UC AMP 2024

April 18, 2024Leave a comment

I recently attended the UC-AMP conference in Riverside, a meeting for administrative management professionals in the University of California. I had been to the same conference last year in Berkeley, and for my own professional development it was an eye opener, and I came away with lots of new ideas and energy for my day to day job. It was around the same time as the Urban Sketching Symposium in New Zealand which I was missing (because it was in New Zealand), so I was feeling extra itch to sketch everything, but I have that anyway. In the end, I actually won the conference’s picture contest for a drawing I did on the Berkeley campus, so I won free registration for this year’s conference in Riverside. I’d never been to Riverside (my wife was born there, but based on her description it was never high on my must-visit list, which is a very long list), but the conference hotel was the Mission Inn, which I had always wanted to visit, and when I looked at it online it shot right up that list. See my previous post for the sketches. The opening reception for the conference was held in this courtyard and hall next to the big chapel there, a beautiful setting, though because I had not arrived right when it started the food was already gone, so I had some ice cream and a glass of wine. People were mingling about; I am not and never have been an ‘enter the room and start making friends’ type of person, I’m more of an ‘enter the room and start hiding’ person. Our name tags revealed our campuses, and when I heard someone from Davis going up to people from Davis and loudly squealing something like “OMG! DAVIS!” to gather them together I made more of an effort to be a bit more invisible. I didn’t see anybody I knew, though there were faces I think I recognized from last year. I really wanted to sketch the courtyard, it was beautiful, but I knew all I’d manage was a quick sketch, so I did the pencil sketch above in my little Fabriano book. The sun was setting, and my tummy was rumbling so I went and found the restaurant for dinner.

Naturally I could not help but sketch at the conference. Most of the reason is that I like to take notes at these things, since I’m here to learn ideas, but it becomes a fun kind of documentation. I used to fret about these things, because you can’t write everything down (boy do I try sometimes, I’m an avid note taker at meetings, it’s how I remember), and you want to be sure that you catch the important bits that at least illustrate the gist of their talk, but I’m better at listening out for those things now. I was drawing mostly with my Lamy fountain pen with the brown De Atramentis ink.

The talks were pretty good, although I didn’t come away from day one with a great deal of enthusiasm or particularly new ideas, unlike the previous year. It was more generic work conference stuff in many ways, and even the breakout I attended didn’t really get me going. Partly though that was because it was using a TV show that I’ve never seen as reference, Gilligan’s Island, though I understood the gist of what was presented I didn’t necessarily agree with the categorizations. Also, I came away not feeling particularly happy, because after dividing us into groups based on characters from the show, I ended up being in a group based on someone called ‘Ginger’, and the presenter made some comment that there were no redheads in our group, to which I said that I respectfully disagreed. While he acknowledged, oh right, other members of my group, people I did not know, decided to take it upon themselves to say I wasn’t, or that “no, he used to be!” and event “he said he used to be redhead but isn’t now”, which I did not say, but now a loudmouthed person has declared to the group that I had. “What? I didn’t say that.” I said, before another woman in our group said “No you used to be, but the stress of working for the UC changed that”. I mean, how fucking rude? This was in front of people. I was ready to argue, but that wouldn’t have been very administrative management professional of me would it, but I was not happy. My hair, which I keep really short anyway (shaved to #1 on the sides), is much lighter than it used to be even a few years ago, but I’m not all faded yet, and still obviously a redhead, just not the idea that someone else has we should look (which is basically how I looked at 11), but either way, that having been an important aspect of my self for my whole life, especially growing up when it is simply put the main aspect and all anyone ever comments on (and I get the idea that’s definitely more true for growing up in Britain than over here), and it’s not just another hair colour, there’s a very real skin identity in there (cf, my own higher risk of skin cancer). It’s not something I particularly wanted a debate on, but frankly I felt that for a group of people who have been patting themselves on the back during this conference on how great they are with people, it was a bit shitty to then make comments about someone’s hair colour in front of a large excited group. It reminded me of Edgware School, but instead of a gobby rabble making the class laugh at the fact I have ginger hair*, now a more grown-up and professionally dressed group of no less gobby people were doing the same in reverse. (*I actually actively avoided the word ‘ginger’ in my life because it had always been used to insult me, until I found the David Devant song ‘Ginger’ which was all about us and very much on our side). Anyway, after that I wasn’t feeling particularly in a mind to socialize so I ditched the afternoon and evening social activities and went and did some really good drawing instead. I enjoyed the second day’s talks quite a bit though, in fact the first presenter Steve Yu gave a talk about body language and public speaking that I definitely took things away from, plus a few interesting phrases. “How you do anything is how you do everything” was a good one. I don’t know what it was, but I came away from it with a “yes, I can do that” feeling. I went to one other talk about Influencing which was really interesting, by Crystal Petrini, though I ended up just writing down all the points but it did make me think about my own place on our campus and how I navigate the various relationships to try to get things done; not easy, often quite a challenge.

