Husb and I went to a talk by artist Kathryn Anne Trussler at Elysium Gallery this afternoon. Her exhibition, “Astro Turf Grazed Bovine“, is amazing and definitely worth a visit. It runs until June the 17th.
I had a quick scribble while I listened, into my little flowery sketchbook. I photographed it next to a red pepper so you can get a sense of scale.
Husb and I were in Berlin in a heatwave last week and we visited the Saschenhausen Concentration Camp in one of the Berlin suburbs. The temperature had been up to around 30° Celsius, way too hot for a bunch of gingery Celts but the skies grew dark and there was a sudden, very fierce, thunderstorm. Being Welsh, we just stood there in the pouring rain, just like home. Then we turned around and noticed that the rest of our tour group were all huddled for shelter at the side of one of the huts.
I carried on drawing into my brown paper sketchbook. The rain spattered the conté crayons and made the drawing quite fuzzy, which I really like. It prevented me from getting bogged down in detail and forced me to take an emotional approach to the subject, three poles set into the concrete square that were used to punish the poor souls imprisoned in this hellhole.
Husb and I went to see the legendary John Cale in Liverpool recently. It was an amazing gig- definitely one ticked off the bucket list. It was just a couple of days after the Manchester bombing but, despite the presence of armed police, which was quite shocking, the atmosphere was brilliant. I sat and watched people queuing and of course I had to have a scribble. I always have my sketchbook with me.
Husb and I went to Berlin for a few days last week and spent an intense few hours at the Käthe Kollwitz Museum. I love her work and her life is an inspiration, she never relinquished her belief in social justice despite the enmity of both the First and Third Reich. I took a few minutes to draw from one of her bas relief bronze casts, using black, white and sanguine conté crayons into a brown paper sketchbook.
After yesterday evening’s vigil for those murdered in London, Husb and I went up to the old Ragged School to see an exhibition by artists who have just completed a residency at University of Wales Trinity Saint Davids, or Swansea Art School as it was when I graduated. The show includes some fantastic mezzotints by artist, printmaker and animator Chris Harrendence. It’s open all week, until Friday and definitely worth popping in if you’re in Swansea.
Just over a week ago, I stood in Swansea’s Castle Square to draw the vigil for those murdered in Manchester. Who would have thought that we’d be holding another vigil so soon? This time we stood in torrential rain. The water poured down the page of my brown paper sketchbook which liquified the conté crayons, giving them a softer, more brush-like effect than that of dry paper.
It is so sad to attend these vigils, but we must come together in peace and kindness, otherwise the extremists will have won.
Husb and I spent a few days in Berlin this earlier this week and spent some time visiting the Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp on the outskirts of the city. It was moving and chilling; I was shocked to discover that it was surrounded by a nice, middle-class housing estate. People turned a blind eye to the horror that was built in their midst. In these troubled times, with terror attacks by fundamentalists and calls for retaliation from extremists, we need to remember more than ever what can happen when intolerance gets out of hand.
It wasn’t easy to sketch as we were moving more or less constantly as part of a guided tour (well worth paying for), but I managed some speed sketches and a few digital photos. There was a thunderstorm while we were there, the looming sky suited the place.
This is the last of the drawings I did recently of Sweyne’s Howes, this is the more complete northern one. These Neolithic monuments, over 4,000 years old, are part of a lengthy series I have been drawing over the past year and a bit with prehistorian Dewi Bowen and filmmaker Melvyn Williams. We are tracking the Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments that lie along the trail of The Boar Hunt / Y Twrch Trwyth from the book of ancient Welsh legend, The Mabinogion. Dewi is researching for his next book, I’m developing a large body of drawings and prints and Melvyn is filming it all. We’re launching an exhibition, a short film and a small booklet next month at Swansea’s Cinema & Co. More to come……..
Here’s the second of the two ancient burial chambers I drew recently at Rhosilli on the Gower Peninsula. This is the northern Sweyne’s Howes, much more complete than the ruinous southern chamber which has been stolen over the years. These Neolithic monuments are over 4,000 years old and although named after the Viking Sweyne, who also lends his name to Swansea (Sweyne’s Ey or Island), they are considerably older than the Vikings. I am wandering South Wales with prehistorian Dewi Bowen and filmmaker Melvyn Williams, studying the Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments that lie along the trail of The Boar Hunt / Y Twrch Trwyth from the book of ancient Welsh legend, The Mabinogion.
I haven’t blogged for a few days because I’ve been adventuring in Berlin, just a short break with family. Cool place, had a great time and I even did some drawings. I just got back, about an hour ago and it’s 10pm so I’ll just post a quick drawing I did a couple of weeks ago, when I was last out with prehistorian Dewi Bowen and filmmaker Melvyn Williams.
Here’s a second sketch I did at another cool place, the Neolithic Sweyne’s Howes burial site at Rhossili, this is the ruined southern Howse. I used black, sanguine and white conté crayons into an A4 brown paper sketchbook.
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