The National Gallery has a permanent(?) display, downstairs in the Espresso Bar, of Frank Auerbach's drawings of some of the gallery's paintings - this Rembrandt portrait, for instance -
Tempted by the prospect of (mal)lingering over a cup of coffee, I looked hard at Auerbach's drawings, even tried to trace his marks in my mind - and didn't get a lot out of the exercise. I'm still at the stage of art-ignorance that finds them gloomy, ugly, and chaotic. But I do appreciate the kind of
looking he was doing.
Without that coffee, and feeling rather gloomy, I went upstairs to look for something cheerful. And what is more cheering than a little dog? Rooms 38 and 33 provided quite a few, some of them so small that I had to use the camera to see them clearly -
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| This one is wearing red ribbons! |
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"The Sporting Contest" is happening on the boats, and the dogs
seem to be having sport of their own. In the painting (1750),
the artist (Vernet) and is wife are escorted by the man in the blue coat |
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| Blackwing pencil (2B?) |
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| Lumograph HB |
Elsewhere in the gallery ...
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One of Janet B's views of doors and windows
("people kept getting in the way, just standing there") |
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| Carol found a new approach |
In Trafalgar Square ...
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| Joyce was people-watching |
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| Judith captured the entire scene |
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| Sue chose architecture - the bricks of St Martins crypt |
Extracurricular activity...
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Jo's remembered view of London from a bus in Hainault
(felt pen over candle wax) |
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Janet K's embroidered magpies - the source is a leather panel
from the walls of a historic house |
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| Judith's fuchsia, knit in wire |
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| Janet B's panel for Nadjlaa's peace quilt, inspired by Iraqi embroidery |
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| Joyce's panel - the olive branch, embroidered in variegated threads |
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