Sketching in King George Square, Brisbane

Yesterday was a perfect day for sketching. I caught a bus into the City to join USK BNE sketchers in King George Square. As I walked along Ann Street and came to the square I realised that I had previously overlooked a small park to the side of the Albert Street Uniting Church, complete with benches and shade. It was a pleasant place to sketch. The sun came out from behind a building to blind me as I was almost finished the sketch so I moved into some shade higher up to complete it.

Albert Street Uniting Church Brisbane - ink and watercolour S&B Beta sketchbook

My process was to put down loose watercolour brushstrokes defining the main shapes of the church. As these dried I added the details with my favourite Noodlers #41 Brown ink in a Noodlers Konrad Flex pen - it's a good combination. The watercolour wash behind the Church is an indication of some of the modern high rise buildings that dwarf it.

This Church is one of a number of buildings in the City that will form part of Open House Brisbane in October.

I moved across to the square to chat to the others and as it wasn’t quite time for coffee, I did two more drawings. A sculpture of a Kangaroo family was done using a quick contour drawing with a wash of ink.

Roos in King George Square ink and wash S&B Alpha skethcbook

Brisbane City Hall is imposing and complex so I decided to concentrate on the Clock tower. After adding the blue watercolour for the sky I decided to leave the buildings unpainted. 

Clock Tower Brisbane City Hall ink and watercolour S&B Beta Sketchbook

After our break I wandered into the City Hall and went to have a look at the Brisbane Museum. This was renovated recently and is a wonderful space commemorating this beautiful city. My time there was too short but I did manage a quick sketch of the view through one of the windows. Green trees can be glimpsed through the intricate iron work that frames the window on the outside of the building.

Window,Brisbane Museum - ink and watercolour S&B alpha sketchbook

Sketching out and about

The 13th October was The 37th World Wide Sketchcrawl, members of Urban Sketchers get together to go out and draw. I am aware of a group here in Brisbane and they were going to meet and draw in the city. As I had a class until 12 noon, I was unable to join them. In the spirit of the day I went off on my own. 

Top Nosh Café in Aspley, in addition to tasty food, has an array of interesting clothes, jewellery, antiques and gifts. This provided me with plenty to draw while having a cup (or two) of coffee.

Drawing with my Lamy Safari pen, Derwent Inktense pencils and Pentel waterbrush.

Brisbane's amazing sunsets

The evening skies here in Brisbane constantly amaze me. 

This frequently causes a dilemma - how to capture the moment when I am most often in my car. It necessitates swift photographs while stationary at traffic lights. Thank goodness the lights take ages to change - it’s all very democratic, everyone gets a turn so there’s plenty of time to take some photos.

Sometimes I'm lucky and I am home. These were taken from my balcony.

These are a few of the amazing skies during the last few weeks. 

New delights to discover...

One of the joys of being an artist in a new city is that there is so much to discover. I  had visited  Brisbane's Gallery of Modern Art previously, so it's good to know that I will be able visit often and have to so much inspiration on my doorstep.

The current exhibition -  21st Century : Art in the first decade was simply such fun. What really made an impact on me was  the busy, happy vibe of the exhibition - the space was crowded with people - young old and in between.  Many of the exhibits involved audience participation, especially aimed at children. In fact, the Gallery has a programme called 21st Century kids designed to encourage younger members.

Admittedly, outdoor Brisbane hasn't exactly been the best lately with all the rain, so perhaps it was inevitable that the exhibition should prove popular. However, I didn't get the impression that people were hiding from the weather - they all seemed to be absorbed in the art.

 A sense of fun and excitement filled the space. One installation was a room filled with the most beautiful  purple balloons - approximately 3000. Both parents and children were suitably armed with identification tags and could then go inside the room to play in amoungst the balloons which swamped small kids - here and there you could see a parent's head pop above the mass of moving, jumping,colour.

and more moving colour....as every now and again the mass of balloons would explode upwards as they popped high up into the air.



Work No. 956: Half the air in a given space (purple) 2008
Martin Creed



There was another wall running the length of the central foyer that is festooned with brightly coloured silk ribbons. I wish your wish is the work of Brazilian artist Rivane Neuenschwander

Visitors select a wish – printed on the ribbons, tie it around their wrist and replace it with their own wish written on the slip of paper provided. it is believed that when the ribbon wears away and falls off, the wish will come true.

The wish I selected was – I wish I had all the books in the world – this seemed a touch greedy so I replaced it with the following: I wish to write a book one day, just in case my wish comes true.

Journeys

I have recently undertaken a long journey. Anyone who still thinks air travel is exciting and romantic is labouring under a severe misconception. I also had the rather bizarre experience of flying in the opposite direction to Dubai before flying to Brisbane. If we were living in medieval times, air travel would be used as a most effective form of torture. Then, when you reach your destination, you realize that you have lost a day.

Coming in to land - Dubai lights

Moving to another country is an exciting experience although there are many unknowns and much unfamiliar territory. At the moment, I feel more like a visitor than a resident. That will change as I get myself organized and find my way around.

Much as artists want to be free to be creative, I think at heart we do enjoy a routine to our daily life. We do better work when we set aside a specific time to our work. When there is no routine at all, it’s difficult to focus. It will take some time for me to set up a routine but for the moment I enjoy each day as it comes.
 

Drive Home Series

These small paintings were painted when I was still in South Africa and are a direct result of a daily routine that was suddenly changed, and an ordinary journey that took on a different aspect.

The routine of driving home from work was usually always the same. A slow drive in the traffic took me along the same road; I would see the same people selling goods at the same street corner. There’s nothing much to get excited about.

Drive Home - Red car - oil on canvas
205mm x 205mm         

©2010 Carol Lee Beckx

©2010 Carol Lee Beckx

Then one day, I was a little later than usual and it had been raining. The streets were transformed. Wonderful reflections from the traffic lights lit up the road. Luckily I had my camera in the car and while waiting for the traffic to move I could capture the moment.  A mundane routine became an exciting inspiration for a series of paintings.

The series illustrates the drive from the centre of Durban, down Berea Road, along Essenwood Road with the large leafy trees and then down Argyle Road. One of the paintings includes the Moses Mabida soccer stadium. During the day the iconic white stadium has quite a different look, at night it’s a ribbon of lights shining against the night sky.

Drive home - Moses Mabida Stadium -oil on canvas
205mm x 205mm            

©2010 Carol Lee Beckx

©2010 Carol Lee Beckx

The paintings showed the transition from early evening with gentle pastel colours in the clouds, gradually getting darker and darker until the lights are shining against the night sky – a dramatic contrast.

 A full portfolio of these paintings can be viewed on my website in the  Paintings section, Landscape portfolio.