Drawing Hair

I don't often draw or paint in the life drawing class I teach but last Wednesday our model showed up with her hair tied up in a bow and combed down tight with natural waves and a mass of damaged and dyed hair that she is growing out flowing down and over her shoulder.
I thought it looked very 1930's and I had to draw it.
I love drawing hair, for me it has everything that could be found in plants, sky, water in terms of shading, highlights and texture and also lines, lots of lines, straight, curved, entwined...
Hair draws me, so to speak, and dawing it seems sensual and satisfying.
Freudian? Don't know and don't care, all I know is I love drawing hair.....

Drawing Feet

At life drawing class last Wednesday I was uninspired until I saw Jason's feet- tendons and stringy muscles and knobbly bits on the knees. You don't get that with female models

The Athlete at Life Drawing

At the recent Waitangi Day music festival here in Waihi I saw our local newspaper reporter crouched in front of me taking photos of one of the bands and I was dazzled by the beauty of her long and lean and sinewy arms and hands and immediately swooped on her and suggested she model for our life drawing class.
Sally agreed and told me she was not only a long distance runner but also a long distance swimmer.
Not a trace of fat does she have and Sally is a life drawing students dream in terms of the muscles and tendons of the body.

Life Drawing Class starts again 17 Feb 2010

I forgot my camera at the first life drawing class of the year last week. At the second class, last night, I did this drawing of our model's husband, Steve.
Steve dropped our model, Georgia, off at the class and he and their two daughters Amelie and Cassidy stayed for an hour and offered a wide variety of fast warm up poses and longer portrait studies by just being themselves and we all enjoyed the warmth of family and gentle music.
Magic!
I gave this large drawing to Steve when he and the girls went home

The Last Life Drawing Class of the year 2 12 09

I did some drawing on this, the last night of Life Drawing Class. I had seen on an art blog a style of drawing using a red quick sketch under-drawing and then the finish dark pencil lines with the red showing through. I used a red chalk pastel and then a sepia watercolour pencil on prepared paper; glossy magazine paper with jewellers tissue glued on to it with ochre tinted varnish.

Double dipping

To tonight's life drawing class I took two paintings I had been working on all day to ready for delivery to the Waikino Spring Art Exhibition tomorrow morning.
They are both unfinished and I had to ignore my class and do some work on them when I should have been mentoring....
The annual Waikino Labour Weekend exhibition is my favourite exhibition and I never miss it, it is the highlight of my year and heralds the start of Summer and the tourist season and stirs me to produce at least 3 new paintings for exhibition there every year.

New paintings begun at the Life Drawing class

To the life drawing class last night I brought two prepared canvases and drew on them in chalk pastel. Our model was draped in a white crochet quilt. These I will make paintings of.

Two Models at the Life Drawing Class

Last night's life drawing class we were lucky enough to have two models

A thirty minute painting

I took paints and canvas to the life drawing class last night and ducked out of my teaching obligations to please myself with a couple of fast paintings of the model.

Community Education - Community Education Budget Cuts

Last week's life drawing class I got to do some drawing instead of teaching.

Gotta make hay while the sun shines as this is a Community Education class I run and it will likely have it's funding cut by the new right wing National Government of New Zealand which apparently doesn't value community or education.

They seem to value usury, selling public assetts, gambling public money on the stock market and finding jobs for their millionaire mates.
These people think only of money money money and don't realize that money is a completely abstract idea and that life is a spiritual journey.
They are not only blind but also assume a moral and intellectual superiority because of their skill in manipulating and amassing money. They are only workers in money management and their occupational hazard seems to be a predilection to psychopathic greed, egotistical arrogance and ignorance.....
Don't get me started...

For decades, all over New Zealand, community education classes have been running on a tiny fraction of public money and these classes provide not only continuing education in a huge range of subjects but also mental and community health and they help make people happy and friendly.
Well us happy and friendly people all pay taxes and we all vote.....

A New Blog; Life drawing class

I have started a new blog showing the efforts of our local life drawing class which I run every Wednesday evening during the school term in the Waihi College drama room.
The class is a mixture of ages and experience, from absolute beginners learning to draw to experienced artists who are happy to have a model available for practice or creating new works based on the human form.

Life Drawing Class: Mother and Daughter models

Our young model, Samantha, has a go at drawing her Mum who was our other model at the class last night

Samantha throws us her special Star pose and the crowd goes wild..

Mother and Daughter together. Trying to draw two people in short poses was a challenge for everyone but lots of fun for Samantha's bright energy just lit up the whole room.

The Weekly Portrait: Georgia at the Life Drawing class

My drawing of Georgia, pastels on sugar paper

Janice's drawing of Georgia, pastels on wrapping paper
This drawing has a lovely feel to it.

American Cars : An artist's subjective view of New Zealand transport history

My Dad in the 1930's, back of the desert road on the North Island plateau. I once had a girlfriend who was into horses but I never really took to them myself.

