings and one of them I gave to Angela when I left. Whilst I drew a mouse came and watched me.

Saturday 29 October 2011

Perfect symmetry?

    
Half term, traveling on the Northern Line en route to Selfridges with Pearl I spotted a classic sleeper slumped in a seat clutching a bag on her knee part retreated under her wig. Went to Selfridges bumped into someone we knew.... On the way home I spied a second sleeper slumped in the equivalent seat in the carriage holding a bag on her knee and similarly snuggled under the shelter of the wig. Perfect symmetry.



Monday 3 October 2011

Garrance is a lurcher, she has legs that are so long they look like they could get tangled. This is her stirring from a deep sleep after she became aware that she was being watched.

Tuesday 13 September 2011

Fishing kids

This family were busy fishing by the port in Cabo Pino. I walked around to the end of the harbour wall to paint the men fishing but became captivated by this scene. The family had strong Northern accents. It was the first week of the summer holidays but the children were so brown with sun bleached hair it seemed that they may have been in that climate for a long time.  They had a system for luring the fish towards the boy on the end with the fishing rod. The dad was in and out of the water adjusting floats.

Another sleeper on the Northern Line

It is quite remarkable how many people pass their journey on the Northern Line fast asleep. I am fascinated by the internal body clock that certain individuals clearly possess that can allow them to sleep up until they have reached their station. Then they casually alight. This man was in no way phased or flustered and under my close scrutiny did not appear to spend even a moment wondering where he was. He slept for at least seven stations then casually woke, picked up his bags and got off.

Wednesday 31 August 2011

bra yoga

I was in my yoga class enjoying a moment of serene calm, as Kay the yoga teacher reminds us we will only be in this moment once. I became aware of a loud grunting sound and took the opportunity afforded by an inversion to glance behind me. One of my fellow yoga participants, a lady on the larger side, had taken off her top and was doing yoga in her bra. This image was imprinted on my memory from thereon and though the drawing was not made live and in the moment I was readily able to purge myself of its' burden soon after.

Monday 29 August 2011

A potato based day in Lachapelle. I spent all morning painting the potatoes whilst chatting to Angela. She was showing me a trunk of dolls clothing which had belonged to the two deaf ladies who had lived in her house early in the 1900's. The tiny clothes were all hand stitched and had been clearly treasured, a fact visible by the presence of heavy mending. There was a pair of tiny hand made dolls shoes, hand knitted cotton socks and knickers made from a monogrammed handkerchief. In the evening, when the painting was finished I put the potatoes into a tortilla. A great deal of attention was paid to those tiny tubers.

Tuesday 9 August 2011


Once when my son was in reception class we were on the beach at Cabo Pino near Marbella in Andalucia. I suddenly realized he had disappeared and felt a sick panic as I scanned the empty white sand that dropped steeply into the sea. I was with my Belgian friends and we spotted a blonde haired boy in the distance, he appeared to be with a family but I found myself running over. My son was sitting making sandcastles with a small girl. I hysterically asked him "Where were you?" He glanced up at me with a quizzical look and replied "I was playing with Anna Maria". She was a girl from his class in London.

Monday 8 August 2011

Sunshade






























In the same spot on the same day, first off there was a child's party. The sunshade and pool area were decorated with balloons and bunting. Later on in the day under the same sunshade Lorraine discusses tonight's menu with her friend Emma.


Sunday 31 July 2011



Two weeks painting for me equals two weeks swimming for Sacha and Pearl. The extreme Andalusian sun dries the paint so quickly which is an advantage when painting water.  Oh and there is Lorraine discussing tonight's supper with a lady from Wiltshire, this time in the pool.

Wednesday 27 July 2011

Pool side










This is a visual record of two weeks in July observing the pool side behaviour of the residents of Pueblo Miraflores near to Marbella in Andalucia. Over the time I made the sketches I also had brief conversations or exchanges with many of the subjects. They were mainly aware of being observed and curious to see the paintings. I met a man who had been a water-colourist himself but had to go back to his old job as a result of the economic situation in Ireland, another lady was doing an oil painting course and wanted to share with me how difficult she found colour mixing. One lady, who appears in several of the drawings, seemed to know everyone by the pool on first name terms. I discovered a great deal of information about her and her family from overhearing these conversations including what she would be having for dinner each evening.

