City Shakes

Heaving earth. Burning skies.
Water twists and trembles.
Colours slide. And fall.

My hand is steady. Covered in cool shades.
The World is tilting.
When will we feel safe again?
Secure?
Steady?
Stable?
Safe?

Japan, New Zealand, Chile, Haiti... who next?

I Love Dr. Sketchy

I love Dr. Sketchy! For $12 (unwaged) I can spend 3 hours at Mighty Mighty drawing some of the sexiest, fun-loving models around. Rachel Rouge runs it in Wellington and she keeps it spicy with a variety of entertainment for her artists. Yesterday, we had two pole dancers and a blue-tongued skink. The skink crawled up my chest and licked my neck (earning my vote for favourite model). Usually, the models keep more professional distance than that and strip tease from a safe distance. (Sigh*)

The shows have included lots of yummy burlesque, some funny cabaret, drag queens, belly dancing, circus acts and mexican wrestling... The performances bring out the life and personality of the models so that when the time comes to draw them I feel like I can really bring out their character. Its fun, bright, dynamic and colourful and I feel so lucky we have such a great event for artists every month in Welly. THANKS DR. SKETCHY (I love you x)

I love the artists who come too - to chat, relax, have a drink, whistle and cheer when the acts get raunchy, and fall into that collective trance/zone when the poses are set and the models are laid out for our creative pleasure. I don’t know if there is a collective noun for artists... when I googled it I got ‘a sketch of artists’, ‘a starvation of artists’ (and worse). But in the sun-drenched Mighty Mighty bar at 4 on a Saturday afternoon, surrounded by pink velvet curtains, mirror ball reflections and feathered, sequined, half-naked models... I feel like I’m part of a ‘perve’ of artists. And not in a dirty strip joint way. Just in a very focused, thank-you for letting me absorb you with my eyeballs, ‘flâneur at rest’ kind of way. 

Christchurch Blues...

On Tuesday 22 February, my boyfriend contacted me from Christchurch. The earthquake threw him across the room at the Polytech where he was teaching rope access but he was safe. He is big and strong, with skills in first aid and survival, so he and other tutors from the Polytech  went into the city to offer whatever help they could. I felt so afraid for him. But proud, too, that he was brave and selfless enough to risk his life to help others. The buildings had warped, slid and toppled onto cars, buses, pedestrians, and workers. Cracks had opened up the roads to expose the earth below. Smoke filled the air and screams. The ground continued to shake again and again...

In Wellington, I stood in front of my mural at Victoria University and tried to find the will to continue working. I couldn’t. I packed up and walked home as fast as I could to be close to my son Jalen. It was surreal to know that my partner was in crisis mode when all around me people were walking, talking, laughing and going on with their day. The news had not reached them yet. Even though in Wellington it was just another day, I felt afraid. The day seemed suddenly dark and ominous. Could Wellington be next?

Dean did everything he could do. The sights, sounds and smells of those days will be with him forever. I felt guilty that I wasn’t there to share that with him. But what good would I be? I asked myself. I don’t have special skills or particular physical strength. At best I could bring food and drink, or offer a hug when the grisly task of recovering dead bodies became too much for the Search and Rescue people to bear. But miles away in Wellington, I couldn’t even offer those small comforts. 

People have flooded out of Christchurch and others have flooded in. People with useful skills including: Search and rescue, engineering, counseling, social work, construction, etc. And part of me wishes that I had something more practical and more useful to offer than ‘art’. Like one more of the unending shockwaves, our relationship shook and collapsed around us... at the heart level, leaving two more casualties. The painting below is my tribute to everyone who was touched by the tragedy, and who did all that they could do, and especially to the brave ones who began the rescue effort just after the quake hit... And I hope it will be therapy for my Christchurch blues.

'All that I can do', March 2011