There were other talks I didn’t have time to attend, and the big group parts where they presented during lunch about the conference organizing committee and other stuff, plus a huge presentation on Oracle which I only caught the last fifteen minutes of, but by this point I was done and had to fly back home. They told me the 2025 one will be at the Hyatt Embarcadero in San Francisco, a place I’ve stayed at a few times, so I might go to that one. I have some more Riverside sketches to show you in the next post.

a plate full of pancakes at the original pantry

April 10, 2024April 10, 20242 Comments

I had a lie in on the Sunday; well I woke up very early (even after the time change) to watch Spurs v Villa through the corner of my eye, but I fell back asleep when it looked like it wasn’t going anywhere (actually we ended up winning 4-0, best performance of the season). I needed the kip anyway, and was still feeling a little full from the pre-bedtime burrito I bought at the food truck across from the hotel. So it was pushing lunchtime when I finally went out into the world. I thought I might do some drawing around downtown LA before heading to Riverside, but my main goal was to eat at The Original Pantry. I first saw this place way back in 2010 when I sketched it but didn’t eat there; I came back in 2017 with my mate from England, but the line was so long we decided to go to Denny’s (and waited even longer just for our food), so I’ve wanted to come back for ages. The Original Pantry opened its doors a hundred years ago in 1924 and boasts to have never closed its doors since its open 24 hours a day (I don’t know about during the pandemic). It’s a proper classic little diner with excellent food and beloved by locals. I absolutely didn’t mind waiting in line because I knew I’d be hungrier by the time I got in, and I could sketch the line while I was out there. Their website does say they want peoples’ stories from being in line. So I stood and whipped out my little Fabriano sketchbook to draw my wait (see below). However, I hadn’t been there for more than about three minutes, when one of the staff came out to check the size of each party going in. Since I was by myself, they already had a seat at the counter for me so I was led past the long line, some of whom were saying “oh man you’re lucky!” to me (I resisted the urge to say “see ya later suckers!” but I did feel excited at being called in to eat). My seat at the counter was close to the very hot cookers, but there were other locals eating there and reading their papers, it felt pretty awesome. I didn’t fancy a big lunch, but I ordered a plate of their famous pancakes, and wow that was a big plate of pancakes. I couldn’t even finish it, it was so filling. My stomach (and my soul) well satisfied, I got up and went back outside, and finished off the sketch of the line that I had started (below), before heading across the street to draw the full scene (above). That sketch above took me about an hour, but it was nice standing on the corner of the street in downtown LA, it’s a bit different from Davis.

The last time I stood there sketching was in 2010, my wife and I were visiting Los Angeles for our anniversary, though she had a work event in DTLA that day so I spent the day exploring. The hydrant drawn in that old sketch is now different, and I stood at a slightly different spot of the corner. It’s not actually the corner of Figueroa and 9th (9th is the street on the other side of the main road) but at the junction of Figueroa and James M. Wood Boulevard (the stretch of 9th was named for local labor leader James M. Wood in 1997). Anyway I wanted to show this sketch here again, I always liked it.

Eating pancakes wans;t all I did that day. My hotel stay also gave me entry to the Grammy Museum a bit further down the road. I didn’t have a load of time before I needed to catch my train but I figured it would be fun to look around, and it was. The only sketch I made in there was of Michael Jackson’s jacket from Thriller, because we used watch and dance to that video so much when we were kids. I enjoyed the hip hop sections too, there was a lot of history there. It’s not a very big museum but was worth seeing, but I had a train to catch to I headed off to Union Station.

