Rhapsody in Gold

Rhapsody in Gold

“Rhapsody in Gold”
Coloured pencils and oil pastels.   330 x 390 mm
August 2017

On 22 October 2016 I wrote in my journal, “Sigh!  I sure am feeling lazy.  I don’t really want to go anywhere”.  However I forced myself out of my little apartment on rue de Poitou and set off for an evening’s photography walk.

Next morning’s journal entry reads, “I finished yesterday’s entry by saying I didn’t want to go out.  I was downhearted.  I’d had enough of Paris and felt homesick.  Blah blah blah – negative thoughts.  However, the light changed, I got good photos.  On the way home I got even more good photos.”

One of the photos during this walk became my source for “Rhapsody in Gold”.   The view is of Ile de la Cité; la Conciergerie, a dome of the Palais de Justice, a spire of Sainte-Chapelle – and beams of light emanating from the Eiffel Tower.  In the foreground, the Seine reflects street lamps and traffic lights.

The moral of the story is, sometimes when you don’t feel like going out, it is good to force yourself.  You might just find treasure – in this case – pure gold.

Daydream

Daydream

“Daydream”  coloured pencils and oil pastels, 215 x 290 mm.  August 2017.

Daydream – a pleasant fantasy or reverie.

“Daydream” is my second drawing from a photograph I took in Pontocho, Kyoto in the spring of 2013.  The first drawing is “Promenade”, February 2016.

Promenade
190 x 250 mm, February 2016

I was persuaded to let Matthew (husband) keep “Promenade” as it is a favourite of his.  However I did so want to exhibit it in my exhibition Entranced next month.  A few days ago I had the bright idea to do another version of it, this time using Sennelier oil pastels as well as coloured pencils and drawing it larger than the first one.

I was curious to see how I would treat the subject 18 months after my first interpretation and after months in the interim doing impressionistic Paris drawings.

Here they are side by side; the new one on the right.  I didn’t look at the first drawing   while I drew the second so as not to be influenced by it.  The dark areas are more intense (saturated) in “Daydream” than “Promenade” and I think the new drawing has more luminosity and power than the older one.

In the new drawing, the figures have a floating quality and the road sweeps up rather than along, but the scene has a gentle dreaminess so I’m leaving it this way.

So Matt gets to keep “Promenade” while I get to exhibit “Daydream”.  This is called ‘having one’s cake and eating it too’!

“Daydream” is the 23rd and final drawing for Entranced opening on 7 September (until 20) at Kidogo Arthouse, Bathers Beach, Fremantle.

 

Treading the Boards

Treading the Boards

“Treading the Boards”
Coloured pencils and Sennelier oil pastels.
225 x 275 mm.
August 2017

In a theatrical setting; the port of Fremantle lit by morning sunshine, a seagull steps along a wooden plank with the studied deliberation of an actor treading the boards.

This drawing will be one of 21 Julie Podstolski drawings exhibited at Kidogo Arthouse, Bathers Beach, Fremantle, from 7th September 2017 (for two weeks) – with ceramics by Stewart Scambler.