Finalist Lyn Mcrea Drawing Award 2021

My earlier career as an architectural illustrator was based on observation of both existing and imagined buildings, landscapes and spaces.

Five years ago I started sketching my neighbour Maria’s garden.

The detail is important.  Maria’s philosophy “waste not, want not” is in those details.  Maria has worked hard since she arrived here, a teenager from war torn Italy. Through hard work and thrift, her garden supplied her family with food.  Nothing is wasted. The climbing frames, sheds and tools have been recycled from elsewhere. Plants come from cuttings and seeds she has saved. Water is collected from the roof, directed into rubbish bins and ladled out with a saucepan tied to a broomstick.

Our suburb is under pressure from new developments. Houses and gardens in our street are demolished in a few hours to make way for new buildings – the sort I used to illustrate. I know that one day Maria’s garden will be lost.  With this drawing, I have overlaid a ‘wire frame’ digital perspective line drawing showing how a future building might be positioned. I wish to draw attention to a way of living, and a life, that one day we will only have memories of.

Charcoal, pastel 67 x 108 cm