I had hoped to arrive a little earlier and spend some time sketching Union Station, but as it was I was able to take my time, and a very helpful young volunteer showed me the right ticket machine and the way to the platform, he was a university student who apparently helps at the station because he is so into trains; I understand, me too. I’ve been thinking a lot about taking a great train journey lately, one of those that goes across the country taking several days, with time to sit and think and read and get into adventures. Well maybe not adventures. Would I get bored? Probably, but I’d be moving towards somewhere. A couple of those long distance trains stop in Davis (the Coastal Starlight and the California Zephyr) so who knows, some day. As it was, I took a 1.5 hour regional train across the LA metropolitan area and into what’s called the ‘Inland Empire’, to the city of Riverside. And of course I sketched on the train.

pause at the airport

April 2, 2024Leave a comment

I’ve been travel-busy lately, so let’s start posting some sketches. I was at Sacramento airport, waiting for a delayed Friday early evening flight down to Los Angeles, where I’d be spending the weekend before a work trip to Riverside. As I had a bit of time I sat and had a pint at the airport bar, sketching the view opposite which included a newsstand sponsored by Sactown Magazine (see my previous post about my own appearance in Sactown). At this point the new edition featuring my sketches wasn’t on sale, but it was there on the way back a few days later along with the screen displaying pages. I don’t like airports (have I mentioned? Like a million times), but I don’t mind SMF, I’ve been through here enough times and it’s small, so it feels so familiar. Eventually I was able to board. My plan for Los Angeles was to do the following: (1) visit the Scum and Villainy Cantina in Hollywood, great place; (2) spend all Saturday drawing dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum; and (3) eat breakfast at the Original Pantry. I did all of those things (though the breakfast was more at lunchtime; a well-deserved lie-in!) and there’s sketches aplenty to come. After that, I was going to the UC-AMP Conference in Riverside and staying at the historic Mission Inn Hotel, and there are lots of sketches from there. As it is, cheers from the airport.

to rest my eyes in shades of green

March 20, 2024March 20, 2024Leave a comment

I sketched this in my small Fabriano sketchbook, I really like using that one, especially with pencil. I have a larger one I might start using at some point. This is that bridge in the Arboretum that I’ve drawn a few times before, but not for a few years. I was heading downtown at lunchtime and it was a day of intermittent sunshine and clouds, just as I like it, but I wanted to stop and draw. I can’t get enough drawing done can I. I like this sort of sketch as I am just working quickly and scribbling, which makes it fun. March came in after a long long February and is already sweeping by fast, It will be April before we know it. And then another Summer, and another Fall, and another year over, until everything stops working. Look at the world while you can. I am still getting used to these new progressive glasses I got, which for the first week or two made me feel super dizzy, but that’s worn off a bit now. The ground is still a bit blurry but I am noticing that less, I suppose. My sketchbook looks clearer when looking down at it in poor light, such as indoors, while giving me a clearer far sight view. But it’s strange, and makes me feel tired. Everything makes me feel a bit more tired nowadays. I hoped that I’d be running a lot more, but I’ve found it hard to motivate myself there. I’ve been sketching a lot. I’ve been creating a lot of snippets of music, a few chords and a tune taped into the Music Memos app on my phone, the app my now-old phone keeps telling me will go away and I should transfer over to Voice Memos, but I like to keep my guitar chords separate from my random voice notes, plus in Music Memos it can generate a bass line or a drum beat behind it. I have a lot of tunes in my head now though, floating around waiting for me to finish them off, but I prefer a sketchbook of unfinished music than an actual thing. It’s not technically good, in any way, I’m not doing like big complicated riffs, more just a few feelings set inside a few chord changes. It’s how I used to do things when I had my little tape recorder, just recording whatever came out, sometimes it might be interesting, a lot of time just random nothing, and all for my ears only.

trees and fever

February 17, 2024February 16, 2024Leave a comment

On the last day of January I got sick, and stayed home, getting progressively worse. By the first day of February I was laid out in bed with a fever and in no mood for anything. I slept all day long, onyl getting up shortly before two to grab something to eat and catch the news – I saw that Lewis Hamilton had signed for Ferrari? How long was I asleep? That was exciting news, though it wouldn’t happen for another year, so I went back to bed. I did get up shortly before it got dark out, and went for a quick walk on the Greenbelt to get some fresh air. I sketched a tree with the sunset behind it while sat on a bench, drawing in that Nero pencil that I got from one of the symposiums (wait, the last symposium I attended was in 2019?). I like that pencil though, with its thick black texture. The sunset was lovely. I was not feeling lovely, so went home and slipped back into bed.

