One Sketch #107) Traditional Cuckoo Clock

Isn't it ironic
That a bird which builds no nest
Should find such ornate housing
Is the kind he likes the best?

Apropos of nothing my wife, out of the blue, mentioned yesterday her grandmother's cuckoo clock. As it happened I remembered this item quite well. It was very like the one in the picture - a traditional birds and leaves design, with a little blue and yellow bird which had stopped coming in and out and cuckooing before I came on the scene. They're funny things, aren't they, cuckoo clocks? I mean, they are just a tiny bit ridiculous. . . and yet, I really rather like them. As for my wife's Nan's clock, well, sadly she passed away well over 20 years ago and I have absolutely no idea where it ended up.

One Sketch #106) Dolce Gusto Coffee Machine

I'll drink another cup
Its rich and bitter virtues
Will caress my senses
Into wakefulness,
And lo, with a sublime taste
The day begins anew.

This is my beloved Dolce Gusto coffee machine. Alright, beloved is maybe a little strong. I know that there are other brands out there - I've had a Tassimo in the past - which produce coffee which tastes as good. But I do like the Dolce Gusto. This was second hand when we had it, but I tell you what, it don't half make a good cup of coffee. I've never been a tea drinker, me, always a coffee drinker, ever since my Nan got me drinking it when I was small. Back then it was instant, and I'll be honest, I was only really drinking it for the two teaspoons of sugar she used to put into it. Then, when I was about 15, I decided that all of that sugar couldn't be good, and so I gave it up, and forced myself to drink coffee without it. For 3 months I hated every cup, but by the end of that time I realised one day that I was now drinking it and enjoying the taste of the coffee, and that's when I really became a coffee lover. Since then I've graduated from Maxwell House to Nescafe to Gold Blend. Then from Gold Blend to a filter coffee machine. That was better, and I was known to use a cafetiere at times. But nothing. . . nothing I used to use ever produced a cup anything like as good as my Dolce Gusto.

One Sketch #105) St. John's Church, Cardiff - South Wakes Urban Sketchers Monthly Sketch Crawl

No Gothic revival this
It never went away.
And as it nears its millennium
Still it looks down
and down
And sees
All is well.

Yes, today was the July sketchcrawl of the South Wales Urban Sketchers chapter - Cardiff again, but this time a Sunday rather than a Saturday. This time we each of us stayed outdoors, in and around the Hayes area. This is the only direct watercolour I made, but I did make some ink sketches - here they are: -

 This is a bear from Cardiff Castle's famous animal wall. I enjoyed sketching it, and wanted to do more, but I was standing up and the sun was beating down on my bald spot.

 I broke the habit of a lifetime, and asked this chap if he didn't mind me sketching him. He couldn't really refuse - I'd just put some money in his bag. Very good he was too - a selection of Dire Straits' hits, which always goes down well with me.

 The Hayes Island snack bar.

The Old library - our meeting place. It contains shops, and a museum, and a café, which was closed, so we had our post morten session alfresco today.

One Sketch #104) Marilyn Monroe

The original candle in the wind
A lasting icon
But a frail and fragile person too
The person, long gone
But the icon?
Imperishable

Right, you need to stay with me on this one. A few days ago, on Tuesday, the England football team were playing in the last 16 of the FIFA world cup against Colombia. Now, being 54 years old, and a lifelong England supporter, you'll appreciate that I've been put through the wringer by England many times. In all honesty, my nerves just wouldn't stand watching the match. So I painted the Laurel and Hardy sketch which was actually my 100th One sketch a day. I finished just in time to see the England goalkeeper save a penalty to put England through.

So, today, England played their quarter final against Sweden. To put this into perspective, England have reached something like 7 quarter finals previously during my lifetime, and won precisely 2 - and the first of those, 1966 I am too young to even remember.

So I bottled out of watching it. Hoping to work the same magic as the Colombia game, instead I painted another iconic film star, the great Marilyn Monroe. She starred in one of the most joyous comedies of all time in "Some Like It Hot", and despite dying before I was born she's still as big an icon as she's ever been.

One Sketch #103) Isle of Lewis Chessmen (Friday 6th July)

Forgive me if I find I must digress
But who'd have thought of Vikings
Playing chess?

The first time that I can actually remember seeing any of the Viking chess pieces discovered in the Isle of Lewis in the Hebrides, was in the mid 1980s. I was at London University studying English, and Old Norse and Old English were two of my constituent courses. Those of us studying these courses took an afternoon to visit an exhibition in the South Bank devoted to art and culture immediately following the Norman Invasion. In the gift shop I bought a replica Knight and a replica rook, and had I had enough spare grant from my student grant ( if you're under 40, then ask your parents what they were) then I'd have bought the whole set. I thought they were amazing. I've seen the originals several times since in their home in the British Museum, and if you ever get the chance to do so, I highly recommend it.

Fast forward  good ten years and I actually did buy a full set - although the pieces were approximately half the size of the originals. That went the way of all flesh some time in the last 18 years or so since we moved house. Nonetheless I retain a huge amount of affection for these remarkably dramatic and animated figures, and it's nice to think of hairy Scandinavian beserkers settling down for a nice game of chess after a hard day's pillage.

One Sketch #102) Little Owl

I'd have to say a little owl
Would rank among my favourite fowl
It may not be so much in size
But who's to say it's not as wise?

Yes, this was another lunchtime at work 15 minute special. I like owls generally, and little owls especially. Made this with my parker pen.

One Sketch #101) Choo choo in Bloo

Noisy, smelly and dirty
(But that's enough about me)
Ah, the pulling power
Of grimy steam engines
And old photographs

I think I'm entering into something of a blue period at the moment. I enjoyed painting Stan and Ollie yesterday so much that I could feel that I was going to go blue again tonight in Artists' Group. There was no point, I felt, in going for another portrait, and I wondered how it would look if I did a train. Now, bear in mind that the last train I painted was in acrylic, and took me getting on for 20 hours. I had all told about an hour and a half for this one. It's not a masterpiece, but it ain't too shabby.