More drawings; Arding and Hobbs

Arding and Hobbs, Clapham Junction. I've always liked this elaborate corner building.

100th anniversary war memorial service

I went along to the 100th anniversary of the first World War service at the bottom of Streatham common this morning, it was gently moving, non jingoistic and eccentric the way many things in Streatham are, with a very diverse presence of men, women, children and representatives of many religious and cultural heritages. Our MP Chuka Umunna laid the first wreath on behalf of all constituents. That's him in the middle below, a future prime minister many people speculate. He cut an impressive, towering figure, among the vicars, rabbis and council leaders who were also present.

When I was a child cars would stop and pull over to the side of the road to honour the two minute silence, which strangely today started at 10:58. Someone told me they used to turn the traffic lights beside the memorial to red, so the traffic would cease, but this morning the traffic roared around us as usual.

I don't view this as a celebration or idealisation of war, but a shared time of grief. I think about my grandparents and parents who lived through these traumas, in particular the Second World War and all the great uncles I never knew who went, with no joy at all, to fight in Europe and the Middle East during the First World War. A very brief internet search on my part identified at least five Dagworthys (my grandmother's side of the family) fighting in places such as Italy and France and other locations that must have seemed bewilderingly remote to them. I know my grandmother lost at least one brother, and vaguely remember her describing another one who was never found, perhaps he's the unknown soldier who watches over the A23 in the picture above?

Lino cut of trees in Wales and Streatham Common

This last week and a half, while also drawing with the iPad for the first time, I've also been doing some small lino cuts, it's almost as if the need for a hands-on process is required to balance out the virtual practice. These are ones I made this afternoon, I've been using Gouache as it dries quickly and I can immediately make adjustments, the first two are of trees in Brecon, the one at the bottom is of the woods on Streatham Common. I haven't done this for about 28 years, so it's taking some time to get the design and the line right.

The things that look like two skulls at the bottom of the tree are accidental..

Morrisons in the rain

A rainy Saturday morning in Streatham, people huddle under the entrance to Morrisons waiting for the rain to stop. 

Overheard conversations: who gets to count as community in Streatham?

Streatham is changing so quickly, but not necessarily in a way that promotes the kind of diversity (ethnic, financial, architectural, sexual, cultural and so on) that has made London a significantly creative location.

This morning I overheard some soya Latte slurping grockles (they can't afford to live in Fulham anymore) in a pricey new Coffee shop near Morrison's discussing how to make 'the Green' (actually a Plague Pit) in the Dip more of a community centre. They obviously haven't noticed that it already is a community centre, often brim full of people chatting amicably after prayers at the local mosque. It is also a place where homeless people and people chucked out of hostels often spend the day, and has been for the last thirty years,

What I think they must  mean by community then, is one particular type of community, or, in other words, a haven for wealthy white Yummy Mummys and their future ruling-class spawn. 

One of the interesting snippets I overheard today was how the Gay Sauna called Chariots, adjacent to the Plague Pit, doesn't serve the community. Well  I wouldn't be so sure of that!  Check your husband's credit card bills, or perhaps he only uses cash? 

Chariots has clearly served its customers (i.e. members of our community) for many years now, or it wouldn't still exist, so I don't know how these self-important  movers and shakers decide who does and does not count as part of our community?

This kind of thinking will end in social and ethnic cleansing for Streatham (not to mention the rest of London), it 's beginning to make me feel very uncomfortable, and ultimately unwelcome. I don't subscribe to the fake and culturally narrow construction of community they are so eager to promote. What they want is a pre-war village green with a pre-war social fabric, in which jolly peasants serve them artisanal foods priced beyond anything that someone on or below the average wage could possibly imagine consuming. Unfortunately it looks like their dreams are coming true, though the increasing desperation of beggars and homeless people on the streets of Streatham will continue to reveal the reality behind these decadent illusions of affluent, homogeneous community.

Norwood Grove morning after Bonfire Night

Norwood Grove this afternoon, a lot of the big fungi seem to be on their way out, such as the shaggy parasols and field mushrooms. You could still smell the bonfire and firework smoke in the whole area, a shame some people left their firework debris behind, such as giant cardboard rocket launchers. Below, the Southern end of Northcote Road on a cold windy day. The image below was drawn with the Tayasui Sketches app, the one above with Adobe Ideas. It's given my drawing a new lease of life, it makes drawing outside with colour much faster and less embarassing.

iPad sKetching

 Above and below, Streatham High Road this morning and last night, below that a lane of beech trees in Aber, Brecon Beacons, last week.

Streatham High Road, this afternoon, looking towards Tescos

Below, quick sketches in Tescos yesterday, people on escalators, yes, those are people.