These trees were an experiment using these Derwent ‘Graphitint’ watercolours that I bought recently, I was really interested in seeing what they could do. I think I like them? I mean I suppose, well no, I don;t like them that much, really. They don’t act like normal watercolours for sure, they do have an interesting texture and yes, feel like they are full of graphite pencil which I suppose they are. This is the view of the back of Covell Commons as seen from the Greenbelt in north Davis. That green rise, that’s beside where me and my son would play with the football when he was much smaller, before he was on soccer teams, we’d go out for a kickaround there setting up a couple of goals, and I’d usually lose. Seems like a long time ago now, but I always think of that patch as our little patch. This isn’t the most accurate sketch, though the day was gloomy with rain coming in and out, so atmospherically it’s accurate enough. I probably won’t be using the Graphitint paints while out urban sketching much but they are interesting enough. I was feeling much better by that Sunday, to the point where my energy was rushing back in, so much so that I could not sleep at night at all, leaving me exhausted the next day.

here comes the sunscreen

January 28, 20243 Comments

I probably should have posted this with my Maui sketches, but it was done after I got back. This is the special mineral-based sunscreen that it’s required to wear in Maui county, particularly if going in the ocean. The other stuff might be alright, but this stuff is supposed to be a lot better for the corals and stuff. I probably didn’t need the SPF 50 stuff, but you can’t be too careful I suppose, and I have had a skin issue in the past couple of years. The SPF 50 stuff is like thick bloody paste though, it’s so white and impossible to wash off, which is I suppose the point. In the evening after I had showered, I did surprise myself that I had a much more silvery stubble than I actually have, but it was just the sunscreen caught in all my bristles, despite a fairly robust scrubbing of the chin. I still think my ear caught a bit of sun, as it was feeling pretty sore on top after a swim in the ocean. I remember back to being a kid, back in the bad old days of the mid-80s, and being the only red-haired freckly one in my immediate family. We went to Spain, and back then what was considered sun protection was like factor 4, or factor 6 if you’re lucky. I wanted factor 10 but I swear everyone was just laughing at me. Half the time there’d be none whatsoever. It was called sun-tan-lotion because it was for exactly that, getting a sun-tan, it was little more than putting butter on before going into the oven. Fine for those whose skin turned brown, but not for the likes of me. When I was ten we went to Spain for the first time, to Ibiza, and I remember a few days in I had already been burnt so badly that I could not move, and had to lie in bed crying my eyes out in absolute agony. Cheers mum and dad! They would have to put that awful smelly calamine lotion on my skin to soothe it. Or natural Greek yoghurt! Yes they would put Greek yogurt on my sunburn. Of course I was always made to feel like some sort of freak for not wanting to go into the sun, and wanting to stay indoors in the shade in the hottest part of the day in Spain (you know, like the Spanish do). I remember a big argument with my mum about it on the second time we were in Ibiza, when I was 11, and I ended up staying in by myself and drawing football shirts, which was totally fine by me. My dad was not red-headed, but he would put practically no sun protection on at all, and then lie outside in the sun until he turned into a lobster. It was a different time wasn’t it, a different generation, and a very British/Irish thing to do. “Aren’t you looking well!” they would say when you came home burnt to a crisp. If you avoided the sun and tried not to get burnt they would laugh at you for being so milky white and say that you wouldn’t know you’d gone to Spain. Different times. Now I, the sun-avoider, live in California of all places! But in California, most people I know avoid the sun and do what they can not to be burnt by it, and they all seem to understand red hair and freckly skin is a lot more sensitive. I still get burnt, if I’m out too long, even with sunscreen and hats and long sleeves. Anyway this was a fun story.

