One Sketch #15 My rucksack

It was a busy day for me yesterday. I' flying to Lithuania a little later today, and there were a lot of bits and pieces I was having to take care of. My rucksack is what I tend to take if I'm going for less than 5 days, so I've been sorting it out, taking out all but my sketching essentials to make way for less important stuff like clothes.

The trainer is added because it's the most comfortable pair I have, and one of the features of my city break sketching trips is walking. Don't get me wrong, I love public transport, but there's nothing quite like wandering around and just following your nose. This is my first trip of 2018, and I have to say it's a bit more off the beaten track than my visits to Prague, Alicante, Berlin and Budapest were in 2017.

An empty rucksack
A promise of new horizons
New places
Strange words
Hard beds in cheap hotels
A reminder of who I once was
And might have been

Blimey, that sounds a bit melancholy, doesn't it. I dash these lines down off the top of my head, so doubtless it's all deeply psychological. Despite that, I really enjoy these trips, and I'm looking forward to posting some interesting sketches - although the posting might have to wait until Saturday unless the hotel's wifi works well.

One Sketch #14 2000 Forints

Right, this came about because I'm off on my travels in a couple of days. - Ah - say you, seeing that I have sketched part of a 2000 forint note - the must mean you're off to Hungary! - . You'd think so, wouldn't you, if you know your currencies. However that's not the case. For the fact is that Hungary was the last place I visited in Europe, back at the start of November.

Here's the sketch: -

This is how it works. I've been trying to tie up some loose ends today, sorting out airport parking and what have you. One of the tasks I set myself was clearing out my rucksack. Lo and behold, this 2000 forint note was lurking in a side pocket. I suppose that I might have put it there for an emergency - although it would have had to be a cheap emergency, since 2000 forints is about £5.50

Well, there we are. I'm actually off to Kaunas this week, and I'm really rather looking forward to it. I paid three visits to central European cities in 2017 - Prague, Berlin and Budapest, and I enjoyed all of them. So going a little bit further North and East is rather exciting to me. Of course, Lithuania's currency is the Euro which makes life a bit easier. It also means that anything I don't spend will be kept for my next trip, or for Mary's next visit to her mother in Spain.

Well, there we are. That's week 2 done. Yay. Halfway to one month. What's that? Where's the verse? Oh very well, if you must. I will admit that I did a little research for this one, finding out that the chap on the note is Bethlen Gabor, former Prince of Transylvania . . .

Impassive figure on my note,
Were you just a sad old goat?
Did you suffer from some mania
Being Prince of Transylvania?

Apparently not, as he did much to develop his country - well, they wouldn't put an absolute rotter on a note, would they?

One Sketch #13 Aberavon Shopping Centre

I did make this sketch on Saturday, but again, time and life got in the way of posting it. So here we are. This is illustrative of the fact that I was looking after my granddaughter Mimi yesterday. Now, I'd made an offhand comment earlier in the week that when I saw her again, we'd do some painting together. I forgot about it, but apparently Mimi had been telling her mum all week that she was going to go painting with Grampy.

So, when she was dropped off at my house, I decided we'd make a special thing of it yesterday. I took Mimi into town to buy her a set of watercolours all for herself. This is the local shopping mall, called the Aberavon Shopping Centre: -

I haven't scanned Mimi's paintings yet, but I will do that later.
As for the accompanying verse

What can you say
For a shopping mall?
If you've seen the one
- You've seen them all.

One Sketch #12 In the Barbers

Yeah, I'll be honest, I found it very difficult to get any energy to do anything today. Since reading "Why We Sleep" I've really tried to cut right down on the amount of caffeine I'm drinking. I did sleep longer than 7 hours last night, but I've just not had any oomph today - caffeine withdrawal? Still, next week I'm heading off to Kaunas in Lithuania for a few days, and I wanted to get some Euros for the trip. While I was out, I popped into the barbers to get my hair cut, and made this very quick, surreptitious sketch while I was there: -

As you can see, it's just a very simple line drawing made very quickly on the spot, but sometimes you've just gotta work with what you've got. I remember having my hair cut in the same place this time last year, while I was off work with depression, and talking with the barber about my upcoming trip to Prague. It was while I was in Prague that I started to feel just a little more like myself - so a good memory.

As for verse. . .

It don't take long
To cut my hair
Each time I go
There's less hair there
I'm not quite bald
I think that's fair
But on top there's
More skin than hair.

One Sketch #11 - Chartist Commemorative Sculpture, Newport

I like Newport. There we are, I've said it. Sue me. Newport has only been a city for a few years, but it's a city I like, and so when I was at a bit of a loss where to go today, I thought I could do a lot worse.

Newport is rightly proud of its connection with the Chartists. Chartism was a very serious working class movement in Britain from the late 1830s, which called for, amongst other social improvements, universal male suffrage. Needless to say, the 'ruling classes' were a) scared witless by Chartism, and b) determined to oppose the Chartists at all costs.

In November 1839 up to ten thousand Chartists marched on Newport. Their purpose was to free fellow Chartists who were believed to have been imprisoned in the town. Troops were called, and opened fire, killing over 20 demonstrators.

Today I sketched a part of the Chartist Commemorative Sculpture by Christopher Kelly, which was erected in the early 1990s.

The law don't help poor working folk
But it taught us, if we rise
That the rich don't take no prisoners
And they don't apologise
It's blood of honest working men
That stained the gutters red
And the ruling classes slept more sound
For the twenty who lay dead.

One sketch #10 Espresso Bar Swansea

Yes, the fact is that I didn't get time to post yesterday. Ideally I would post the same day as I make the sketches, but I have to allow myself the leeway to post the next day, or as soon as possible, so long as I do actually make the sketch on the right day. In other words, it's my game and I'm playing by my rules. Here's the sketch: -

I've seen this building so many times, since it's almost directly opposite Swansea station. I like the mural painted on the side of the building, and it's own distinctive architecture. As for verse, well. . .

Pour me a cup of coffee,
Rich and deep,
Strong as you like, and bitter
Who needs sleep?

Actually, I do. I've had real problems getting a good night's sleep for a long time, and yesterday I started reading Matthew Walker's "Why Do We Sleep?" in the hope of picking up some ideas. One of the things I have found really interesting is his explanation of the effects of caffeine. So much so that I have limited myself to just one cup of coffee so far today. We'll see if it brings any benefits.

One Sketch #9 National Museum of Wales in Cardiff

My wife flew out to see her mother in Spain, who is undergoing medical treatment. I dropped her off at the airport, and then took my eldest daughter and my eldest grandson into Cardiff. Ollie likes dinosaurs, and so the plan was to take him to the National Museum so he could see the fossil skeletons.

Here's the museum itself: -

He rather enjoyed the trip. I'm a firm believer in introducing kids to museums and the like early - Ollie isn't 5 yet. You don't ram it down their throats - we didn't stay long - but you're at least showing them that these places are for everyone - not other people. The fact that entry is free helped too!

Verse

A dinosaur lover called Ollie
Thought seeing their bones might be jolly
I took him to see 'em
In Cardiff Museum
Which didn't require any lolly.