from my sketchbooks 2010
Liz Steel
2010 from my sketchbooks
Liz Steel
JANUARY SUMMER SKETCHING What better way to spend summer than by... A week’s holiday at Avoca Beach with Mum and Dad... OR retreating to the cool of a shopping centre on a hot day and a relaxing visit to my favourite tearoom - T2 Teahouse, Macquarie Centre...
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JANUARY
OR sketching at a special event. There is no doubt that sketching gets me out and about a lot. As the Sydney Correspondent for Urban Sketchers, I feel the need to sketch something special on our national day Australia Day. Getting up at 5:00am to go to Parramatta Park to see the hot air balloons was certainly very keen - but worth the effort... OR doing a fun online course making a journal out of scraps of paper machine stitched together...and then having fun filling it with random sketches and bits and pieces. 5
FEBRUARY
IN MY CLOSET After a busy month of January, things settled down a bit and I decided to join a weekly sketching challenge. I rather liked the concept of recording the clothes that I am currently wearing as I am sure it will bring back lots of associations in the future.
IN THE CITY I love sketching complicated buildings but I rarely have an opportunity to do so - one Wednesday evening before Prayer Meeting I managed this quickie of the QVB. BTW this sketch made it into an article on Urban Sketchers in RED (the inflight magazine for Brazilian airline TAM) - the first publication of my work! 6
FEBRUARY
An international ‘sketchcrawl’ day with 15 other sketchers along Macquarie St gave me an opportunity for some more onlocation architectural sketching.
IN THE TEAROOM (AGAIN!) And... of course I made it back to T2 for another visit ...or 2 or 3 in February! Still having fun with a bit of collage and security envelopes. 7
MARCH A MINI TRIP TO CANBERRA The big adventure for March was a three day trip to Canberra to see a big Monet/Expressionism exhibition. Sadly my friend had to pull out of the trip, so it turned out to be a pretty full-on solo sketching adventure. The exhibition was good but crowded and I enjoyed the other aspects of the trip just as much. As usual for a ‘Liz-trip’... - I ended up taking much more art supplies than I needed - Sketched everything I ate - Ate too much cake - Tried to sketch as much architecture as possible - Had a great time but was exhausted by the end of it!!! And yes, I had a lot of scanning to do when I got home. I also discovered that my childhood love for brutalist architecture (such as the High Court building) is still strong!
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MARCH
The rear of the High Court High Tea at the Hyatt Dinner and a plan of my movements on my first day between the Art Gallery, Portrait Gallery and High Court
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APRIL
EASTER BILBIES For the second year in a row I went in hunt of chocolate Bilbies. I am not sure why I bought so much cheap chocolate - but had fun hunting and sketching. On Friday afternoon I visited the zoo for a specific reason.... for one whole hour I stood in the dark and sketched while a bilby ran around and around in the enclosure. They really are the cutest animals!
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APRIL
NOT MUCH Apart from even more time spent in the T2 teahouse (7 hours in total over Easter with friends), meeting a famous tea cosy book author...the most exciting thing that happened was that I tried to sketch without lines - haven’t really done it since. 11
MAY
A DAY IN THE ROCKS May brought along another international sketchcrawl day - this time we went to the Rocks on the day that Sydney welcomed back Jessica Watson from her solo sail around the world. We managed to avoid the crowds all day and had a great time with a good group of sketchers.
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MAY EVERY DAY IN MAY I spent the month, along with some other friends around the world, sketching a selection of everyday matters. This included sitting in Dad’s shed on a cold autumn day, digging out my old Melodion and suddenly discovering that the biscuit tin was really a very nice retro object!
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JUNE - JULY BUSY BUSY June disappeared fast as I was tied up planning my big 11 week Long Service Leave trip. The only art outing was on the Queens Birthday weekend when I went into town to practice some skyscraper sketching - in training for my upcoming visit to NYC. Of course I had to savour my last T2 visit for three months with a sketch and some scones.
