Trying to be creative

 Carrying on with my watercolour class. Trying to free up my technique a bit, as I tend to be too careful and not sploshy enough. Sometimes the best results come when you're not really trying. I've invented a thing I call 'the sploshy' where I just paint any way, not being too concerned about getting things 'right' and just enjoying putting paint on the paper and seeing what happens.

This is an arrangement I set up in class this week; a tall red glass bottle, an apple, a tomato and a dahlia. I borrowed a cup from the tea area, a wonderful vermilion colour. This is not a finished work, rather what I would term an exploration or inquiry, more about colours and arrangement than perspective.  I like to place a temporary frame around a picture, it seems to give a better idea of things.

This is a more careful study in coloured pencil, slightly altered; no dahlia but a bashful apple instead. This was to suit the width of the paper that I had available. I like coloured pencil, but it is always more subdued and takes longer to produce, but I find is quite a calming, meditative process, building layers of colour up and slowly darkening and intensifying them.

Here's a photo of the arrangement, with  green glass standing in for the vermilion cup, which belongs to the Baptist Church Drop-In Centre and had to stay behind. This was taken at night, so isn't a real guide to colours and shadows. I might try this in crayon, to get another insight into a different medium. And of course, just a straight pencil drawing for darks and lights. A good arrrangement and well worth exploring.

Autumnal

Mona Vale, Christchurch NZ

Pentstemons bravely flower on...

Today is the first day that I've felt chilly all day, autumn slowly sequeing into winter. Even though I was keeping warm with gardening, I seemed to have cold hands and feet all the time. A fog came over in the morning and went away again for a brief time in the afternoon but the day never really warmed up.

...as do the dahlias.

      Planted lots of seeds today - carrot, parsnip, florence fennel, radishes, red cabbage, cavolo nero, mesclun, chicory, artichoke and corn salad. Also sweet peas for next year. Some of the seed I have little hope for; it's old seed that will probably come to nothing, but I'd rather sow it and take a chance than throw the packets out unsown. 
      I'm trying to save more of my own seeds now and sow them straight away, as they would be sown naturally. I saved and sowed some chive seed, and the germination rate has been something fantastic. The florence fennel seed is my own too, and I found an old seed-filled head of red onion today that can be put out soon. 
      Reading disturbing reports of various seed-libraries in the US of A  and UK being destroyed or dispersed. The reason? Apparently the bodies administering them are facing crises in funding. Which is very convenient for those who produce seeds commercially. Heirloom varieties, ie. non-hybrids that produce every year from saved seed, are being sidelined for hybrids that are sterile, so we will have to buy seed every year from the mega-companies like Monsanto. Eventually it will become a crime to save non-hybrid seed, an act of subversion punishable by fines and prison terms. Home gardeners saving and swapping seed will face the same kind of penalties as drug-dealers do now. Mad, mad world.

I am hopeless

Every morning I say to myself "today I'm going to eat healthily". And every day I don't! Today's menu: 1 stale hot cross bun, 2 cups coffee. 1 Apple. 1 glass of wine (so far) and cheese. Probably have potato chips for tea. I am so stupid! I have healthy food in the house and the garden, but do I eat it? No. The concomitant of this is that then I get to feel disgusted with myself for being such a ninny. No wonder I don't feel too good most of the time. I should post a picture of myself with the word 'fool' written in large letters underneath. 
   Self-excoriation over. Normal transmission will be resumed at next post.

Lazy day

Easter Monday, and I have done nothing all day but read, sit in the sun, play with cats and read more. Very nice!

Oamaru New Zealand "The Real Oamaru" destination NZ

The first and last words are from Michael O'Brien, the craftsman bookbinder in whose retreat I stayed.

My birthday present to me

I splashed out and bought this glass pendant in Oamaru. 
It's made by Nikki O'Brien, who makes glass beads and jewellery.
 (see https://www.facebook.com/Bubbles.and.Beads1) for more of her work). I bought it at The Glass Gallery in Oamaru, as a souvenir of a very enjoyable trip to this fascinating town.
    I wish I could have stayed longer there, I only feel that I scratched the surface of the place. I would have liked to explore the countryside and beaches around the town a little more. Still, I think its a mark of a good holiday when you want to return to a place. Oamaru has a big festival in November to celebrate its Victorian heritage, so that might be a good time to go. There is also a steampunk festival at mid-winter, but I don't enjoy travelling at that time of year; I like to hole up like a grumpy bear when it gets cold.
     Back home again now with the pussies. Thomas greeted me warmly when I arrived, but I got the cold shoulder from Jiro for a few hours. They still aren't really what you'd call buddies, which is sad, I hoped they would become fond of each other. You never know with cats!

More buildings from Oamaru

St Lukes Anglican Church - Victorian Gothic in limestone. Prime site - the Anglicans were always good at picking these.

Insurance building - these Victorian neo-classical buildings make good use of corner sites.

Waitaki County Council Building - spectacular!

Column and entablature of the ANZ Bank building

Detail of Criterion Hotel facade. The urns on the balustrade were removed for many years because of earthquake fears. Fortunately they were stored and preserved, and returned and secured after earthquake strengthening was carried out in the 1990s.

Another bank building. Much money was washing around Oamaru when these were built. Banks liked the neo-classsical style with its resonances of stability, solidity and order, so there are very few Victorian Gothic style banks in existence.  There is a very fine Victorian bank in the Gothic style in Melbourne though, which I saw many years ago on a visit there.

Row of facades in Tyne Street. I don't think many New Zealanders appreciate what a rare thing this is, to see a whole streetscape of buildings of this age and style. If this was Italy, it would have been put up for a World Architectural Heritage designation, but sadly here in NZ these are just old buildings which some feel should have been demolished for something shiny and new. It's one of the things I hate so much about my country; so often, philistines rule, with their argument always being "we can't afford to restore", but strangely, we always seem to be able to afford to demolish and replace. There are so many of these buildings here in the town, these few pictures are not all of them, this is just the area with the greatest concentration of examples. There are also several lovely buildings in the Art Deco style, all in limestone too.

It's been a good trip. I hope to return to Oamaru some time in the not-too-distant future, and visit the penguin colony, the limestone quarries and explore some of the surrounding countryside.