On Christmas Day this year we drove to Green Lanes, Harringay in London where it is 'business as usual' as the population there is largely non-Christian. We had a Turkish meze type meal and drove/toured around the Capital for a while just looking at the sights - the roads are so much quieter on Christmas Day :o) We stopped off at a friends house on the way home for champagne and nibbles ... it was a lovely day!
We've both got colds so the house is echoing with coughs and sneezes .... we're desperately trying to shake them off as we leave for Paris tomorrow - we're going to Disney with friends to see in the New Year. I'm looking forward to the fireworks and just hope the weather will be kind to us - the forecasters predict rain (but what do they know)?
I haven't been neglecting my drawing, but I'm struggling a bit with the latest works - I'm blaming the cold which is making concentration difficult!
I'd set aside this time to do some 'me artwork' with coloured pencils as they've been a bit neglected in the run up to Christmas when most of my commissions were finished in graphite or pastel. Coloured pencils are much cleaner to use than pastels but much more time consuming and I haven't made much progress.
Here's one I've been working on - I photographed the tiger last year at a Big Cat sanctuary in Kent (I attended a one-day pastel/velour tutorial with Vic Bearcroft). Drawing this on black paper may have been a mistake - the paper colour affected the pencil colours quite dramatically - yellows looked green, white looked grey etc., and I had to use some pretty garish colours to obtain the vibrancy I was aiming for. It isn't quite finished and I'll leave it till after the holiday to decide whether to proceed or bin it .....
beautiful tiger, I love this job, that 2010 gives us many jobs like this.
ReplyDeleteernestorod
"Population there is largely non-Christian"?? Uhh-uhh.
ReplyDeleteFor Green Lanes perhaps - but most of the shopkeepers and customers don't live in Harringay. Most of the resident population is not Turkish or Kurdish. Check the latest available stats and you'll find only 4% of the resident population have Turkish roots.
Visit beyond Green Lanes and you'll find the real Harringay.
Thanks Ernestorod. Best wishes for 2010. I will be following your blog :o)
ReplyDeleteThanks 'Anonymous' - It was Green Lanes where we had our meal but there were certainly fewer restaurants there than we expected - it was probably 6 years since we were last there and we noticed the changes.
Oh please don't bin the tiger. I think it looks gorgeous. If you decided to bin, just send it my way. Lovely.
ReplyDeleteHi Jeanne - Happy New Year to you. Thanks for commenting - I've had this photo on my 'to do' list for ages. I'll probably feel better about it once I've shaken off my cold :o)
ReplyDeleteI think you've captured that lovely, wistful look of him, Sue! I don't think you should bin him either!
ReplyDeleteGood luck on getting rid of your colds and have a great time at Euro Disney!
Thanks Jan ... David believes in the old wive's tail - 'feed a cold ....' so he's eaten his way through most of the Xmas chocolates and biscuits already!! We're looking forward to seeing Mickey and friends on Thursday! We have an early start tomorrow - being picked up at 0715 hours so I really need to get motivated and throw some clothes into a case! Catch up with you all in the New Year
ReplyDeleteHope you have a lovely New Year Sue, and if it snows (or rains) im sure the fireworks will still go off with a bang!
ReplyDelete...and please dont throw away the tiger-awesome job!
Hi Sue. Well I am thinking a few of are going through art traumas at the moment. I have just read a couple and me too. I have been tarring my hair out. I have finished it but not too thrilled.
ReplyDeleteKeep going with your Tiger ....I know you will work it out. It looks pretty darn good to me just as it is.
Glad you had a nice non traditional Christmas day.
Hope you had a great time in Paris.
Happy New Year. Sue Hugs
Thanks Dors
ReplyDeleteWe've been back home for about 20 minutes and can't be bothered to unpack yet ... what a sign of the times ... we've both gone to our respective computers to check for messages!! Hope you had a great New Year.
Hi Sam
ReplyDeleteWe had everything weatherwise - warm rain, cold rain, snow and icy breezes .... but the fireworks were spectacular (who'd expect anything else of Uncle Walt)??? :o)