Good Bones and more in Melbourne

After Adelaide, I headed to Melbourne to teach a workshop...location was the University of Melbourne campus, close to the home in North Melbourne of my wonderful host, Angela Williams.  THANK YOU, Angela, for bringing me here and for taking such great care of me! It was such wonderful fun!! 

The weather looked iffy ( I hoped for late summer weather but instead got early fall weather...global climate change makes it impossible to predict!), so I spent a lot of time scoping out locations under cover should it rain. 

Practicing in the Old Quad on campus.

In the end, the Old Quad and the Old Arts Building were perfect locations for our 2 days of workshop and Sunday morning of what turned out to be a HUGE sketchcrawl! It was great to meet so many talented sketchers in Melbourne.

The workshop group was great fun, coming all the way from Perth, Brisbane, outside Melbourne, Canberra...I was so honored that folks traveled to get here!

Another highlight of my time in Melbourne was giving a talk about my work and sketching at the offices of world famous engineers, ARUP. Thanks again to Angela, who has worked here for 10 years and was kind enough to set up this opportunity. We had a large crowd after work, and they stayed until the bitter end!

Here are some of my Melbourne sketches, plus a few photos!

Another warm up sketch before the workshop, in the Old Quad. I used the front arch as a frame,
in my Pentalic sketchbook.

Lovely Meet & Greet the evening before the workshop started!

Our group at the Old Quad!

I love this view of the hardworking group sketching inside the Quad.

Me, doing a demo for the workshop...

 

Day 2, Watercolor at outdoor tables on campus...

Some examples of the many beautiful sketches done by this group! My goal is for them to not draw like me, but to draw in their style but BETTER for having a better understanding of perspective and color.

Very quick sketch while on my way to the ARUP offices to give a lecture. This is the Royal Exhibition Hall...

Great turnout for the Sunday morning open sketch crawl!!!

My sketchcrawl sketch of the Old Arts building Tower.

Thank you sketchers in Melbourne, thanks to the University of Melbourne for allowing us to draw on campus,
and thanks to Angela Williams for being so kind and generous and all her hard work!!

Billabong

I can hear "Waltzing Matilda" even now...in Adelaide visiting my husband's relatives, we got to walk along a nearby billabong near Anne and Quentin's home. A billabong is a pool of water, a backwater connected to a stream. Really, this was the only bit of nature I saw during the entire 3 weeks in Oz!

We sat down at a picnic table in the shade, and I quickly (so as not to make the rellies wait too long in the midday sun) did this sketch of the view right in front of me. Giant gum tree, water in the distance...

Sketched in my 5"x8" Pentalic sketchbook, and painted in Winsor & Newton paints that dried too quickly in the heat!

Manchester, A Beautiful City

Albert Memorial in front of Manchester Town Hall.

Yesterday, I was literally scanning and cropping these sketches when the news from Manchester came through. In going through sketches over the weekend, I had come across these that I had not yet posted.

After hearing the shocking and tragic news, I decided not to do the post. But this morning, I thought maybe I should, as these are sketches from the heart of Manchester, the Town Hall and near Manchester Cathedral. They are my love letter to the city in a time of sadness.

I spent about a week in Manchester last summer before, during and after the Symposium. 

Simone and the team were so proud of their city as they bused a large group of instructors to see the sights. It's a beautiful city in a real word kind of way. Some gorgeous architecture, but what really resonated was the heritage of strong, hard working people (manufacturing buildings throughout), further evidenced by their TWO amazing football/soccer teams. I saw a city that wasn't pretty, it was beautiful...and it breaks my heart that this beautiful city has just seen this kind of senseless tragedy.

So today, I remember and honor the spirit of Manchester with love in the way I know how... with a few words and sketches.

Old half-timber building across from Manchester Cathedral.

Traveling again--looking back, looking forward...

Two weeks from today, I arrive in Rome...this will be a busy summer, teaching two workshops in June in the amazing hill town of Civita di Bagnoregio, then a trip to see family in Holland, then to Oxford, England to teach a Good Bones Workshop!  Then back to Seattle for a week of work and hosting the amazing sketcher and friend, "KK" Ch'ng Kiah Kiean from Malaysia, before heading to Chicago to teach at the USk symposium at the end of July. 
WHEW!!!  
But honestly, I am so utterly grateful to be living the dream!! I have wanted to do this my entire life, and today when I am saddened about the passing of a friend much too soon, I am feeling particularly grateful.

Which takes me back to Australia...

Back in March, I arrived in Australia and first headed to Adelaide to visit with family for a few days, then it was off to Melbourne to teach, one night in Canberra, then Sydney to teach two workshops...then Home. The time just flew by.

Aussies are incredibly friendly and warm people, and these groups had some amazingly talented sketchers!

But first, here is Adelaide.

Church in Adelaide, Australia where my in-laws were married! A bit wonky, a blame the jet lag...

I arrived and had five minutes to change before I was whisked off by our family friend, Max, to a memorial service. It was for a distant relative on my husband's side--he lived a good, long life. Particularly amazing, this was held in the church where my in-laws were married long ago! Battling a 17 hour time difference and trying desperately to stay awake, I did this sketch from the back row during the service.

Two days later, we were back...and while Max attended the Sunday service, I sketched the sunlit side of the building. As the choir sang inside, the birds sang outside! I loved this view, loved capturing the sense of spaces between the buildings. It is a true 180 degree view, ear-to-ear.

Unusual for me, a one-point perspective that turns into a two-point...at North Adelaide Baptist Church, Australia.