In March 2020 I was lucky enough to go on a bit of a reccy trip with my company (Untamed Borders) to South Sudan.  The focus of the trip was very much to experience the various tribal cultures, some of the oldest and remotest in Africa, despite the country being the youngest in the world. We started out in Juba, photography is strictly prohibited here, so I didn’t sketch anything either.  In fact, we were almost arrested later in the trip due to a member of the group taking a photo of the Nile as we headed back into the city, an honest mistake, which luckily only delayed our time rather than c ..read more

Towards the end of our Australian epic, we spent some time in a little town called Pottsville with some more wonderful and extremely hospitable family members (homecooked meals every day – yum).  As the town is near the border of New South Wales and Queensland we got the chance to explore a few areas either side. We had to check out the famous Surfers Paradise on the Goldcoast, with its many tourists and unexpected tall buildings. Below is a sketch from Byron Bay, the hippy surf haven with all its pretty hippy surfy people…it was a moody day with rain clouds rolling in. And, Nimbin.  Wow.  Wh ..read more

I felt that the William Ricketts Sanctuary deserved its own post.  Situated in Mt. Dandenong area of Victoria, in the greater vicinity of Melbourne, the sanctuary contains approximately 90 sculptures, mainly from the trees and rocks, by artist William Ricketts.  The sculptures feature aboriginals and aboriginal philosophy.  The artist spent time living among aboriginals and encouraged Australians to become more in tune with Mother Nature. Some of his pieces also acknowledge the desecration and stealing of the land by the white settlers. It’s a really moving place, yet also somewhere tranquil a ..read more

After Sydney, we moved on to Canberra. It’s a strange city.  It was planned so everything is completely structured,  the road network, the buildings, the views.  It is like a model city.  And apparently one of the cleanest, hospitable and secure capital cities in the world.  I’m glad we went to see it though as I don’t think its the top of people’s lists when they go to Australia.  It is the capital city but designed to house the administration of the country, so not really in the same league as other Australian cities, such as Melbourne, Sydney or Perth, in terms of things to do. We only had ..read more

Harar was the final city I visited on my trip to Ethiopia.  The majority of Ethiopia is orthodox Christian, however, the walled city of Harar is predominantly Muslim and is considered the 4th holiest city in Islam. There are 82 mosques dotted around the city, and even a sign here and there listing them, so you can find them all…just like Pokemon. Sort of. This sketch is of Ras Tafari’s house which is now a museum housing old coins, jewellery, weapons and ancient books.  The museum book restorer kindly showed us into his workshop and gave us an idea of how he restored the old books that came to ..read more

From Melbourne, the fella and I decided to take a little 3-day road trip down the Great Ocean Road. The official starting point is in Torquay.  Our first stop was Point Impossible beach, little did I know that I navigated us to the nude-y beach, oops!  After that, we drove through town to Bell’s Beach, where (apparently) the closing scene of Point Break was filmed – I have not fact-checked this statement because I’m lazy. Sketching a beach scene is not my strong point, however, I am super happy with how this turned out.  I thought I would get a little help on how best to approach the subject m ..read more

Shortly after arriving in Johannesburg I took a flight over to Cape Town.  My partner and I stayed in Table View, one block back from Blouberg beach.  What a view and what a beach! It’s one of the top 3 kitesurfing beaches in the world and we happened to be visiting at the same as the Red Bull King of the Air competition, so there were hundreds of kitesurfers out on the water and subsequently out in the bars and restaurants – a great atmosphere.  One of my favourite eating places was Jerry’s Burger Bar – definitely check it out if you visit the area. We were treated to many a gorgeous sunset w ..read more

In November I braved the Ryanair flight from London Stanstead over to Kerry in Ireland to see one of my very dear friends.  I had previously visited her when she lived in Cork, but this was my first time to Co. Kerry. I love Ireland so much, and Irish people are just so wonderful, colourful and friendly.     We visited the town of Tralee, I sketched a random watchmakers shop along the high street that took my interest. Below is St Johns Church which I attempted in a limited colour palette of just two colours by Daniel Smith: Quinadricone Gold and French Ultramarine.  I think I saw someone do ..read more

After visiting Melbourne, we set off on a drive to Sydney.  Yep…its a long way….like, really really long way.  We travelled along the Hume Highway, and I can safely say it’s probably the most boring road I’ve ever driven. We stopped halfway in a tiny little place called Talangatta and stayed at gorgeous Air BnB farmhouse in the middle of nowhere.  Thankfully it had no internet or TV…so we all had to talk to each other instead, brilliant!  The only thing that scared us a little was the smell of smoke just before we went to bed.  Clearly, being out in the countryside we were also getting closer ..read more

Flinders Street Station is an incredible building in Melbourne.  As soon as I saw a photo of it I knew it would be my priority to sketch it.  It didn’t disappoint in real life.  We braved the searing 46-degree heat of this particular day to get a glimpse of some of the Melbourne sights.  Luckily enough we stayed in the area long enough to visit the city a few more times when it was not quite so hot, including getting tattoos at the Melbourne Tattoo Company.  When in Melbourne….! One of the most beautiful features of the city, in my opinion, is the contrast between the old buildings and the mod ..read more