Wednesday 6 July 2011

Sleeper on the Northern Line

This is midday on the Northern Line, the best time to draw a sleeper as there are less passengers around to draw attention to the sketcher and in turn wake the sleeper, or is this just my paranoia?. When drawing in public places there often seems to be a sense of urgency, either in capturing a pose or in not being caught in the act. 

Wednesday 29 June 2011

Vegetarian Breakfast

Peeling back the foil of this British Airways vegetarian breakfast revealed the contents cowering in the right hand corner, including a Salvador Dali tomato. Shown here the scrambled egg peers over a rice sausage, in the foreground a hash brown contemplates the space.
 It actually tasted quite nice. The man sitting next to me was trying not to look as I drew my breakfast before eating it.

Thursday 16 June 2011

He knew he was being watched but he just didn't seem to mind. His eyes kept darting towards me then looking away. He didn't touch his drink until I shut my sketchbook, finished my coffee and paid the bill.

Thursday 2 June 2011

I went to Ikea, tried to be early to miss the traffic. I got there an hour before it opened. Not to worry  as the Bistro opens for business an hour before the store itself. For only 99p they can knit you a full breakfast. The scrambled egg was very woollen, I sat on my own and had a fry up.

Saturday 28 May 2011


I was lucky enough to be on my own in Paris with no distractions and glorious sunny weather. Sitting in the Jardins de Luxembourg with a brand new watercolour set. Each lozenge of colour was still in it's wrapper looking like little chocolates. I sat in the dusty sunshine seeking out people to paint, however after the unwrapping and preparation of water and necessary arrangements the potential sitters had disappeared. Blanche de Castille was serene and posing adjacent to where I sat, it seemed like an opportunity. My work was interrupted for the first time by a local drinker who fancied himself as a bit of an artist and was fairly keen to pass on his advice. This included some criticism of my execution of the hands. He was also horrified that I was unaware of who Blanche de Castille was, I protested that I was in fact English but this was no excuse. He rolled off in disgust muttering about Saint Louis.
Whilst painting the second nymph I was joined by a more perky, youthful inebriate wearing tracksuit bottoms one leg of which was rolled up to the thigh. He was most keen for me to watch his stretching exercises which if carried out correctly could lead one to experience the sensation of flying. Since I was trying to paint and not paying sufficient attention he became rather irritated and kept shouting to me "Madame! You're not watching!"
When this clearly was not getting the required reaction he got out a rather archaic looking mobile phone and started to have an imaginary conversation with "my love, whats that my love? You are not loving me, my love.But my love,my love. I was too far into the painting to move on so we shared the bench for some time until he was distracted by a passing gendarme to whom he became attached with the introductory gambit "hey Monsieur, vous etes un gendarme" (this was a statement not a question). I love Paris.

Monday 9 May 2011

Awkward moment


Over a period of time I have had business to sit in one of the cafes in Battersea square for an hour every week of the school term waiting for Pearl to finish her dance class. For the main part I have always had the pleasure of good company and the opportunity to have interesting discussions with friends or simply gossip with acquaintances. On the rare occasions when I am alone in the cafe I resort to the company of my sketchbook. This particular drawing was made during a snatched moment whilst I waited for my friend to join me. The duration of the drawing process lasted the exact time it took her to make the journey from her 9th floor flat around the corner. The man in the drawing was on the phone and was sitting in a way that seemed to draw itself onto the page at an awkward angle, which emphasized the tension of the phone call he is making. He was trying hard to make a point which appeared to be a fruitless endeavour since from where I sat the receiver of his call was not listening to him.

Tuesday 3 May 2011

Composure



The two women were both composed in a relaxed and serene manner. The first is in a brasserie in Battersea having a coffee and reading the Telegraph in a sunny corner. The second is drifting in and out of sleep as she keeps one eye out for her stop on the tube.
The man has just had a confrontation with the management of the Lake Cafe in Battersea Park after his hot chocolate was removed from his lake side table during his temporary absence from it. The staff were fairly apologetic but this man was bristling with anger and this sketch was made during his calming down period. I felt quite tense drawing him as he was quite close and exuding fury but it had to be done.