At 10:00pm on Thursday 22 July we were all packed - Borromini Bear (also know as BB) and I were ready for the adventure of a life time!
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JULY MY BIG LSL TRIP: SEATTLE First stop was visiting Chris and Thelma. They took me out west and then down south to Mt St Helens. I took them to a tearoom and somehow managed to get Thelma into tea!
PORTLAND Travelled down to Portland for a big sketching event and it was very very exciting to meet online sketching friends and hang out with some of the Urban Sketchers(USk) legends. Three years ago I would never have imagined that I would be part of such a group. As for Borromini...he was treated like a real celebrity! 15
JULY
USk SYMPOSIUM Three amazing days of instruction and inspiration... being able to handle original artworks and turn pages in sketchbooks, seeing online friends in action and how their personality is reflected in their work. Great conversations over dinner too. Numerous artists sketched the Bear and somehow on the first morning, I sketched the Mayor! The sketch of BB was done in my book by Gerard Michel from Belgium. I became frustrated that I didn’t get a chance to sketch any buildings during the 3 days, so on my extra day found a wonderfully complex building, the Dekum, to draw! 16
AUGUST KANSAS CITY Two nights stopover as I crossed the country to meet up with some sketching friends. Author and artist Cathy(Kate) Johnson who was my first online inspiration, her husband Joseph and another dear friend Vicky. Borromini got sketched some more times and was very pleased with it!
As a result of my ‘iPhone posting’ I also had an unplanned meetup with Jeanette - thanks to a crazy “if you ever come to KC” comment on my flickr when I was in Portland. Apparently an SOS call went out to numerous online forums to see if any one knew of a good tearoom in KC must have been successful as the one that Kate ended up taking me to was great!!
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AUGUST
SIX NIGHTS IN NEW YORK Not long enough to do everything on my list. I didn’t go up the Empire State Building - I went to the Top of the Rock instead as it has a better view of the best building in town. I also spent a wonderful few hours in a great (English) tearoom in Greenwich Village - Tea and Sympathy. Had more USk meetups - a day in Central Park sketching with Veronica & Margaret (who both sketched BB!) and walked across the Brooklyn Bridge with Jason. 18
AUGUST Soho with Shirley - yet another online friend who was the most wonderful guide for most of my stay. This is the first time that I attempted a one-point perspective facade sketch ie. what I was actually seeing rather than a true elevation as I did with the Dekum. A direct inspiration from the USk Symposium - Gerard and Lapin in particular.
I ended up spending the last evening at a table in a restaurant on one of the balconies in Grand Central Station. I was so thankful to get a table with such a great view so I could sketch to my hearts content. I had Frank Ching’s advice (also from the Symposium) in my head while I sketched. 19
AUGUST EDINBURGH As much as I loved the US, there is nothing like getting back to Scotland. A wonderful few days roaming and sketching this beautiful city ...including revisiting a tearoom I discovered last trip. A lovely sunny relaxing day with Eza at Aberdour Castle really hit the spot! This is the slowest I have ever sketched.
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AUGUST
LEWIS & HARRIS With my sister and brother-in-law having just settled in Stornoway I finally made it to the Outer Hebrides. A lovely week exploring the hills and beaches of Harris, ancient ruins of Lewis and enjoying some wonderful Island hospitality. Sketching Lewis Castle standing under an umbrella was the only time in my whole 5 weeks in the UK that it rained when I wanted to sketch! 21
AUGUST
A overnight adventure down to Harris midweek gave me a real desire to go back again when I have a bit more time - the scenery is stunning! I had a lovely lunch looking across to North Uist. A real treat was going to an island prayer meeting on Scalpay (parts in Gaelic) and then having evening worship with my B&B hosts! Psalm 23 to the tune ‘The Bays of Harris’ was very special as was seeing the house where it was composed! Also a Harris Tweed bear friend for Borromini. 22
AUGUST INVERNESS etc I was supposed to spend my week in Inverness relaxing but the weather was too good for quiet days. I also had lots of friends to visit. One day I did manage to find a table in the sun overlooking the River Ness - a perfect spot for morning tea. It was so lovely that I ordered lunch as well! One just has to stop and sketch the famous Eilean Donan Castle on the way to Skye - doesn’t one?
