Sandy Williams -- A Cacophany of Cats

We've been having record cold temperatures here in Michigan as has a lot of the country.  It was the worst time for our furnace to go out last Saturday night and repairs couldn't be made until Monday.  So off went my dog to my brother's house and my sister came and got our three cats while my mother and I checked into a hotel.  We were SO glad to be able to return home as were our pets.  The cats in particular let us know that they did not approve of being uprooted and sent away and let us know -- quite loudly.  I'm happy to report that life is now back to normal and our house is toasty and warm.

moving and remembering

We are still dealing with the craziness that comes with relocating to Texas . . . and I'm sketching bits of our old home when I find time. This is a small section of the vintage kitchen Bill made that I am sadly leaving behind. We moved all my paints and inks last week when we went to close on the cabin. So I just have this simple "warms and cools" palette with me. If I remember right, the pigments are as follows:

cadmium scarlet  /  permanent rose
hansa yellow med.  /  hansa yellow light
serpentine genuine  /  sap green (not really a cool)
ultramarine blue  /  phthalo blue
quin. burnt orange  /  burnt umber
quin. gold  /  payne's gray

Drawing in Dad's workshed Alissa Duke

I have a yearly visit home to Toowoomba (in Queensland) from Sydney at Christmas. It is a week or two catching up with friends and family and falling into a familiar routine. This usually includes de-cluttering cupboards and being highly distracted by childhood memories.

It also involves re-exploring my Dad's workshed in the backyard. It is a step into the past. Dad died in 1987 and although much of the larger machinery and tools are gone, it still has shelves and cupboards of work tools and bit and pieces. Dad was a panel beater by trade and a handyman, inventor the rest of the time . He seemed to have every possible item to fix, nail, screw, clip, polish, cut, drill ... The tools are stored in specially labelled  containers and drawers or hanging up above the workbench, on the wall. Most of these items are still there and have not been moved

So much of this is part of my childhood

drawn in 2012

This year I decided to draw some more of it. It is al in watercolour pencil and Lamy Safari Joy ink pen. If a clean out is ever done (hopefully this year) it may not be there next time I visit. These are my artist journal pages

 

 

 

I stood in front of a wall and started drawing the tools and containers. I decided to add the colour to the (old Dixibelle margarine containers circa 1970).

 

 

 

I then drew the wall above the main workbench, over two pages. I was not sure where/if to add colour to the page. I do not need any of them in my life in Sydney, but wanted a memory. That gave me the idea to draw some of the tools on the page. I chose a few and bought them up to the house and drew they over two days.



This is what I did New Years Eve !  (wire strippers and washers)

a G-Clamp and pop rivets

 

this is what the dinner table looked like on New Years Eve - a drawing in progress

 

 

 

 

 I have no idea what many of these objects are and the labels are a mystery. It was the job of my brother & I (and Mum to ) to sort through and to separate buckets of nuts and bolts ! I did not inherit my Dad's mechanical and technical nature, although he also had a creative side (woodturning and pottery). This is not the first year I have drawn tools from the shed. Previous Christmas visits have also provided opportunities. I think I am done now.

 

 

(can't figure out how to turn this image)