Sunday, November 29, 2009

Night of a 1000 drawings

On Thursday evening my daughter and I went to the Night of a 1000 Drawings at the old Park Station in the city. I've been to 'new' Park Station before, to catch or meet trains to and from Cape Town, but I didn't even know about this old section to the south of it, abandoned and disused apart from the odd party event. I can find very little information about it, but I think it dates back to the Gold Rush. It is a magnificent building with soaring arches, beautiful wood and tilework, marble steps and pillars - I sincerely hope there are plans to restore and preserve it, though I can't find any reference to it on the net.
The event was great fun - the public had been asked to donate A5 drawings to be sold for R100 (less than £8 or $14) each on the night and the funds raised go to city charities. I only heard about it a day or two before, so didn't draw - next year! You had to buy envelopes with stickers, then peruse the drawings and choose the ones you liked, then at 7.30 there was a signal and a mad rush to put your sticker on your chosen artworks. There was some stiff competition for some of them - we got the ones we picked, though Dominique had somebody begging and pleading with her to part with her treasure.
As for my sketch... oh, buildings are a challenge for me!.. I found a nice secluded vantage-point but got confused with all the arches and what you could see through them, and completely overworked the watercolour. Those stars were projected onto the ceiling - it started pumping as the music got progressively louder but I was happy to depart with a sketch and my two purchases - I think the daughter would have liked to stay and party.

24 comments:

Charlene Brown said...

What a great idea, and what a good deal for buyers -- A5 for only $14! Your story and drawing are a delight, Cathy!

vivien said...

what a great idea and an evocative sketch too :>)

Papierflieger said...

This looks really good,I like it a lot. I would guess you used some caput mortuum which contrasts great against the blue and violet .. a nice chord. Also the quiet arches above the busy crowd makes this very interesting to look at.
If I was the organizer of the event I would ask you for your permission to use this as poster image for next years event :).

Felix Frankenberger said...

hi there.i came over your blog by chance.I am very impressed by your sketch of the event and wanted to ask if we are allowed to put it on the homepage of the 1000Drawings website? kind regards.

Anonymous said...

Cathy, Sounds like a fantastic evening. Went on there web sight and it looks like there having alot of wonderful events coming up. The doodle one really sounds great a picnic and drawing and jazz how could you not go?
Have a great day,Linda

Maree Clarkson said...

Your sketch is AWESOME Cathy! And how lucky that you found out about this event! Haven't been to the Jo'burg station for decades!

Cathy Gatland said...

Hello Charlene, Vivien and Martin - I mixed just about everything to get that caput mortuum-like colour, but it was fresher just before I did one more wash..:( but thanks for your nice comments!

Hi Felix - yes of course, I would be honoured! Congratulations to all involved in organising it, it was fantastic.

Thanks Linda - I missed that one, I'll go and check it out!

Maree, I've been a few times, but never knew about this old part of it - great discovery!

Isabel said...

Hi Cathy, your sketch is looking good and I like all that white rectangles that represent the drawings on rails, as I read the post I imagined the drawings laying on tables!
i'll be reducing the size of the book in my front page so that it stops covering the other sketches. I use google chrome what browser are you using?

Cathy Gatland said...

Thanks Isabel, the drawings were pegged onto lines - I decided not to draw all the pegs! I'm using Mozilla Firefox.

Robyn Sinclair said...

Congratulations, Cathy a great sketch and wonderful that the organisers appreciate it. What a lovely idea this event is.

Cathy said...

I didn't know about it! It must have been fun! Were there really 1000 drawings?

Cathy Gatland said...

It was lovely Robyn - I was excited when I heard about it, and it exceeded my expectations!

Hi Cathy - I believe there were over 2500 drawings, and over 800 were sold - some of the 'drawings' were stretching the term a bit - a blob of paint or a scribbled word...

Joan Sandford-Cook said...

What a great event Cathy. Your local urban sketches will be so right for next year. We have a similar event coming up in the Dragon's Hall Medieval building in Norwich City in a couple of weeks where artists submit only post card size unmounted paintings. They must not display your name or any details so they can be selected at £10 each and buyers find out about the artist from the back once purchased. Sandra and I plan to go to see what happens to our own submissions and maybe buy one or two that take our fancy.

Gillian said...

I love your sketch of O.P.S. and congrats on all the great feedback on this post and your blog in general. I'm tho pwoud of you!

Carol King said...

Sounds like fun! Just curious, what is an A5 drawing? I'm assuming that's a drawing of a particular size, yes?

Your sketch is really fun. Makes me want to go next year. Glad you were able to get the drawings you wanted.

Cathy Gatland said...

Hi Joan - I've heard of the postcard exhibitions in the UK, I think its probably where the idea for this came from - really great way for famous artists and the not-so to get together for a good cause!

Ah, thanks Gin - its amazing how this community just grows!

Carol - A5 is a 'standard' size here - I thought it was everywhere! it's 8 1/4 " x 5 3/4 " A4 is double A5 and A3 double A4 etc... The drawings were actually a lot of different - but small - sizes!

Pat said...

Cathy your painting is great. It really says it all. 1000 sketches. It really looks like fun.

Teresa said...

You conveyed the mood and scene beautifully... what a great idea that is!

Maree Clarkson said...

Hi Cathy, after looking at your post I went to the 1000 Drawings group on Facebook, and I was so disappointed that none of their photos of the evening even came close to your depiction of the scene! Great that they've asked to post your sketch on their group - now I can have a look at it again every time I'm on FB!

Maree Clarkson said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Cathy Gatland said...

Maree, your comment came up twice so I deleted one... they've put my drawing in their 'photos' section on the website, it's not on Facebook that I've seen - I saw you had joined the group too - I think we are the oldest inhabitants there by far!

Anonymous said...

this is such a great idea! and I love your sketch...it is rich with detail atmosphere and "busysness", just like you described the scene!Nice work!
ronell

RH Carpenter said...

What a great event! I do hope you get involved next year. What a bargain that is.

Helen Percy Lystra said...

What a great idea for a fundraiser and such a nice sketch of the event.