Bassline Musicians

Our group met in Newtown for our regular First Friday date and decided to walk over to The Bassline, a live music venue which has hosted concerts for almost every major South African musician for the last 15 years. A bronze statue of late music legend Brenda Fassie (affectionately known as MaBrrr) gazes over the square, with a hospitable chair next to her for anyone who wants to pose for a photo, or in this case, a sketch. Wisdom was a willing volunteer who went and sat for us as soon as he saw what we were doing, and was very insistent that I noted down his name for posterity. 

There was a lot of activity in front of the club - a tall-hatted cleaner and a series of people who gathered and hung around until a shady looking character arrived, did some exchanges with each of them and disappeared until the next lot. I didn't investigate further, and tried not to make any eye contact! 

I started drawing some men sitting on the lawn in the square while the others finished, when the man with the guitar, Paulos, spotted me drawing him (he had also tried to pose on MaBrr's chair earlier, but too late for my sketch). He leapt up and came and stood right in front of me, launching joyfully and without restraint into a loud crackly version of "I wanna know what love is", and then, when I said I hadn't finished him yet, into a sort of rap conversation with Wisdom adding a background chorus "Johannesburg, Johannesburg"... Not sure if we were supposed to reply in kind, but it was very funny, and fun. I hope we lightened his day as much as he did ours!

Shark Party

One of my great-nephews had his fourth 'Shark' themed birthday party last week (still not quite keeping up). That means three years since I did this post on his first birthday party... I'm not sure why I haven't sketched at any of his older brother's birthday parties, possibly just too much to take in and put on a page. At least at this one, they were more or less contained in a swimming pool for some of the time! It seemed appropriate to colour my quick pen sketch with children's felt tip markers... I should have got there earlier to draw the terrific food table with sharky birthday cake, watermelon bowl, brownies with fins etc - they didn't last long after the little guests arrived!

I recently added a Search widget to A Sketch in Time... why didn't I do that years ago? Within seconds I found all references to "birthday party", and the other day when I wanted to remind myself how to make a home-made scraperboard - pop - there it was. I sometimes despair of ever keeping up with all the techie stuff available, but this one was worth the head-scratching!

A Heritage Home and Hotel

Two sketches of buildings from the same era in Johannesburg's history - the top one is of Northwards, an Arts and Crafts Movement home built for mining magnate and randlord John Dale Lace. His flamboyant wife, José took milk baths and had her coach pulled by four zebras to go shopping in town; was allegedly proposed to by Cecil John Rhodes, and was mistress to King Edward VII. More about this fascinating lady here if you're interested! Sadly they ended up in abject poverty - how does that happen!? 

Our sketching group went to draw in the gardens after a week of scorching heatwave, but this day was chilly and drizzly and we eventually had to go and find a café to warm up in. It's still cool - surely summer can't be over so suddenly and so soon?

The other sketch was done after visiting William Kentridge's enormous and wonderful tapestries at the Wits Art Museum, over coffee at a restaurant that had a good view of this little inn which dates back to the Boer War. It was used as a watering hole for British troops, and a stopover for postal riders, and where British High Commissioner Sir Alfred Milner met commander of the British forces General Lord Kitchener for talks in the bar, which gives the hotel its name. 

I have to say, I learn more history from sketching and having to look these things up than I ever did as a dozy student doodling at the back of the class in school!