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SEPTEMBER HIGHLANDS TO LOWLANDS An expected trip to Skye, to see friends who were there on holidays, involved a lovely day visit to the island of Raasay off Skye which gave us great views of the Cuillins. I then headed south for two nights in Glasgow - catching up with church friends and also sketchers Wil Freeborn and Stu Kerr - a mini Scottish Urban Sketchers gathering. My final stop in Scotland (a bit of a detour as I headed south) was an award winning tearoom with a great view of an old abbey.
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SEPTEMBER
GREAT HOUSES AND TEAROOMS With the exception of a weekend with a dear friend in Newcastle and a visit to another Urban Sketcher Lynne Chapman (in the pink T-shirt) in Sheffield, the week driving south through England was devoted to a ‘great house and tearoom’ theme. Along with the houses shown on the next few pages I also visited Seaton Delaval and Wallington Hall. I really wanted to squeeze in Wollaton but there was just not enough time in the day! I made a special visit (ie a detour) to the Black Swan in Helmsley - Top Tea Place 2010...was nice, but not as good as T2! 25
SEPTEMBER Perhaps the most crazy day during that week involved: - a quick visit to the Royal Crown Derby factory (well, only the tearoom for me) while waiting for a great house to be opened - morning at Kedleston Hall which included chatting to the curator and being allowed to sketch inside - 2 hours at Haddon Hall which was in no way enough time - early dinner with church friends who live nearby
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SEPTEMBER
Another tearoom and another great house. This time the outstanding Hardwick Hall that required a special sketch. Taylors Earl Grey served in the cafe needed to be recorded as well!
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SEPTEMBER Blenheim Palace is arguably my favourite building in the UK - it was ‘excitement plus’ for me to sketch there all day! In Bath, I spent the day with another art friend, Gill, who I had met in 2009. Had a great afternoon tea at the Jane Austen Centre which was an improvement on our morning in the Pump Room.
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SEPTEMBER A weekend in Wales included a visit to a great tearoom (perhaps best tea and scone combination for the whole UK trip) and a trip to Castell Coch. And of course, a special time with my friends from Tabernacle Cardiff. My final adventure in England was a day at Kew Gardens with Sketchercise friends Katherine and Alison. We ended up talking non stop...so didn’t see much of the place. This strange coloured palace was sketched while focussing more on chatting and listening - what fun!
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SEPTEMBER
A WEEK IN VENICE The third country on my big adventure was Italy. My ‘bestest’ sketching buddy, Eza accompanied me and BB for two out of three weeks. The purpose of the holiday was purely sketching (no tearoom visits!) and we both like nice challenging architectural subjects. What fun we had! Rialto bridge from the edge of the Vaporetto (water bus) floating platform... A marble clad church... 30
SEPTEMBER
Breakfast views... queue views... Palladio... church interiors... 31
SEPTEMBER
Only once were we stopped from sketching inside - so we simply moved outside. Finding the perfect view of a ‘ordinary’ canal and bridge was far more difficult than it was sketching whilst on a moving vaporetto. After a week of rushing around Venice, trying to visit and sketch every important building and an architectural Biennale, we were ready to move on - all those tourists were getting to us! 32
SEPTEMBER
TWO NIGHTS IN BOLGONA We arrived in Bologna without knowing anything about the place, and simply starting sketching. We moved from one piazza to another, going with the flow, and did not bother with a ‘must-see’ list. As a result we got so many sketches done in our short visit. I had fun sketching either accurate or ‘artistic’ perspective!
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SEPTEMBER NINE NIGHTS IN ROME Eza only had a few days so we tried to see all the highlights first. It proved quite difficult to sketch the classic sights - maybe crowds of tourists had something to do with it? Not sure why, but there is something about Rome that really excites me - I love the buzz of a working city and the amazing layers of history everywhere. Also the architecture... so many wonderful Baroque facades to draw - including the work of one Francesco Borromini!
