Bare Essentials

Wednesday, 17th November 2004
Wild West Yorkshire nature diary

The bare branches of sycamore and the dark tower of a conifer sway in the wind by Green Park, Horbury. In front of the hawthorn on the right my squiggles, bottom right, represent the pale magenta flowers of a Lavatera or tree mallow, still putting on a show in a back garden in mid-November.

The weather being as uninspiring as it was yesterday, I put in a stint printing booklets. I'm like a squirrel laying up a store of them to see me through the winter.

Barbara and her Mum appear and take me out for a late lunch. So it's back to still life: the cruette.

You might think this odd but I am fascinated by the way forms go together to make familiar objects. In this case, stripped down to those bare essentials, we've got

• two spheres (vinegar bottle and its stopper)
• a cylinder (neck of bottle)
• a cone - with a concave curve on it (shoulder of bottle)
• polygons (salt and pepper)

This 3D design work is evidently getting to me!

Meanwhile, on a table in New York

I notice that my drawing pal Danny Gregory has drawn the same subject this week in his Everyday Matters weblog: 'we stopped for a late lunch and I finally found peace drawing the condiment display' he wrote, after a gruelling day limbering up for a 'sketch crawl'.

I can't help being reminded that when we took Danny to the Queen's Drive fisheries in June he complained that there was nothing to draw.

'What about the cruette?!' I suggested.

Perhaps we should team up and draw the definitive Condiments and Cruettes of the World.

Why Danny should need to limber up for a sketch crawl I'm not sure; he's the long distance sprinter of the drawing world and it was an effort - as well as an inspiration - keeping pace with him during his long weekend here.

Richard Bell, richard@willowisland.co.uk