Pa’ia, `Īao, and Up-Country to Haleakalā

January 18, 2024January 18, 2024Leave a comment

It wasn’t all beach time in Maui. I mean it mostly was, plus pool time, plus playing the ukulele looking at the ocean time, plus expensive cocktail time. There was a lot of looking out at the sunset like Luke Skywalker as well. On one of the days though we hired a car and went off on an adventure. Four years ago, we had done the Road to Hana, or at least as much of it as we could fit in in the short December daylight. This time we were going Up Country, but we did stop off in one familiar place, the surfing town of Pa’ia. We were going for lunch at the Pa’ia Fish Market, an evidently popular place with a long line out of the door. While my wife and son lined up, I went a bit further down the street to start a sketch of Tobi’s Shave Ice, where we had been back in 2019. Page 1 of a new sketchbook. I loved their shave ice when we went before, and this time did not disappoint either, when we popped in after lunch and after shopping in the little stores. Pa’ia is an interesting little town, a lot of traffic rolls through though, so it doesn’t feel peaceful. We didn’t go to the beach this time. For the best; while we were getting lunch, a fire truck zoomed through town, and it turns out that a local surfer was killed by a shark out in the waves at about the time we came into town, we heard later on. It was sad news, and the beach was closed off. From Pa’ia we drove uphill and up country. Before we went to Pa’ia though we visited the ʻĪao Valley State Monument in West Maui, a really interesting tropical park with deep green valleys and a dramatic promontory called the ʻĪao Needle (Kūkaʻemoku), which I did a very quick sketch of above in pencil and paint. The needle is said to be a huge phallic representation, whatever that means. The valley has been the burial ground for many big nobs, that is local nobolity and even one of the Hawaiian kings. There was a particularly bloody battle here in 1790 called the Battle of Kepaniwai, between Kamehameha the Great and the Maui army of Kalanikūpule, but Kamehemeha won and the islands were united. It was a really interesting and beautiful place to spend a morning, and covered in a blanket of tropical cloud.

Anyway after we left Pa’ia we were uphill all the way to Haleakalā. We stopped off on the way in a small village called Makawao, where we looked around and found the Maui Cookie Lady. This was a tiny little store, so small only a few people at a time could go in, while everyone else had to wait outside. (That reminded me of the newsagents near my school, which only let two school kids in at a time.) That waiting time gave me a chance to get the sketchbook and brown fountain pen out, and I drew as quickly as I could. Eventually my wife emerged with these two massive, well I say cookies, I thought they were cakes. I was less fussed about eating these massive cookies, but when I finally did eat some the next day, I was blown away. The one I had was some kind of chocolate one, and it was like a mix between a cookie and a brownie, but way better than either. It was one of the most amazing things I’d ever eaten. So if you are in Makawao, look out for the Maui Cookie Lady because she makes seriously amazing (and huge) cookies.

We drove further up, up, up country, getting some dramatic views across Maui, our ears and eyes all popping. Then we hit the clouds, and the sunlight dimmed, and the roads twisted and turned in huge zigzags up the mountain. Eventually, the clouds melted off and we entered Haleakalā National Park. We bought a National Parks Annual Pass, because we definitely intend to visit some more this year. I’ve become quite interested in National Parks, and have collected pins and postcards from each one we’ve been to. Ok in the past few years, so far we’ve visited Arches (Utah), Canyonlands (Utah), Yosemite (California), Petrified Forest (Arizona) Grand Canyon (Arizona), and now Haleakalā (Hawaii). There are many more on the list. We are planning to visit Bryce Canyon and Zion (both Utah) later this year. The day was pushing along fast, but we were only in Haleakalā for one reason – to watch the sunset. A lot of people come to watch the sunrise, but I didn’t much fancy getting up at 3am to drive several hours up a mountain in the dark, and then not get a parking space. Sunset it was, and I have to say, we all agreed it was well worth it, a real once in a lifetime experience. We drove above the sea of fluffy white clouds for a while longer, like this was some floating island in the sky. We reached the crater and went and had a look, but we wanted to make sure we got a seat at the top table so we got back in the car and headed for the summit. Haleakalā – which means ‘House of the Sun’ in Hawaiian – is a giant dormant volcano, and the crater is an impressive sight as the shadows slowly drift across it. Legends say that the grandmother of the Hawaiian heroic demigod Māui was born here. I had to sketch it. There were otherworldly plants called ‘silverswords’ dotted around, a super rare plant that grows nowhere else on the planet except here. It was cold up at the summit, 10,000 feet above sea level, and we had to wrap up warm. There were a lot of people gathered up there, but it wasn’t too bad, there was sunset enough for everyone. I played my ukulele up there above the clouds. This is a sacred place for local people from Maui, and you can see why. There was a local man singing as the sun set, with his own ukulele, singing a local version of ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads’. Across the mountaintop are the space surveillance systems of the Observatory, which you can see in my quick pre-sunset sketch below. It was beautiful.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime sunset. I know the sun goes down every single night and pretty much always has done, but where you watch it from really makes a difference.

