Sketches are odes to the city
A local artist tells us why she loves being found with a sketchbook in hand.
Sometimes beauty is not just found in the eye of the beholder, it can also be found in the many sketchbooks of local artist, Cathy Gatland.
Gatland, who has always been drawn to, and made, art of various kinds can be found sketching all sorts of places in our city and suburbs after she discovered the Urban Sketchers. An international platform she, like many other sketchers like her, have come to really appreciate.
The artist loves spending time in a space that implores her to capture it as best she can, “Sometimes to make an attractive picture, often to record a time, place, event or the people in it. I enjoy looking back at sketches and recalling so much about being there – much more than photos do for me – weather, people, feelings, smells, as you become part of the scene instead of just passing by.”
When her sketching group first went to Braamfontein Cemetery she wasn’t sure she’d like it much, but found it to be a very beautiful, peaceful place. “The light coming through the well-established trees and the shapes of the gravestones were lovely to try and capture,” she said.
On some days when the Emmarentia resident ventures out to sketch, she does so with a compact kit that includes a watercolour palette as well as bag filled with pens, pencils and brushes. She finds watercolour the easiest to use on the move and at times she uses a fountain pen, “My favourite one being a fude pen. That can make both thick bold lines and fine delicate ones. I have a little fold-up stool, water, and a hat, ready to go.”
For her, sketching in a cemetery can be quite peaceful and makes her appreciative of the beauty. With that, it can also be emotional and thoughtful, especially when one reads some of the gravestones and the tragic stories they often tell. Though it is also sad because some of them are smashed and vanadalised.
About 13 years ago she, along with her friend, started Urban Sketchers Johannesburg after they discovered the urban sketching movement and over the years it has grown. So much so that now they are an official chapter of the international main body and were recently awarded a regional grant to hold a mini-symposium in the city come September.
Gatland hoped many would see that everyone, young and old, experienced sketcher/artist or complete beginner, is very welcome to join them and share in this enjoyable and addictive pastime in any location.
“We hope the community enjoys the sketches we do and share online – perhaps sometimes recognise places or events they know or were part of. I also personally love the casual interactions and connections you have with ordinary people out and about, who you’d usually drive past or never come into contact with. You feel part of the community and realise that most people are friendly, interested, and happy to have you around – and if they’re not, they mainly just walk on by or ignore you,” she said.
Details: Facebook, Urban Sketchers Johannesburg or Instagram @urbansketchersjohannesburg