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SEPTEMBER
After Eza left I went into hyper-mode often filling more than 10 spreads each day. Standing on narrow street pavements to sketch - stopping at more obscure Baroque buildings - visiting Borromini’s San Carlino four times. (Naturally Borromini the bear enjoyed these visits enormously and would like to think that he had a hand in its design!) The thing I dreaded the most, eating solo at dinner, proved to be a highlight- each time we (BB and I) made friends, either with the people on the table next to us or the waiters - or both! 35
OCTOBER
I couldn’t stop sketching - and had no problem plonking myself down on the pavement anywhere in order to sketch - I am afraid sometimes ruining other tourists photos! But for a truly comfortable sketch experience, I gave myself a special treat of tea at Babingtons next to the Spanish Steps - sadly it was not quite worth the outrageous price. My final destination was Castiglione Fiorentino, Tuscany, to visit Robyn, an Australian sketching friend - who also sketched BB! I had a wonderful time including a day trip to Arezzo - those Italians certainly know how to make interesting urban spaces! Finally after filling eight 120 page sketchbooks, using up all the ink that I had brought and totally wearing out my little bear, it was time to head home.... 36
OCTOBER BACK HOME The first thing that I did (after re-visiting T2) was to go into town and sketch my hometown highlights. The trip had finished but the journey with my sketchbook continued. The next weekend I had a lovely day at home - after 11 weeks of reading Matthew Henry’s commentary on the Bible on my iPhone it was so nice to be able to spread out with real books - and a home cup of tea made exactly right!
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OCTOBER
RESTLESSNESS Not surprising there was a degree of restlessness when I got home - after such a long period of doing the same thing I wasn’t sure whether I wanted continuity or change. But one thing is certain, I bought a lot of art supplies as souvenirs ... now if only I was assured that I would actually use all of them! Meanwhile, Borromini Bear went into post trip hibernation.
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NOVEMBER CHANGE While the trivialities of T2 visits and sketching teacups resumed as normal, something far more significant happened in November. My dear Nanna passed peacefully into eternity and the presence of Christ. I found it very soothing on the day of the funeral to escape outside and sketch the view of the house, the frangipani tree, jacarandas, water tanks and Pa’s shed. It gave me something to do while so many precious memories flooded back and helped me hold back some of the tears!
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DECEMBER SUMMER Feeling deprived of sketching during the week I started a new project... documenting the Earl Greys on offer in Crows Nest - there are a lot of coffee shops but what about the tea? I have to say that I have been blown away by the quality of tea in the main and it has been great to meet more locals! Hardly in need of another holiday, I looked forward to having a ‘relaxing’ break but didn’t end up spending much time at home... funny that! Due to my family Xmas day being on the 27th, I was able to spend the 25th with Wendy on Cockatoo Island - a beautiful day and blissfully peaceful on the Island in the morning.
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DECEMBER
AWAY NORTH A week up in Port Macquarie catching up with friends and family. We did make it to the beach once on a lovely afternoon but somehow managed to spend more time in cafes!
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DECEMBER
SO..WHAT’S FOR 2011? As I sat and sketched these gates into the Sydney Royal Botanic Garden in warm afternoon sun on 24th December, little did I imagine what this sketch would be used for OR how much of my life in the first half of 2011 would be spent within this special part of Sydney. To find out more about this, to follow the adventures of Borromini and to keep in touch..... w. www.lizsteel.com e. lizsteel@gmail.com 42
Join Liz, obsessive sketcher, and Borromini Bear, her travelling companion, as she records her life across 23 sketchbooks (as shown on this cover) in the year of 2010. From the random subjects of every day life, such as a cup of tea, to an exciting trip around the world for 11 weeks. Most of sketches in this book were done on location, many in trying or uncomfortable conditions and generally completed in less than 30 minutes.