Yeah Maui was pretty amazing. Big thumbs up from me.

A Wave from Wailea

January 11, 2024January 11, 2024Leave a comment

Maui No Ka Oi. That mean’s ‘Maui is the Best’, and it is a beautiful place. Looking out at the Pacific Ocean from where we were staying in Wailea, towards the island of Lanai, the barren land of Kaho’olawe, the small volcanic shell of Molokini, over to West Maui which looks like it might be another island but is joined to Maui by a large fertile valley, and beyond to Moloka’i, none of it seems real. We sat and watched one sunset on New Year’s Day, and the range of colours in the domed sky around us made it feel like we were in a giant IMAX dome. Paradise on Earth. Though looking out at West Maui, which I drew above in afternoon light for my final sketch of 2024, it was hard not to think of all those who suffered in those terrible fires back in the summer, especially in the devastated historic capital of Lahaina, just on the other side of that mountain. Even though we’ve seen so much fire in California in recent years, it is hard to imagine when looking at a view like this, but hard not to think about. IT was a poignant New Years Even for Maui, though still celebrated with the fireworks out at see, as it was the last time we were here. We sat on the bluff this time overlooking the beach, watching the fireworks and worrying if it would scare the sea turtles, and I played my ukulele as 2023 sodded off and 2024 waltzed in. We were one of the last in the world to leave 2023 behind, better late than never.

I did most of my sketching in the morning before everyone was up, and in the afternoon when it was nap time, and mostly just went out to sketch the view of the Ocean. I drew in my Moleskine, and also in my little Fabriano Venezia which is lovely for little watercolour sketches, and nice drawing in portrait format for a change. The sketch above was shortly after sunrise. On the morning before, we had gone out in the outrigger canoe to explore the ocean, getting an interesting little tour by our local guides (who were actually from South Africa and Argentina), pointing out all sorts of history and story that we didn’t know about. We didn’t see any whales while we were out there, but there were plenty around, being whale season in Maui. We saw some from a long way off while we were on the beach. We didn’t (thankfully) see any sharks. We did encounter a sea turtle right up close though, swimming alongside our canoe. It was a pretty great experience, and I loved being out on the water.

I drew the sketch above after sunrise on the following day also. I wanted to focus a bit more using the paints and less of the pen. That little boat with the red triangular sail was out there every morning. This was New Year’s Eve, and later that morning I went snorkeling for the first time. I’d never done it before and was a little hesitant; I can float about well enough but am not the strongest swimmer, but my wife got me a good floaty vest so I could do my best with it. About a minute after getting under the water, a big sea turtle swam right up to me, and then passed by slowly, swimming alongside me for a little bit. It was a great experience, though I was nervous to see it at first. I grew up with tortoises, so this was special, but I kept my distance. The honu as they are called in Hawaiian is a protected marine animal. I didn’t see another, but I swam around a lot of very colourful fish in the rocks and corals. Oh dammit, I forgot to make a joke about singing ‘Christmas Corals’, I’ll do that next time.

Above is a quick sketch of Molokini, the little crescent-shaped volcanic crater – sorry, it’s a ‘caldera’ – which is super popular with snorkelers. It’s supposed to be spectacular, though it was used for target practice in World War II (Kaho’olawe itself was bombed to bits during the war and long afterwards as the US military used the island to test its weaponry, and remains unpopulated). It was quite hard to see Molokini, but I brought my binoculars with me.

