Spending Christmas day at my brother-in-law’s, I sketched my sister-in-law’s lovely garden and the fibre glass hippo they made for their daughter 40 plus years ago. He’s still going strong and is called Tamus as in hippopotamus”.
We had our wedding reception at this house 50 years ago and my sister-in-law made the wedding cake! I added the paint after lunch, the sun had changed by then.
#Sailorfude pen, watercolour, #MoleskineWatercolourAlbum, 5x8”
We had a couple of nights in Geelong (a regional town west of Melbourne city) to attend the Melbourne Urban Sketchers' year end sketchmeet plus we made it a weekend to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary!
What glorious weather for sketching at the Geelong waterfront. Sketching some sketchers was a challenge, wish they would stay still!
The Carousel (housed in the Information Centre at the waterfront) was constructed in 1892 and is only one of 200 Armitage Herschell steam driven carousels left in the world. 24 of the 36 horses are actually original (now painstakingly restored to their former glory) and even contain real horse hair in their tails. Children were allowed in at intervals to ride on the carousel.
Here's a few photos of myself and the group. (Thanks Helen Wilding for the photos).
It was good eating in Geelong as well. On Friday night we went to Mav's (voted best Greek restaurant in Victoria and Tasmania by the Restaurant and Catering Association). Crowded, long tables of happy diners, absolutely jumping. Very noisy but the food was good, the chargrilled scallops exquisite!
A northern Italian place for Saturday dinner which was just excellent! I had wonderfully smooth tender black linguine for the first time. I believe it's made with squid ink!? Why is my home cooked pasta nothing like this?
Below is the ferris wheel along the Geelong waterfront.
The Berwick Inn Hotel, a view from up the High Street. Established in 1857, it is presently a restaurant. As an inn it was the last stop for the stage coach from Melbourne before the goldfields of eastern Victoria.
Quick sketching and Vietnamese Rice Rolls for a takeaway lunch with my spouse in the park on High Street, Berwick, Victoria.
Casey sketchers (a group which has its roots in Casey U3A) had an end of year Christmas sketchmeet and lunch at The Old Cheese Factory in Berwick, Victoria. Here I've sketched a couple of sketchers and the corner of the 1860s Springfield Homestead. An old cheese factory also sits on the property and with its nice gardens is a popular venue for weddings.
I tried a looser style of sketching on this occassion and like it! Much kinder for arthritic fingers and an old brain.
Here's photos of the groups' sketches (tepees were being erected near us for a wedding) and the great lunch spread!
#Sailorfude pen, watercolour, #Stillman&Birn Zeta Sketchbook, 7.5”x 7.5”
A short trip to Ballarat, a small city west of Melbourne. This was the first time we've taken the VLine (country train), a one and half hour trip. J attended a conference, I got to sketch and interesting breakfasts at Lola’s where the decor and crockery was all BLUE.
This was my first tentative foray into serious sketching again after 6 months of cataract surgery issues...but now I'm sketching with my thumb in a strap due to an injury!
Second sketch: #Sailorfude pen, watercolour, #MoleskineWatercolourNotebook, 5" x 8.25”