At the age of eighteen I was mad keen on big old American cars. This one was a heap that belonged to one of my pals. My favourites were pre war Fords and Chev's, Dodges, Oldsmobiles.

I completely restored a 1936 Ford V8 pickup and used it every day in every way for years and years and when it was wrecked in a multiple car pile up one dark November night in 1989 I was heartbroken. Eventually I sold the wreck for $3,500- and I resolved that my hobby would from then on be my living and vocation and I used the money to go to Art School and have been driving Toyota Corollas ever since, my petrol head days over for ever...

Now I am parting with the best of a succession of '80-'85 Corolla wagons and have an old '89 Nissan 4WD diesel that stole my heart the first time I used it to drag a trailer load of firewood up a rough wet overgrown track with absolute ease. It's very roomy inside, has a great stereo and just goes and goes and goes anywhere. Ideal for those hard to get at mural commissions...2013 update; I kept KE 70, it is the Artist's car...

The Life Drawing Class starts again

School holidays are over, the kids are back at school and the Life Drawing class resumes for the new term in the Drama room at the local College.
I made this drawing at last night's class, an artist at her easel, seen from below. How I got to be crawling around the floor while everyone was busy drawing the model I do not know but I was intrigued by the view of a face from below and there on the floor was Janice's cardboard drawings satchel and a big box of chalk pastels just laying beside it and no one looking so I got to work...
Because I teach the class I don't usually get the chance to draw but take opportunities as I find them.

Barbi in the studio dancing to Amy Winehouse

I have been a bit crook so no posting for a few weeks but Barbi came to visit and brought with her sunshine and happiness. There are now two mural commissions on my books, as they say and today, Sunday, I will be working on the designs for both of them and will soon have posts on Marley's Mural epicode 2 and the Rocket Park Mural episode 1. The Rocket Park is a kid's playground and I will be paintint a mural or two there in Winter. No worries, doesn't snow here but in a Southerly one can smell the Antarctic and the Great Southern Ocean on the winds that come whipping through the Karangahake Gorge and keep little old Waihi cool, man, really cool.

Americans in New Zealand

A collage by my son Sam

It's a local legend. American tourists are famous for it and I have heard it from two different people who have met Americans here in New Zealand and they pretend to be Canadians.

Dear me! That's kinda beating around the bush I reckon, obscuring one's origins like that.

Last Saturday night I went to Chambers restaurant. I was invited to a private party there in honour of Leah's birthday.
A pyjama party.
It's getting on into Autumn and the nights can be a little chilly when there isn't a warm Northerly blowing and I said to Leah "well actually I only wear..."and she interrupted me with "I don't want to know what everyone wears to bed..." and I thought ooh how assertive, do I detect a glimpse of anger and passion ? mmm how exciting but of course being the polite people pleaser that I am what I said was "when I was a kid I had a check dressing gown with a multi coloured tassled cord to tie it and flannel pyjamas and tartan slippers and my Dad had the same and on Sunday mornings at 7 I would sit on his knee in the lounge and listen to the children's requests on the radio..." and Leah said "yes that's the kind of thing, get into the spirit of it"

So I did get into the spirit and some beer too and a jolly good time was had by all and I met some interesting people there including Anne and Andrew who had opened a cafe in Waihi recently and Andrew said that they had some Americans in their cafe for dinner one evening and when he asked them where they were from one gentleman said very fast, all in one word and in obviously practiced fashion, "we're from Texas and we hate Bush"
O.K. buddy, too much information but I see where you're coming from.

Actually I was cynically grateful to Mr. Bush for ensuring supplies of fuel for my vehicles even if I gotta pay extra for it (wars cost money and we all gotta stump up and pay the cost of whatever the American public decides is best for the whole world) but I lost my drivers licence and walk and ride a bike now so I don't give a damn--
--except when I remember the wonderful Iranian and Iraqi movies and art I have seen and the literature, novels and short stories I have read from those countries and then I get a little annoyed.

But what would you? 'Tis the way of the world and America has great movies art and literature too.
don't they?

Savonarola's Chair

On Thursday I lost my drivers licence. Yes my long criminal career is over, I have been brought to justice at last and the full force of the law has been brought to bear, New Zealand is now a safer place thanks to the vigilance of the Police and the efficiency of the Justice Department...

Let my personal tragedy be a lesson to you dear reader: next time you are in your favourite bar enjoying some down time and you chance upon some playful and light, amusing pseudo philosophical conversation with warm hearted people enjoying just being well just don't! No No No don't do it! Don't give in to the temptation to linger longer on a hot sunny afternoon and have another beer and then another and yet another while flowing with the feeling of the futile and yet pleasantly companionable amusing wonder of this unfathomable life...

Ha! you will do exactly whatever you want to do won't you?

And I wouldn't have it any other way..

