The Subway Sphinxes

No, it's not a punk band from the 1970s. Well not on this blog, anyway. It's a pair of works that I mentioned I was working on in earlier posts. I had claimed I might be creating three, but I've decided to stick with two.

They are inspired by the six remaining sphinxes statues in Crystal Palace Park, and by the wonderful subway below the road nearby. This very atmospheric place, beautifully rendered in brick, once delivered 1st class Victorian rail passengers to see the glass palace in the park above. It's now closed to the public, but there are many local people working hard to get the structure made safe and open to the community. Luckily for me I was able to arrange access to get the raw materials (i.e. reference photos and atmos) for these images.

Sphinx statues

Rendered in with pen and ink (and coloured pencil), they have a dash of Victorian mysticism and definitely follow on from my earlier work involving the dinosaur sculptures emerging from the railway tunnel.

Prints of both are now available via my shop.

Here are a few of the 'works in progress' to show how they developed.

Drawing for Life

As my artistic reboot continues apace, I picked up a pencil, headed to Crystal Palace and attended my first life drawing class for AGES.

It was called Betty Frankenstien's Drawing Room and happens once a week in a cosy room above The Sparrowhawk pub. It was the first time I'd done an untutored session: about 2 hours drawing time where you are given free rein to do what you want. A mellow vintage soundtrack accompanied the different poses, and I had a really good evening. I'm very glad I decided to take it up again. I won't let it slip, I promise!

Mural ideas for Sutton Mencap

I was asked (via the Volunteer Centre Sutton) to generate some ideas for a mural being planned by Sutton Mencap. They had an area, known as the children's walkway, that they were planning to transform: from a drab concrete alleyway to something more colourful and natural looking. Two mural panels were planned, along with raised flower beds, new plants, top soil and a general effort to spruce up that part of their premises.

Sutton Mencap Outdoor Project - Overview

For the mural ideas, they wanted something simple and bold that would appeal to the passing children, but not something that would be incongruous to the new garden. I decided to use flowers often seen in your average South London garden or park, with a range across the seasons. For the mural painting itself, using the help of students from Carshalton College and the services of Village Ceramics, my designs were used to inspire the final structure. One image was used for both panels, with my second design being kept for further use elsewhere at the centre in the future.

Sutton Mencap mural painting

Sutton Mencap mural painting

Extra colours and garden critters were added by the team and when installed in the finished walkway, a drab grey fence was improved no end.

Sutton Mencap mural 1

Sutton Mencap Walkway

Thanks to Sutton Mencap for the use of their photographs for this post.

The Genesis of Boudica

Stuck in Traffic from Matt Bannister on Vimeo.

It was quite a long process, but I've created a little clip to show how my 'Stuck in Traffic' piece developed.

It's not a routine I will be implementing for every bit of work I do, mainly because you have to stop and scan in all the drawing at regular intervals. S l o w. Still, I'm quite pleased with the result. It shares another dimension to my work, and is my first foray into using Vimeo.

Roaming in Rotherhithe

On a rare but recent sunny day, I headed over to Rotherhithe for some space. I'm working on something for a music/art/inspiration website Forage Press (more details to come in due course) and needed to generate some ideas.

A walk and a think by the river Thames is something free, that is available to all Londoners. The portion of river down from Tower Bridge is just where it starts to feel a bit more windswept. On a cold day, with misty views, it might feel bleak, but the day I was there it felt sleepy and definitely promised a slow, sunny summer to come (fingers crossed).

Ideas gathered, I headed back along Tooley Street. I've just got to create the things, now.