Wednesday 27 April 2011

Lunch Dates




On many occasions I find my sketchbook keeps me really good company. This can be when I have cause to wait in places where everyone around me appears to be involved in some kind of communal activity. These drawings represent occasions where I have been the invisible guest at the lunch date of people I don't know . The more deeply the lunching strangers are involved in their private moment the more detail I feel able to draw into my own record of their experience. These drawings represent my shared experiences with complete strangers.

Wednesday 20 April 2011

Chlorine Scented


Over a period of seven years I spent at least one hour every week at the Latchmere Leisure Centre initially ensuring that my children learned to swim and subsequently watching my son gain his distance awards. Eventually after swimming over one mile he decided that swimming was no longer fun and my pool attendance also ceased.
During the hours I waited and watched, I sat in the steamy, chlorine heavy atmosphere of Paco's cafe surrounded by yellow plastic chairs strewn around ketchup stained plastic tables populated by fractious families feasting on chicken dinosaurs. In order to mentally separate myself from this mayhem I would use any paper and materials I could find in my bag to draw, this is a particularly enthusiastic attendant who I recall made generous use of his whistle.These drawings are on the back of an old invoice for some animation work.

Saturday 9 April 2011

Lemon Scented


These drawings carry a really strong association with the the scent of lemons. Pearl was sitting under the shade of a huge lemon tree in the garden of a villa in a tiny hamlet called Horto on the Pilion peninsula of mainland Greece. The tree was our source of shade from the blistering sun and the children were happy to amuse themselves with an ancient hand operated water pump. A near perfect experience of a family holiday punctuated by minor incidents such as the small smoking piles by the adjacent river which on further investigation turned out to be the local method for eliminating snakes. We met a local olive producers son who had hopes of reviving his almost extinct (Trabant?) vehicle with some help from Andrew. This proved fruitless but he still rewarded us with supper on his beautiful terrace overlooking the sea cooked by his elderly mother, who never actually appeared in person.

Thursday 31 March 2011

Indian Slippers




I found the drawing of the shoe and I remembered I had bought the shoes in a market in India. I had seen the journal I wrote on that trip in the bottom of a drawer. When I opened the little green journal the first page was from Jaisalmer which is odd because that is where I had bought the shoe.

Monday 21 March 2011

Drinking and drawing



At the Doodle Bar there was a really good Tuesday evening life drawing session that took place in a deeply hidden location in Battersea. The session seemed to be run by a girl called Jasmin with the advisory help of another girl called Emily. They used to serve wine from a bar, play interesting music and have excellent models. It was during these sessions I was introduced to the practice of drinking and drawing, this was quite a revelation and I remain rather surprised that I had never considered this option earlier, a good glass of wine can encourage a looser approach to the drawing and negates the artists fear of the blank canvas. On several occasions Jasmin modeled for the class and I found her to be one of the most difficult likenesses I have ever tried to capture. It became almost a mission for me to try but somehow her face was too serene, without geography. I made numerous attempts but not one was even close, then she moved to New York and the class shut.

Sunday 27 February 2011

Angela's Dogs


Today I was thinking about Angela and her lovely dogs. I spent some time in her home in France trying unsuccessfully to capture the eclectic collections of collections she has collected. The visual overload is impossible to convey through photography and drawing seems like a less rude manner to capture a visual essence of a place. This is one of her three dogs asleep on her bed. They are lurchers who in stature and physique are almost like Giacometti drawings, I tried to translate this inbuilt elegance from the dog to the page.

Sunday 20 February 2011

Children





I stared so much at my son when he was a baby, I could not believe he was really mine. I was conscious that he would change really fast over a short period of time and I wanted to recall the changes. Drawing can permit staring, it is a passport to a form of staring that would otherwise be considered rude and not tolerated. When I draw him now he is a tolerant model who can sit still without too much effort. We both learned from this process.