Flynn's Beach Rocks from Liz

Our postcard project this year seems to be spluttering along a bit erratically, but to see a colourful rectangle in the postbox is always a thrill. This time it was one of Liz's wonderful  rock-and-beach scenes from her recent holiday at Port Macquarie (fairly recent, as I've taken a while to get to posting this!) I had been thoroughly enjoying seeing her expressive - and different for her - posts from the beach and to have one for my collection is very special. I can just picture Liz sitting here on the sand and concentrating on capturing the wild sea and sky. I love that it is signed with her personal name-stamp that was given to her in Singapore too!

Double Happiness from Liz

I'm always surprised and excited when a postcard arrives from Liz Steel but this time it was double happiness when I opened the envelop to find two!

This is Port Macquarie, Liz's January holiday destination on the coast of New South Wales.  It was painted on Australia Day after a swim.  I hope everyone can see the texture in this clever little painting.  Sketching the sea is a new passion for Liz so hopefully there'll be many more of these.

This Singapore kopitiam (coffee house) was sketched prior to Liz's 'breakthrough' earlier in the year when she started some exciting experiments that resulted in the beautiful textural effects you can see in the first postcard.  After all the fun the artist started having she though this one 'looked very dull'.  If only my sketches were so 'dull'.

Thank you so much Liz, these postcards are both heading for a frame.

Liz sketches in Sydney

I can only apologise to Liz for the late posting here of her card. I received it ages ago but must have popped it in a sketchbook for safe keeping. It was only recently I used the book to find, with great relief, the card inside.

If you're a follower of Liz's Blog I think you might detect a change in her work, a freer, looser use of the watercolour medium.

 I love the direction she's going in and it's great to see the sheer joy she's experiencing coming through in her sketches.

Liz says this card, showing St Thomas, North Sydney, shows her experimenting with distorted perspective and loose brushstrokes.

And I should mention that the sketch was to be completed in under 15 minutes

It's wonderful to have a real Liz Steel in my possession.

http://www.lizsteel.com/

The Art Gallery of New South Wales x Two

It's always interesting seeing the same subject created in different ways. For an artist it's probably one of the best ways of exploring different mediums. 

 

Liz is well know for her wonderful ink and watercolour sketches. Here though she has tried out watercolour alone, followed by what she terms her 'latest craze' marker pens.  I've not tried pens like this but i can imagine they open up a new world in terms of speed.  No hanging around for washes to dry. 

 

Thank you so much for the two sketches Liz!  Both different but both definitely Liz!  I love the stamps too - aren't those fur seals great :o)

 

 

The T2 Tea House in North Ryde, Sydney

This is the famous T2 Tea House in Sydney - scene of many a pen and ink and watercolour sketch by Liz and Borromini

Liz knows how I love drawing interiors - particularly ones where eating and drinking are involved and I was tickled pink to get a sketch of the interior of her favourite tea house in Sydney.

Liz has impeccable perspective as always - even when it comes to shelves of tea and a counter of other goodies. I am so impressed by the writing on the blackboard and I'm hoping there was a little trick involved there with resist maybe?

The T2 Teahouse, North Ryde, Sydney

It was raining when Liz did her sketch so on the reverse I got another of my favourite Liz sketches - what she was eating and drinking.  It looks to me as if Liz was sharing a virtual cream tea with me! :)

I have to apologise to Liz for being extremely late in posting this - it dates from before her recent trips to the Dominican Republic and the USA.  I've got very behind with posting cards received and getting cards sent and am in the middle of a big catch up!

Where to find the T2 Teahouse: Macquarie Shopping Centre, Level 4, Shop 440, Cnr Herring Rd & Waterloo Rd, North Ryde, Sydney, NSW 2113 Australia

Lizard for Borromini / Liz-Art from S.Domingo

Liz spent 3 days at an Urban Sketchers Symposium in the Dominican Republic.

I wish I would have been there too! 

Thank you so much Liz for your colorful July-card. The image shows a warm sunny day in the Caribbian. The nice stamps on the back made me curious to know who this person Dame Melba was. Now I understand the connection with the stamp in the middle... 

Next time downtown Heidelberg I will think of you and her while enjoying the dessert. 

(I hope it is alright using Borromini's wonderful gift for covering the address)

Tea and Victorian Filigree from Australia

I apologise for being so late to show this beautiful final card that I received from Liz Steel already at the beginning of February. The stylish building fits very well to the scent of the High Mountain Oolong tea from Taiwan, served in the most precious cup you can imagine, a real Shelley. It is worth while to check out the Victorian filigree in Sidney, which I never heard of before.

 Thank you Liz for this stylish card!

My card from Liz!

