Despite much time spent working on my computer this week and much sitting in meetings, I have managed to do some painting and drawing. I have even got two pieces close to or perhaps even completed. The drawing I’ve done is a bit of a look back ….it’s a new Dom drawing. You’ll no doubt remember that in Speyer in 2010 I did a number of pastel drawings of the Dom, (the huge cathedral). One of them, as I talked about in last week’s blog, was big, and now hangs on a wall in the lobby of a new hotel and restaurant in Speyer. I also did three other similar drawings on a smaller scale …about 1m x 80cm and two of these sold and the other I gave to a friend in Speyer. Anyway, a few weeks ago this friend contacted me to say that a colleague had seen the drawing she had and had asked if she knew whether I had any other similar drawings left over from my stay in the city. In short, I didn’t, but I said that I’d try working on some new pieces and see what happened.
It was quite strange going back to something I’d not actually seen for over 18 months and although I have the original small working drawings and sketches I did along with a selection of photos ….they don’t in all honesty give me that much information. Instead, what I do have is the memories of walking around the huge building, its massive bulk and height radiating the intense light of mid summer. I’ve decided therefore, to try and create drawings that are more about these aspects of the building…..drawings that are slightly more solid than the original ‘big sketches’ I did. I have as I say, just completed the first of these new drawings and am quite pleased with the way it’s gone. It’s used up a lot of pastel though and before I can really get my teeth into the next one I’m going to have to order more materials. It’s a start though and has made a very interesting change. I’m not sure what the chap over in Speyer will think of these new pieces once they’re done but hopefully he’ll like them…..and if not, it doesn’t matter as I’m having a great time just doing the work…….and that, when all is said and done, is what it’s all about.