Weekly Drawing 56: Tinker-man

Tinker-man rides to the village. Milford - on sea, Hampshire

"Tinker-man rides to the village on his butchers bike to buy some bread.
As always he scans the back streets to see what he might find along the way..."

                                                                                                         Joel Tarling

Weekly drawing 55: Junk Castle

While my parents were building our family home on the south coast. I started building a cubby house called Junk Castle after Robin Klein's book Junk Castle published by Oxford University Press, 1983 and Illustrated by Rolf Heimann.

Using the walls from the old pit toilet, odd bits of building materials and things I scored from the local tip such as the slippery dip. I created my own fun.

I drew this from memory and I thought it was exactly as I remember it. But when found an old photo I could see I'd missed a lot of the wonderful details. Where I had obviously added more as I found different bits and pieces. I was about to redraw it, until I realised I'd unintentionally drawn it, how I saw it back in 1983. As the best cubby house in the world and perfect in every way.

Weekly drawing 54: Ibis infestation and child art

Feeling inspired this week, so it's two drawings...

Drawing 1

Ibis infestation is a kids book idea 

Eat your worms about eating the right foods. 

Why would an Ibis's would love eating Subway Wrappers,
McDonalds rubbish and hairy bits of chicken instead of foraging
in their native wetlands far from the cities?

Drawing 2

Sailing in a storm

My daughter 18 months has started enjoying to draw (scribble, scribble turn the page scribble, scribble). She has trouble understanding why I won't let her scribble all through my sketch book. So this is a drawing we did together, in my sketch book to prove that I can share too.

DIY woodwork with found objects

We have a beautiful old timber bench in our kitchen. Which I scored FREE because it was being thrown out and about to be sent to landfill. The bench was perfect in every way, but was missing a drawer. This is the story of How the bench got its drawer.

Last Friday, I was lucky enough to find an old timber drawer being thrown out on Little Eveleigh St in Redfern. However it was 15cm too long for our bench, so I cut it down.

This what it looked like after cut down and sanded. But it still wasn't fitting, so...

I went to The Bower in Marrickville and bought a little hand plane for $4 to shave the sides down a touch.

One of my favourite details is the dovetail joint:

The drawer now fits!

I also made a timber knife and fork divider for the drawer. I used $2 worth of timber from The Bower and some wood I found dumped in a laneway a couple of streets away.

I wanted to retain the original quality and style of the timber bench. I'm amazed at how well it all came together. 

I find imagining a found object's potential is extremely rewarding, and wish more people would repair and fix things. Each time I find something and fix it up, I feel I've saved it and I enjoy the process.

Weekly drawing 53: My big sister

This weekly drawing is a tribute to my wonderful big sister and is based on a Bermagui primary school photo of us. My childhood was definitely more fun because of her.

We lived 5km out of town along the coast and my sister and I were the only kids at our school bus stop. However this didn't seem to bother us. While we waited we made a hand ball court by sweeping the clay, so there was a smooth area to play. And the property over the fence was dairy farm, I would sometimes amuse my sister by singing to the cows "Da do ron-ron- ron". To our amazement they would all huddle over to listen. These were magical days.

Weekly Drawing 52: Sketching on the train

I have finally reached my personal goal. Draw a picture every week for 12 months. It's been a good challenge and I feel inspired by the process. I have drawn everywhere from trains, playgrounds, pubs and hospitals.

It has been one hell of a crazy year for me:

• We moved house, packing up a large share house of 5 years discovering things we didn't even know we owed such as 5 garden rakes.
• I become a stay home Dad and so my wife could return to work after 12 months maternity leave. Being a stay home parent is a massive change, goodbye 7.5 hour working day. As I write this our little girl is sleeping in the next room.
• I thought my baby daughter could die when she diagnosed with a heart condition and spent 2 months in intensive care and 1 month in the ward. 
• My computer died.  

Despite all this, I have managed to achieve what I set out to do. Draw faster ideas, jot down silly ideas and do what I love. The great thing is my sketch books is full of ideas and drawings. My Children's book portfolio is filled with new material. Unexpectedly, I discovered the process helped me deal with some really big emotional challenges with my daughters condition. I think it has kept me sane during this turbulent year. 

Thanks for all the support it's really appreciated.

Joel Tarling

P.S 

I will have a small holiday and return for another Weekly drawing in 4 weeks time

Weekly Drawing 51: Enjoy diversity

"Dogs like busking

Cats like jazz

Dogs like home cooked leftovers

Cats like sushi..." 

                                                      Joel Tarling

Kids book idea about accepting others and enjoying diversity

Weekly drawing 50: Cardiomyopathy

Cardiomyopathy attacks my little girls big heart

At home after many months in a critical stable condition with a pacemaker

This weeks drawing I'm processing one of the scariest times of my life. When I thought I'd lose my little friend and loving baby girl to heart disease. She had always been such a strong and healthy baby. My wife and I were shocked by the news. During this time cried for two weeks and I actually said goodbye to her three times.

The week prior to her birthday Liberty was dis-interested in her usual favourite places the playground or the local pool. She had a small cough and was breathing noticeably heavy when asleep. We thought she wasn't eating very much because she was teething. We thought she'd lost weight because she was walking. How wrong we were...

First Birthday

During her birthday party she wanted to be held by Mum (Bec) the whole time instead of socialising which was out of character for Liberty.

Lethargy

The day after her birthday. She had an extremely sweaty head (beads of sweat) and slept most of the day and night.

RPA

The following day Liberty showed no improvement after nurophen we went the local GP. Thinking we would get the over anxious parent talk. GP told us to go straight to Emergency get x-rays and we would probably stay over night. At RPA we were told she had Cardiomyopathy (a swollen oversized heart). I knew this was serious and couldn't stop crying. We were transferred to Randwick Children's Hospital after a scary night Libby was successfully ventilated the next day and we somehow faced the seriousness of this horrible situation never leaving her side and rarely sleeping.

We couldn't of done it without my mother-in law who stayed with us at the hospital the entire time. She is an amazing person. I think I have the greatest mother-in law in the world!!!

We also owe a great debt to the NSW Public Health System's amazing Doctors and Nurses, Social workers, Ambulance drivers, NETS, Music Therapists, Therapy Dogs, Starlight Children's Foundation, Heart Kids, The Book Bunker, our loving family and friends. Also to Liberty's amazing strong will. All these I feel carried us through these horrible three months. 

She is currently in a critical stable condition with a pacemaker and many medicines at home. She is walking again and looking happy and having fun.

Dinner time

A poem for Libby, March 27th
Nothing is black and white except our love for you

How did this happen
How did we get to this stage
You've always been so strong
Isn't a big heart an asset

Well I want to go home,
I've had enough.
Can't we just go back to our normal life.
With only you, Mum and me. Walks to the park, the library, the local pool, playing in the hall and in front of the mirror. Dinnertime, bathtime, bedtime and family hugs.

My hope is that the Cruel hand of fate is running late. I wish he would sleep in or have the year off. Because we all really need a break.

Love Dad

Weekly Drawing 49: Dampier the swashbuckling naturalist

Cape Verde Island 1683. Dampier meticulously recording his observations.
 While his buccaneer companions plot their next piratical adventure to the South Seas.

Weekly Drawing 48: David Suzuki

I recently watched the documentary 'Forces of Nature' which Suzuki calls his last lecture. He is a great thinker and a wise person. I loved that he wishes for people to consider a long term environmental plan as 400 years into the future instead of 20 years.