👋 Hello friends!
Here in Canberra, we are enjoying an unusually warm Easter long weekend. We are pottering about in the garden and enjoying each other’s company as we relax and take in the month that was March. It’s hard to believe the first quarter of the year has gone already, wasn’t it just Christmas? We have had a fun month that involved a trip to Sydney for me to experience my first symphony orchestra performance in person, and a ferry ride on the harbour. There’s a link below the illustrated essay if you’d like to hear how it went.
🏫 Urban Sketching project : Duffy precinct update – part 3
This is the final instalment of my adventures in sketching to document the update of my local shops. You can see the first two instalments here and here.
Finally, we get to see the whole facelift revealed! It will take some time for the newly planted trees to become established, but the landscaper’s screens and fencing have been removed and local families are making good use of the new facilities. And the coffee shop is always busy. It all looks terrific. Now, if the shop owner could give the building a little facelift, too, that would be great!
The central island that the contractors were working on in my newsletter is complete, and the new grass is filling in nicely. This is one of the benefits of the vast amount of rain we had during the whole process!
The landscaping from the side. I am so pleased they kept the big old gum trees and some of the original rocks.
Undercover tables are available for families to enjoy a snack or lunch while the kids play. One setting is high like a bar table, and the other is lower to the ground, ideal for the kids. Being able to get out of the sun or rain is a brilliant addition to the area.
On one particularly rainy day, I chose to sit in the café and sketch the interior. As it turns out, the fellow who was working that day was someone I knew from my former life and hadn’t seen for more than ten years. It was fun to chat and show him the earlier drawings from my project. The coffee they serve is ethically sourced from New Guinea, organic, and tastes amazing.
The old metal and plastic rockers were replaced by these fabulous wooden ones. I love the warmth and added textural element to play that these solid little vehicles provide. I also wish I was small enough to have a go on them!
On the day I drew these rides and the jungle gym in the next sketch, I was visited by a little fellow by the name of Milan, who told me he was four. He was riding laps on his little bike and calling out to me each time he came past, wanting me to see just how fast his little legs were peddling. Eventually, he parked his bike — I needed to remind him to park it off to the side so it wouldn’t get schmooshed by the other riders — and sidled up beside me to have a look at what I was doing and started asking questions about my paints and the colours. So I took a little detour and pulled out a spare sheet of paper from the back of my sketchbook and showed him some of the colours. He started asking what would happen if I mixed particular colours, so I showed him that too. I started by adding a couple of puddles of pure pigment to the paper and then mixed them on the page. His eyes were as large as saucers as he watched the magic happen right there in front of him. Question after question, he chatted away about what was happening, wanting to know why. He decided after a while that he needed to ride another lap, but then returned to talk some more. This time, he told me all about his bike and his muscles — they were huge, of course! Mum and Dad tried to shoo him on his way from time to time, but I assured them I was having as much fun as Milan was and that he was more than welcome to talk my ear off. They seemed relieved that someone else was on the receiving end!
Little Milan had a bit of a climb on the jungle gym, too, but he was far too quick on his feet for me to capture him in my sketch. Needless to say, my sketching adventure took far longer than I had planned that day, but it was worth it to share a sweet few moments with a curious child.
Fancy new signage and matching stonework wall were installed up by the road to replace the dilapidated old one, and fresh new grass has taken over from the weedy, prickled mess that covered the parkland before. The whole place looks lovely and fresh with all the vibrant greens in the metalwork and the new plantings.
And last but not least, the park got a public toilet ... FINALLY! No more kids hopping from foot to foot when they need to go mid-play, and no more of me crossing my legs and gritting my teeth while I finish a sketch and my bladder complains at me. It’s plain white now, but I hope that it gets a mural painted on it like some of the others I have seen around town. If it does, I will have just one more sketch to add to the series.
On my final sketching day, I wanted to at least try to feature someone using the new equipment, so I set myself up on one of the benches by the riding track that runs around the jungle gym and was lucky enough to be able to watch this little fellow climb this wall ladder several times, each time begging mum to let him play for just five more minutes … pleeeeeeeease. I smiled as I sketched and remembered all the times I took my sons to playgrounds when they were young. They were forever begging to stay a little longer, even if they were rosy from the exertion or shivering from the cold.
Eighteen months is a long time to stick with a sketching project for me, and I am pleased that I stuck with it. Being able to flip through the sketchbook from start to finish brings a great deal of satisfaction and joy. I hope you enjoyed the journey from afar.
For those interested in the nuts and bolts of my kit, here is my list of gear:
Stillman and Birn Beta Series 7x10” spiral bound sketchbook
Daniel Smith watercolours
Uniball eye fine waterproof black pen
Jelly Roll white gel pen
Rosemary & Co travel watercolour brushes
Various coats, gloves, hats, water pots etc.
✒ Things I hit publish on this month
🏛️ Urban sketching in Canberra’s oldest suburb, Kingston - with another piece of abandoned art!
🎻 My first experience of live orchestral music - Orchestral Manoeuvres in … Sydney
🎨 My favourite creation this month
👀 Curated Curiosities
🌈 SAKO Architects’ Vertical Rainbow Building is a feast for the senses
🧳 Elizabeth Gilbert on distinguishing between hobbies, jobs, careers, and vocation
🌳 The Green Wall of Sahara project is growing a wall of trees across the entire African continent!
🌍 Stabilised camera to show how the Earth rotates
🥰 Thank you again for taking the time to read my newsletters. Please let me know in the comments below what you thought of my illustrated essays, or click the like button.