Standing on my toes at our back fence, I sometimes chat with my neighbour Maria. I love her garden, the chaos at the back, the organized garden beds, and the bright red geraniums that ring her clothesline. Maria and her husband came from Italy after the second world war and with many other European migrants, they settled in our inner city suburb New Farm (in Brisbane, Australia). Maria is over eighty now and finds the house and garden harder to maintain since her husband died a year ago. I have learned more about her since she has allowed me to sit and sketch. Everything in the garden from the shed to the climbing frames for the beans has been constructed by Maria and her husband. No material is wasted, everything is recycled, found and reused. When Maria dies, the garden, sheds, everything will be lost.

There is so much to draw, so much evidence of her and her husband’s life over the last sixty odd years. Drawing makes me really look, allows me to think, and particularly when I am sketching in Maria’s garden, makes me realize how tenuous life and our surrounds can be.

Размеры рисунка или рисунков (в см) / Sizes of the Drawing/Drawings (cm): 45 x72

Drawing technique / Техника исполнения : Charcoal