The next couple of sketches from New Year’s Day were done close together as the sun was getting ready to set. I really wanted to catch the colours of the sunset going into the ocean, with the shining volcanic rocks in the foreground. I drew the one below before the one above, and you can see the change in the colour of the sky in the short space of time. It wasn’t as windy that day, but on one of the afternoons I sat out there by that tree with my ukulele playing hard into the wild Wailea winds as the ocean splashed nearby. It’s a good place to play the ukulele, so relaxing.

And below, my last sketch in Maui by the ocean, another morning looking out at West Maui, a palm tree, well-trimmed vacation resort grass, and a big rock that has a sign on it telling us it had been deposited there on the bluff from the ocean by a huge wave a few decades ago. Call my bluff indeed. I have a bunch of other Maui sketches I couldn’t help drawing from our trip ‘upcountry’, I will post those soon. It was a lovely trip to Maui. The cocktails were a bit expensive, but we got to enjoy them from an infinity pool looking out at the sea. The food was good, although I tried a local ‘Molokai potato and banana curry’ which I thought might be good but was actually gross, here’s your expensive check. The seafood was delicious though, and our dinner and Mai Tais at Monkeypod were incredible. It’s these views though, this is what you come here for. Maui No Ka Oi.

sacramento to kahului (and back)

January 9, 2024January 9, 2024Leave a comment

We flew over the Pacific to the Hawaiian island of Maui just after Christmas, for our festive tropical new year break. That was amazing. We did have to get up super early in the morning to get to the airport and catch our 7am plane, which we did (though Sacramento airport was very busy), and had dramatic skies as the sun was coming up. We flew on a Boeing 737-Max-8, blissfully unaware of the problems that the Max-9 would have a week later when part of one came off shortly after take-off. Yeah let’s not think about that scary situation. As Superman says, flying is still the safest way to travel. Easy for him to say. Still the view was beautiful. I always have to do a bit of drawing when I fly, it helps me relax. Looking out of the window I tried to capture the colours and textures of the sky in my little Fabriano Venezia book.

It’s nearly six hours from Sacramento to Kahului, the main airport on Maui. Maui is a beautiful place, though it has suffered a lot in 2023 with devastating fires, namely the terrifying disaster than befell the historic capital Lahaina. I sketched there in 2019, when we visited on New Year’s Eve. While the buildings were destroyed, the historic Banyan Tree has survived, albeit terribly damaged. We were going to stay in Wailea, where we stayed on that previous trip, on the south-western part of Maui. We flew out with Southwest, and on the way we were able to watch the Tottenham game against Brighton & Hove Albion. Should win that right? We lost 4-2, and we were 4-0 down when we landed, so there was a little bit more Norf London Language than usual on this flight. (We made up for it by beating Bournemouth a few days later, but seriously, we were ravaged by injuries and suspensions).

I have a few Maui sketches to post, I wasn’t going to do a lot of sketching what with being in the ocean and the pool and playing my ukulele by the sea, but you know I can’t help myself. I’ll post those later. Below is the sketch from the flight home, this was the flight on the 737-Max-8 (I can’t remember what the plane was going out there, it wasn’t a Max-8 or 9), and they have a handy little tray that pops down where you can clamp in your phone or iPad to watch things on there, a very handy feature. It would still get sucked out if the window fell off though. I don’t think I watched much, a couple of episodes of ‘Marvel’s What If’, mostly just listened to podcasts and sketched, this time in that brown fountain pen. Buy the time we got home it was raining hard in the Sacramento valley, and a lot colder than the mid-80s of Maui. Happy New Year!

skipper bob

January 7, 2024Leave a comment

This is the ‘Skipper Bob’ tiki mug that I got for my wife for Christmas; it definitely needed sketching. It’s the ‘De Nile’ themed one from Tikiland Trading Co, and in the theme of the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland. We went to a big tiki exhibition at Napa Museum back in September, which was a fascinating history of the classic tiki bars of northern California, especially during the boom of that theme in the 1950s. One of the historic old places in San Francisco was ‘Tiki Bob’s’, which no longer exists although the original pillar with this Tiki Bob face still stands outside the original location near Union Square. The ‘Tiki Bob’ style of mug which originated there has been popular since, so it was good to find one to add to her tiki themed shelf. I don’t think we’ll make the drink that goes with this (too many ingredients, we aren’t really home bar people with all the stuff) but it’s fun to have, and reminiscent of a bit of San Francisco history.