Some time ago I found an old wiro notebook in a drawer. A scruffy wiro bound notebook with a photo of 2 men in a kayak with a bear on the front cover. In that notebook I found terrible sketches drawn in pencil made while travelling in 1991. One sketch leapt out at me. It was a rough pencil sketch of Mt Ararat from a backpacking trip to eastern Turkey. The sketch really surprised me – it was a very basic pencil sketch, drawn using a .5mm technical pencil on a cheap notepad. The sketch is just black and white… To my surprise the sounds and smells of the day came flooding back. Meeting some Kurdish goat herders and their flock near the base of Mt Ararat, about 10km from the Iranian border on a bright sunny but cool, alpine day. Along with memories of driving across the mountain steppe in an old Renault 19 and the smells of chai and coffee in a Doğubayazıt pasta solunu. It all came back come flooding back! Why did it evoke such vivid memories? I’m not really sure to be honest. Maybe t...
One of the best parts of cycling Auckland's cycle paths is you get to discover superb artwork. This week I discovered Graham Tipene’s ‘Te Aronga’ pou sculptures along Tāmaki Drive.
I read somewhere there are 6 of them along the waterfront, so I’m looking forward to finding 3 more on my travels by bike.
Each pou features a lens inviting you to look through to a landmark, in this case Devonport with Rangitoto Island looming behind. I’m picking this one is a wheke (octopus) with a beady eye? At least that’s what comes to my mind!
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