Having drawn 1 or 2 disappointing night sketches in Auckland over the years I wasn’t expecting much of this sketch of Our Lady of Dolors, the largest church structure in Asia*. To make the sketch read correctly I decided I needed to capture the basilica in context . It's an impressive structure to record but without placing it into a bustling Indian street scene is a bit 1 dimensional – it could almost be anywhere. I was standing in a continuous stream of cars, motorbikes and people steadily passing by... horns were beeping, it was hot, people were brushing past me constantly and neon lights were glowing, so adding suggestions of these was necessary to add the context that helped to tell a story about the look and feeling of the place. Back to my expectations around night sketching. As I expected I was feeling suitably unimpressed with my effort on the night. I was happy with how elements like telephone wires, neon lights and buildings framed the basilica and even helped le...
I've been intrigued by this building on Wyndham Street for years. Still looking dignified - I suspect it has always looked this way - despite various neighbours coming and going over the years, adult shops, bars, massage parlours and now various Asian restaurants. The brass plaque and strange old-style wooden screens inside the windows announce 'Thorne Thorne White Clark-Walker Barristers' and enough books and papers clutter the upstairs windows to confirm a thoroughly 'analogue' business.
Passing recently I noticed the plaques and screens have been removed and the building for lease - time to sketch it before it gets made over into a noodle shop or massage parlour!
From what I can find online the building appears to have been under almost continual* use as a legal chambers since the 1870's with the departing business being founded in the early 1900's by William Thorne, I presume the founder of what is now Thorne Thorne White Clark-Walker Barristers. There wouldn't be that many Auckland businesses that have survived that long, let alone occupied the same building for so long! Is this some sort of record?
* The building was for a short time in the 1880's, home of the Evening Star newspaper and housed homing pigeons in the roof. The pigeons brought news from the Thames goldfields and international news from ships arriving in Russell.
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