Trying to discover why I had persisting pain around my mouth, head, et al. I went to see a doctor, a dentist, a jaw chap, a periodontist and a physiotherapist. After many months I had a scan to look at my sinuses, to find a large cyst was blocking my nasal passage. After fourteen months, from when I began this path of discovery, I am now booked in for an operation. To say that I’m not looking forward to having my nasal cavities explored is an understatement. Still, through all this annoying daily pain, I decided to find things which would take my mind off, well, myself.
I had read about an art residency in the French countryside, which appealed greatly, as Kerry and I had stayed in the area a long time ago, and loved it.
I have been absent from my computer and drawing board, as I was out of the country on a short train sojourn from Brisbane to Adelaide, though I did have sketching on my mind. Well, more the potential for later sketches, as it would have been impossible to get the scenery down on paper as the landscape whizzed by. Fortunately I found that my phone camera could capture with technology that which I couldn’t by hand, and the shots I took of the landscape out the window turned out better than I imagined they might.
Our introduction to others at the meeting point in Brisbane was superb, with breakfast awaiting, complete with live music to accompany the event. Kerry and I climbed aboard the Great Southernanticipation rising, as we were to be spending three nights on this train. Many buses were lined up to feed us to the train, which was incredibly long, to cater for the three hundred plus people who were heading off on this adventure. I learned early on that being in a Gold carriage was lower down the scale of ‘class’ than I had imagined, as Gold Superior and Platinum won the top honours. Still, our cabin was fine, and the dining car and lounge the same. The staff were great, as was the food and plenty of nice passengers to talk with.
Preparing to leave Kathmandu with Head Guide F’dorje.
Looking back, it seems, becomes more common as the years advance, for when I read of a blogger friend’s adventure to Nepal in 1982, I was immediately transported to my own travel experience in 1992. Early that year I read an advertisement for small group walking tours in the foothills of Mt Everest, Solukhumbu, Nepal. It so appealed; lots of walking, wonderful scenery, a different culture, this was for me! And, I should add, this would be my first trip overseas. I wrote to the company immediately, received the information, and three weeks later I landed in Kathmandu along with my walking buddies; Diane the leader, Jill, Annie and I – strangers until we met at Auckland airport! Note: Solukhumbu is the area where New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary had built schools, hospitals and given other support, since he had famously scaled Mt Everest alongside Sherpa Tensing in 1952.
Last week I was reminded of my sketch trip to Spain in 2019, and I went looking for the sketchbook I’d used at the time. Previous to leaving, I’d joined a travel sketching group, and in preparation we were asked to choose something to sketch from a favourite place we’d visited. So I chose a photo taken twenty years earlier from the cathedral Sagara Família in Barcelona.
I was high in a tower which overlooked the city and focussed on the sculptured doves in front of me. I used water-soluble ink for the foreground. It’s wise not to load the brush with too much water when you pick up the ink pigment. I used a diluted watercolour for the background.
Kerry and I booked a short but interesting trip to Kaikōura, as part of a Great Journeys NZ trip. This included: a train ride, an overnight stay in a nice hotel, a dolphin excursion (or whale, or albatross watching), and a return train ride from Christchurch. We flew from Auckland to Christchurch, stayed overnight in an hotel, and with some excitement grabbed a taxi early next morning and headed to the station to catch a north-bound train, as Kaikōura is in the North Canterbury region in the South Island. We lugged our bags into the crowded station, went over to the ticket office, and after a quick exchange with the staff, found that our train had departed … Let me gloss over that part and leave you to fill in the dots any way you wish.
Recently I began helping out at a second-hand bookshop, and came across Memoirs of a Geisha, by Arthur Golden. The title was familiar, but after reading the foreword, decided I’d missed reading it somehow. It was published in 1998, three years before I went to live and work in Japan.
I knew little of the country when I arrived, but when It came to time leave, the place and its people were a part of me.
I made close friends, and was invited into their homes, to enjoy meals, attend art classes, and cultural events – such as New Year celebrations and rituals. These memories floated through my thoughts as I read Memoirs of a Geisha.
In last week’s post, I promised that you would see another sketch. Well, I did keep my word, and here it is, taken from a photo I took of the Cologne Cathedral on my recent travels. If you have followed my site, you will know I love sketching clouds, and that is why this sky over the Cathedral appealed to me. Nothing I like better than a great mass of brooding cumulus to get me going with the pencils.
I found little time while travelling up the Rhine to actually sit and sketch, though I did manage a few times. I have shown you the windmill sketch already, just outside Amsterdam. But here I show one sketched from my cabin as we moved closer to Basel and the finish of our cruise.
Beside the Rhine.
For this sketch I used fine pen, 6B pencil, and aquarelle pencil. I sketched swiftly across the two pages, getting this down in a matter of minutes, as dinner was ready to be served. I like using a darker pencil on a smooth paper (as this was), as I love rubbing the lead with a fingertip hinting at shadow or contour. I popped in blue and green to remind me of where I could lay a watercolour wash through at a later date. I never did the wash, but quite liked the immediacy of the sketch.
We continued our cruise through the night from Dordrecht, with me dreaming of the wonderful windmills we had seen in Kinderdijk that day. The ‘ship’ docked in Monheim at approximately 9am on Friday. Soon after we were on a coach and heading into Cologne where we would begin our walking tour. Our destination – the Cathedral. We needed to cross the bridge, you see in the photo, but so did zillions of others, and rather like we found in Amsterdam, the pedestrians had to fight with cyclists for the same space. I was surprised when the tour guide told us that we would likely be shouted at, or even sworn at by cyclists! And although I was never sworn at, the walk across the bridge was certainly memorable.
