Bravery in Brooklands

I'm still a complete and utter wimpy coward when it comes to sketching when there are people about; it is  ridiculously restrictive being so stupidly self conscious. But there you go, what can you do; until someone finally gets around  to inventing that invisibly cloak I'm scuppered. Luckily for me, I have two brave sketching daughters and a totally unbothered unabashed arty sister, and when any of them are around, I love the chance to pack up the paints and head out with them.

The above mentioned sister and I were all set for enthusiastic outdoor stuff, but the morning was really foul, so we did a quick detour to Brooklands Museum instead. It had the merit of being indoors, but the  downside of being full of scarily complex machinery.

A wonky warm--up sketch did not fill me with enthusiasm and I really wanted to slink off home. But Sal ( the sister) had settled in for a long pencil examination of an impressively shiny car bonnet, I had to do something; I sat facing this thing and prepared to be flummoxed. 

I squinted, sighed, carped and cursed, but eventually something sort of appeared - yeah it's  a bit blobby, but it looks like a car, even dare I say it, like the car I was sat before, so that'll do me. 

Sal was still battling with reflections when I finished, so I sat on the floor by some motorbikes, in a great position to listen in to everyone's conversations while feigning deep concentration. Half-term kids were asking half--term Granddads questions. I must have heard at least four different explanations of who Lawrence of Arabia was, and I'm not entirely sure any of them were quite accurate.  'Famous chap who had a motorbike' was one chap's attempt, I suppose you can't really argue with that.

None of these is Lawrences bike, that was a Brough Superior - it was beside me, utterly gorgeous, but way too shiny to attempt to sketch, unless you are a fearless arty sister.