I am very excited to be travelling to Barcelona in just a few weeks to learn, meet and sketch with so many names and faces .Some I I know from the online art community and there will be lots of new people too. I am not sure how I am going to fit it in only 4 days ! The thought is a little overwhelming. But please say hello , even it is just a 5 minute conversation.
Chris, Liz & I are the Sydney contingent (that we know of) We met on Saturday to discuss the finer details of travel , Barcelona , sketching and life, as well as eating lunch and drinking tea. (Liz is not really that short, she was sitting in low arm chair)
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| Chris, Liz, Alissa (me) |
I have been drawing on and off all my life,
but in the last five years I have been sketching daily, and get an itchy mind and fingers
if I do not put pencil to paper for more than a few days.
I sketch with watercolour pencils
& my Lamy Safarai Joy ink pen – sometimes one or the other, some both together.
I carry my Moleksine watercolour sketchbook (20 x 13 cm) with me everyday – you never know
when you will get the chance to sketch . I am involved in a variety
of online groups – Everyday Matters
(where it all began for me) , Kate Johnson’s Nature Sketching, Urban Sketchers
of course and a few others . I have a variety of interests and styles.
We have a fairly active Urban Sketching group
in Sydney (led by Liz Steel). I am also very fortunate to live in Sydney city and
pass by some amazing sites and buildings everyday on my way to work.
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| National Maritime Museum and Young Endeavour tall ship |
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| City skyline in Sydney from Darling Harbour |
I am looking forward to learning so much
in the Workshops I have enrolled in. There were so many wonderful instructors
to choose from but I ended up choosing workshops to assist me to grow in what I
already do, rather than push boundaries to explore in a different directions . I am enrolled in workshops about perspective
and people. I'll see some of you at them !
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| a very quick sketch on the Pyrmont pedestrian bridge as people stopped for the Bridge to open and let a boat through. |
Some of you may remember that I had signed up to go to Lisbon two years
ago and had to cancel due to a medical emergency . At the time many of the
instructors and participants sketched in a special little Moleskine that Liz
Steel organised and handed around. You may not remember sketching in it ,, but
it meant a lot to me at the time and
still brings tears to my eyes when I look at it. It was a big time in my life.
I hope to meet some of you this time.
And this Urban Sketchers Symposium is a big adventure too . It is a long way from Australia !
And this Urban Sketchers Symposium is a big adventure too . It is a long way from Australia !
