spidery drawings

'ruffle those tail feathers'
CN 7.05.11

Yesterday I set out to go to a drawing event and found that Carspider had rebuilt her web, but across the passenger seat this time, so I left her where she was. Couldn't have done that not so long ago, aracnophobia would have prevailed...but I focussed on seeing her as an attractor of abundance as I drove into town, a bit late as I often am, having succumbed to extra cuddles from my beautiful granddaughter as I attempted to get out of the door on time. Arriving in the car park, I realised I'd left all my drawing materials, except the paper, at home, distracted as I was. Should I go back for them? Abort altogether and get on the road to Lancaster as was my original plan? Give up drawing altogether and take a couple of Valium and a book keeping course?


But rifling for parking change, while I asked these profound questions, I found I had a miniature pack of keep-em-quiet wax crayons in my handbag  from the foray to Morrisons' cafe last week... so I thought oh well, I can use those at least, and decided keep going and to trust spiderwoman to provide. 

For a long couple of minutes, the parking meter kept spitting my money back at me to give me enough time for a lovely couple to come by and give me their unsolicited all day ticket that it had generously supplied them with earlier.. nicely covering the deficit from my failure to be organised enough to buy an cheaper advanced event ticket for. . .        Dr Sketchy's Burlesque & life drawing event in Uncle Alberts'. http://www.drsketchy.com


Drawing Burlesque artistes is not something I had anticipated I'd be doing this weekend, but the atmosphere was fun, the bar was open, and it's great to see people incorporating participatory art into a socialising context. I was kindly lent some colour pencils by off-duty Thursday night life drawing class teacher Jackie, but my drawings weren't great, I was a bit discombobulated by the lack of my own kit, paper too big, pencils too small, not knowing what to expect,  and sitting on an uncomfortable stool in a position where people kept brushing past me - and I'm still reflecting now on where my feminist politics stand in the middle of it all... is it  women in their wildish power, doing their own thing? What's the difference between a Burlesque Artiste and a Stripper? 


However, the Headline Honeys Headline Honeys Middlesbrough (14) were quite fabulous, with their feathers and wings, their performances polished, the audience mixed gender, but with the whole front row full of women focussed on drawing and all having a jolly afternoon with the artistes awarding prizes for the best sketches... the MC doing his his thing in 'Cabaret' style top hat and painted face....   good enough for Toulouse Lautrec, I thought, and eventually I sorted myself, cut the paper down, accepted the loan of a bit of pastel and got a grip. My efforts may not reflect Middlesbrough's answer to the Moulin Rouge as well as they might have done, but hey, at least I only hid in the ladies for the first set of judging...

Even mainstream prime time Britain's Got Talent had a Graphic Designer performing as Burlesque dancer Talulah Blue and commanding an amazing amount of attention last week - (yes I do watch BGT, it makes me laugh every time, and rather proud to be a citizen of a country that produces such a wacky selection of people prepared own their wackiness with such abandon.) catch it on You Tube and peruse the range of comments she inspired... only time will tell if The Queen will eventually get to see her performance.

It must be synchronistic theme of the week because 'Is it porn or is it art?' was the subject of an interesting programme on TV this week, I forget which channel, featuring a pop up gallery showing a range of fine art works by well known artists and asking members of the general public to come in, view the exhibition, and answer this very question.. as well as posing others, such what motivated people to stand in the nude on top of the 4th Plinth in Trafalgar Square and what does it feel like to be life model if really you're a celebrity footballer or a television presenter?

All this does lead me back to pondering about the Toulouse Lautrec exhibition at MIMA  last autumn (High Kicks and Low Life: A British Museum Touring exhibition, now at National Museum, Cardiff)  particularly a print entitled 'Alone' (when obviously she wasn't 'cos she had a bloke sketching her..) It is a great exhibition of Henri's prints "described by a contemporary critic as, ‘the quintessential chronicler of Paris’. The work of the artist (1864-1901) immediately evokes the decadent atmosphere of fin-de siècle Paris." (The Times; 5th January 2011) 


I don't aspire to becoming the quintissential chronicler of Middlesbrough, but how fortunate am I to return to live in my home town in the North East at a time in history when I don't necessarily need to go to Paris, but can catch all these things virtually on my own doorstep? 






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