New York New York, I imagined it to be just like it’s pictured in Tony Sarg’s ‘Up and down New York’ but there were far fewer hats and there was no hurricane at the Flatiron Building.
The flatiron building
You’ll never get me on a clipper ship.
The Guggenheim. Shut on a Thursday.
Liberty’s behind
Porthminster beach, St Ives
St Ives Harbour – pen and ink
Be warned that there is a dark underworld of gull-gangs hanging out in St Ives.
They swig bootleg cider and place bets on whether tourist scalp has more protein than Cornish pasty. Then feed endlessly off both between 12 and 2pm every day.
My advice is NEVER sketch near someone eating a Cornish pasty in St Ives. Not unless you have a bucket and several heavy duty wet-wipes to clear up the mess. I know from experience.
So ferocious they mess with your brain
The intense lightning storms over the UK this week started here in the South West.
I would have loved to sketch them, but it’s hard to mix up a good ivory black when you are cowering behind the sofa!
St Ives Harbour
After all that drama, you might think those vivid colours were a result of adrenaline rush, but the light here is truly something else. Even a grim misty morning blazes with an eerie quality.
“The Island” from Barnoon cemetery
It’s not surprising that this landscape inspired an art movement.
I took a trip to Barnoon cemetery to find fisherman and self taught painter Alfred Wallis.
His grave is beautifully tiled by Bernard Leach. I was moved by this tribute to a man whose honest paintings, with their wacky perspective, inspired the early St Ives artists.
Pencil in the mizzle
The morning after the storms
Today was a perfect day for Brighton’s ninth World Naked Bike ride. It’s a peaceful protest against car culture and oil dependency. 
Those brave enough to, bare as much as they dare, to demonstrate the power and vulnerability of cyclists.
If you are feeling shy… wear a mask!
The atmosphere was friendly and relaxed. Everyone seemed to be having a fantastic time, particularly those in the fountain at the Old Steine!
I saw my first ‘clothed’ VW camper at the London to Brighton classic car run last weekend.
It’s wearing this lovely Vunder-Bra made by Volksheaven. I’m not convinced it gives adequate support, but it looks marvellous.
A gentle start in Chur…
The Glacier Express in Switzerland is one of the slowest express trains in the world, but still makes for high speed sketching.
On to Gornergrat.
The final train journey home, via Geneva. Even the Brighton train was on time!
The children’s parade kicked off the 2014 Brighton festival last weekend. The theme was “the arts.” I love it when kids get to choose! Yoda is an art house legend.
Had Napoleon III took a day trip to Shoreham, he would have come face to face with the large gun which sat on this emplacement
Shoreham Fort was built in 1857 to defend against French invasion. Luckily, Napoleon III was too busy renovating Paris to bother attacking the good people of Shoreham. As it turned out, the real threat came 100 years later when the Barrack block was demolished.
The fort is now being lovingly restored by volunteers, so this little nugget of Victorian innovation stays with us.
Brighton is awash with bloom and after this Easter I’m 28% cocoa. That’s more than your average mini egg.
I finally got to see the Turner by the sea exhibition at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich this weekend. It’s great to see such an amazing body of work in one place. I recommend getting the audio tour for some added context.
As well as more familiar paintings, you get to see some of Turner’s sketchbooks and unfinished works.
I was so inspired, I had to immediately walk to the Royal Observatory and do a double page spread of Greenwich Park!
With that out of my system there was time for a quick stop at the Tate modern to sketch the silver birch trees before it got too dark.
The Modelworld exhibition hit the Brighton Center last weekend. So many tiny things in such a huge space.
Man or model?
Thankfully the Daleks were there to bring things down to earth.
Michael Tuckers amazing buildings are made from ordinary stuff like cereal boxes and Weetabix. Every miniscule tile on the roof is made from an individual square of paper.
cmoorelife 