We continued our cruise through the night from Dordrecht, with me dreaming of the wonderful windmills we had seen in Kinderdijk that day. The ‘ship’ docked in Monheim at approximately 9am on Friday. Soon after we were on a coach and heading into Cologne where we would begin our walking tour. Our destination – the Cathedral. We needed to cross the bridge, you see in the photo, but so did zillions of others, and rather like we found in Amsterdam, the pedestrians had to fight with cyclists for the same space. I was surprised when the tour guide told us that we would likely be shouted at, or even sworn at by cyclists! And although I was never sworn at, the walk across the bridge was certainly memorable.
After joining the ship, we spent the first afternoon settling in to our cabins (named staterooms on board), and prepared to meet staff and other passengers whose company we’d be among as we made our way from Amsterdam towards Basel, the culmination of our river cruise. As we imagined, the food and wine was of a high standard and helped us enjoy the eight days on board very well. Added to this was a crew member, who doubled as a great pianist and singer, whom we listened to throughout the evenings pre and post dinner. There was a rundown by the Programme Director on the following days’ events each day, with guided walks included in overall cost of cruise, and other excursions which cost more. But, if you have trouble sleeping, I suggest you do such a cruise as I, an erratic sleeper, cannot recall such a sound sleep as we moved through the night, and docked without my hearing a thing.
Amsterdam was where we would join the Viking Sigrun (they call it a ship, not a boat) and the other approximately 179 others who had chosen this trip up the Rhine for a week’s voyage. Kerry and I chose to arrive early in Amsterdam, giving us time to meet friends, and to rid ourselves of jet lag, after our lengthy flights from New Zealand. Over 36 hours should you wonder.
I took this photo the day before flying to Christchurch; A good omen I felt. Kerry and I were off to attend the first night of a play selected to mark the opening of the new Court Theatre in the Christchurch CBD. The original theatre in the old university buildings suffered irreparable damage in the 2011 earthquakes.
The play, The End of The Golden Weather, written 50 years ago by New Zealander Bruce Mason, is a Kiwi classic, and my daughter Lara was honoured to be asked to direct the show. We were thrilled to be at the opening and to see how she would interpret this beloved play. Yes, this was a big deal!
The morning of the play, we were with my sister in Sumner taking a walk along the esplanade. It was a stunning day, and naturally I took a photo, looking along the beach towards the Southern Alps (which sadly, were hidden behind cloud at the time).
Behind me were dozens of surfers, mostly women who were there for a competition. The air was chill, and they all deserved medals for their desire to brave the cold water.
I love the way something you buy, whether travel mementos, or presents received or given, stand as markers in one’s life. Take the ceramic teapot I’ve decided to sketch (below), which was the first present I gave my husband not long after we’d met. It was April 1992, and I had the great fortune to travel to Nepal on a 29 day trek with three other women from New Zealand; such a fantastic experience. (Link above takes you to a post from a few years back). The day I returned to my hometown, I helped out a friend with an exhibition opening at our art gallery, and there Kerry was, also helping out. We chatted for ages before parting ways, thinking maybe we just might get to chat some more – sometime. And, surprise! surprise, by the end of the year we were chatting a lot.
This year has been one of friends’ dealing with difficult health issues, and deaths, and I was very much affected when learning of each. Just two weeks ago, we were set to holiday on Vancouver Island, and were looking forward to this, when we learned a brother of Kerry’s had died following a long illness. That same day we learnt the health prognosis for a very old friend in Melbourne was far from great. Instant panic, as we cancelled hotel bookings and postponed the Canada flights, while Kerry booked to attend the funeral down south, and we booked another flight for Melbourne a few days later. We had made the right, and best decisions we believe. With other family living in Melbourne we shuttled between various houses, and the 10th floor suite in the CBD where we were based.
But our main purpose in Melbourne was to see our unwell friend. He has been very busy putting together a volume of his poetry over the past weeks, which had been published and arrived in time for our visit. So good to know that he had this positive project to focus on throughout his treatment, for it has kept his spirits up, that’s for sure, and we are now very pleased to have his book. We enjoyed our time with our friend very much and were so pleased to have moved our holiday plans to later in the year.
A day after our return I learned my brother had fallen and broken his femur, and was due to be operated on in a few days’ time. The operation was done, his hip pinned and he was transferred to the hospital near his home to recuperate. The following day I heard he was in ICU on oxygen and given strong antibiotics for the pneumonia he had contracted. Now, this is when I had to dig deep, to find something that might help me relax and lift my spirits. So, first I did what I know always helps me, and that is to walk. Look to the sky, the trees, the birds, say ‘hi’ to strangers that kind of thing. But once home I didn’t feel like doing anything, but did plan a project for the next day, a sketch.
Another view to the Auckland CBD and Devonport naval base.
I heard my brother was improving today and that was the incentive I needed to finish my sketch. The mediums used: water-soluble colour pencils, ink, watercolour, and graphite. PS, the small brown ferry building (centre) was once one of the tallest buildings the waterfront!
I hope you like the sketch Bob (brother) and Barry (friend).
ARTISTRY 