I chanced upon a friend while crossing the road from Woolworths with my flimsy plastic bag of fruit and milk on my walk back from the Courthouse and got my first ride home.
And you might think me churlish but I have to say that by the time I'd made Alison two coffees and a lunch of avocado and cherry tomato on toast and she's scabbed three cigarettes out of my tobacco stash (she's trying to give up..) I swear it would have been cheaper to get a taxi. Cyril charges $6 for a ride to or from town and often lets me off for five (he is a sweetie), well Alison is a sweetie too, shit ain't we all?

Friday I started the day by reading a book on Florence that my lovely wandering ex wife had left me on one of her sojourns back in New Zealand from wandering the world and I happened upon a photograph of Savonarola's chair.

Such a beautiful design Savonarola's chair and talk about bonfire of the vanities Trevor! How it is that Savonarola should encourage the good folk of Florence to burn all their lovely things while he himself sits in such a cleverly complicated yet subtly elegant chair is just..just.. just inspiring is what it is Yes! a painting of Savonarola's chair is in our future folks ( I say our because you will be seeing it displayed on this blog one fine day )
The curve of the frame/legs of Savonarola's chair is reminiscent of the curve of licking flames.
Inspiration!

Email to Sandra

Hey Sandra

I just looked at your visitor map. You are truly global, including Mexico and
South America and your stats are approaching 3000.

I hope we can still be friends now you've hit the big time.

Next time you are in New York attending an opening with your agent and minders I
wonder could you find the time to look at Nippon curios on 47th street?

It's the only place in the world you can buy a genuine 1960's New Zealand green
plastic tiki.
I would so like to have one if they are no more than $US400- each.

I hope that won't be too much trouble for you, I'd really appreciate it.

Last time I was at the dentists I got the chance to check out the National
Geographic photo article on you and your work again. God those photos are just
amazing aren't they? Yeah yeah I know you've probably heard that so many times
before from the hundreds of sycophants that seem to swarm around you and take
up all your time but you know dear the article on you in Women's Day that
mentioned your fan club didn't credit Barbara and myself for our part in
launching the fan club.

Well of course you had to help Barbie and me organize the spreadsheets and
database for the club back in the early days but the article didn't credit
Barbie and me with all our hard work and support on your behalf and Barbie is
so sensitive and I thought you would at least....you know the last time I saw Barbie
putting on that brave face it just broke my heart and I had to hide my tears....


O! Who can stay mad with you Sandra? I still remember the time you brought
Prince Charles and Yve St Laurent to visit your quaint old artist pal in little
old Waihi...a tad patronizing really but when Yve St Laurnents boyfriend
actually spat in my goldfish pond and Prince Charles hugged my Kauri tree -
well I'll never forget how proud I felt, this was truly the proudest moment of
my life and I owe this to you!
Just my luck the MI6 guys wouldn't let me take any photographs but once a nobody
always a nobody eh?

I guess it is just my destiny to walk with difficulty through the mud of my own
making but my way lit by the bright stellar radiance of your glory.

I am content

God Bless

John

Art and Music

 In the 90's I spent much time in Auckland, an hours drive from my then home in Warkworth. I was pursuing fame and fortune as a mural painter and murals were much in fashion then as decoration for restaurants, cafes, and upmarket clothing stores.

Fashions change but I had a good time for a while and ample opportunity to explore my Irish heritage at the many Irish bars that sprang up at that time.

There was an Irish renaissance at the time and I embraced it with joy, for, although a common or garden New Zealander I was ill at ease as there had been for some time in this country a great racial debate as the Maori population increasingly demanded their rights and redress for historical wrongs forced on them by the Pakeha settlers in the 1800's

I have no Maori blood and was quite unnerved by this drama as I thought that, taken to it's logical limits, this drama would eventually see me disinherited from my birthplace and kicked out!

Now just because a young man from County Clare decided to make a better life for himself away from the famine that swept Ireland for twenty years after 1840, all of young Peter Mulvay's life in fact, and took ship to New Zealand in 1861, did this mean that I, Peter Mulvay's great grandson, because of my lack of Maori blood, had no right to be here?

This scary line of thought led me to discover that I too had a race and a blood and this was black Irish from the West coast of the Emerald Isle.
Yes, I came complete with the requisite green eyes, slightly olive skin and black hair of County Clare.
And the knowledge that I too had a racial heritage was a comfort to me and I no longer worried about being kicked out of my country of birth.

And I discovered Guinness and single malts and those Irish bars had live music every night of the week! yay!

And I would take a sketch book along to those Irish pubs and after enough Guinness to conquer my shyness I would practice and practice high speed drawing and learn how to draw a violinist's fingers in the middle of a solo, catch a singers soulful expression and etc.

The amount of booze I drank did get in the way of my mural painting business a wee bit but I have so many sketches of New Zealand musicians that I am about to put to good use as paintings.

My mission for this winter is to make paintings and prints of all those drawings and I feel they may just turn out o.k. because they all came from the heart and I have many musician friends whose talent and art I adore.