My card arrived from Liz some time ago, I have been so distracted with family issues I haven't posted it until now although it brought me much joy! I don't know how she manages, in a few perfectly placed strokes, to convey such beautiful buildings. Ahhh, I am so glad to study the card so I can try and apply Liz's techniques during my next plein air session! If the building weren't enough on the other side of the card were wonderful friends of BB's, Paddo, Peter-Lewis,Palmer-Portland,Hamish-Edinburgh,Llyr-Wales. Looks like the many friends he has met on his many vacations with Liz. Oh I wish I had the life of this bear! Thanks so much Liz, I love my card, and Jenn does too!

Five things which are important to Liz Steel

Architecture, her religious belief and a cup of tea!

I love this card because it tells me it's been painted by Liz Steel - even if I didn't recognise her very characteristic sketching.

There are three things which are important to Liz Steel.

Liz loves sketching architecture (see Sketching Architecture).  This is the church of St Francis of Assisi in the Paddington area of Sydney.  (The link in the name tells the interesting story of the architecture of this church - just in case Liz doesn't already know it.)

Not a very Australian subject...  Most parish churches in Sydney are simplified English Gothic...so of course the dramatic morning shadow of the main arch caught my eye.

Liz's religious belief is very important to her - and I regard the church as symbolic of that

Liz also believes in the vital importance of a cup of tea - I do love the fact that her cups of tea appear all the time in her sketches and now I've got one of my own!

Finished the card off with a cup of tea - Taylors of Harrogate Earl Grey in a Royal Albert Regency Blue cup + using a surprise gift teapot from Cris in Malaga Spain who I met in Lisbon

Actually - make that four things most important to Liz Steel.  Sketching with friends is also high on her list of very important activities - and it's nice to see this also reflected in her card.  Lisbon was the venue for the 2nd Urban Sketchers Symposium and the link goes to all Liz' posts about sketching in that city.

Borromini looks after this sketch - as per usual

I also loved the Borromini Bear stamp on the rear!  As if any sketch by Liz could be produced without his presence! :)

Duh!  Make that five things which are important to Liz Steel - architecture, her religious belief, a cup of tea, sketching with friends and little Borromini - who's a very well travelled little bear!

PS  Now I've got it I want to know what Liz used for her postcard.  It looks like the ideal surface and weight for painting postcards.

A cup of french Earl Grey with Liz.

For some reason I am drinking much more tea since a few weeks back. It lifts many an eyebrow, because it is unthinkable that I would refuse a coffee for a tea.
"What happened? Are you sick?" Apart from a shoulder shrug and a lifted eyebrow myself, I didn't have an answer. Until I received my card from Liz. It hit me. Of course! It is Liz and her love for a cup of good tea!
For quite time Liz had been sketching these colorful tea scenes around a tea pot, a cup or two and yes...a tasty treat, like once again in this card. Now how does one stay on the right path when seduction is thrown so blatantly in your lap!

Thank you for a lovely tea scene, Liz, and I'm enjoying my cups of tea so much so, that now I'll be on the search for your latest discovery...French Earl Grey. By your hand I am becoming a refined lady!

The October card from Down Under safely arrived

Today I received one of those beautiful postcards from Liz.
I love them because they are drawn in such a spontaneous way and I like the combination of lines and watercolours. At the front of the card there are three terrace houses in Globe. Liz thinks their colour combinations are sometimes rather odd but Liz made the best of it! At the back of the card there is an extra image of a tarte she had bought in a suburb of Petersham. She enjoyed it at home with a nice cup of Earl Grey. Both, the cup and the tarte look extremely three-dimensional. And here again Liz has put some lovely stamps on it. Great! Thanks a lot Liz!

Towers and Tea From Sydney

My turn to receive a card from Liz Steel. Another super combination of architecture and afternoon tea!
I particularly like this side with the Sydney Town Hall tower on it. The unfinished towers in the rear, which i guess are office buildings, give a great insight as to how Liz works.  Basically no hesitancy and no fuss!  I need to try and instill that into my own pen work.

The rear as ever has beautiful stamps and the special one of Borromini.  I met up with Liz while she was in London a few weeks back and we had tea and scones then too. Sadly our tea didn't come in such a brilliant tea pot.  This colour red is lovely!!

Thanks Liz, it's a super card and a wonderful reminder for me too of our afternoon.  I hope you'll make it back to London soon! 

A postcard from Lisbon and London!

I feel very privileged this month to get two postcards for the price of one! On the front, Liz has drawn a view of the Belém Tower in Lisbon, when she was attending the Urban Sketchers Symposium with the equally famous (in the Sketchercise group, at least!) Portugese Tarts in the foreground. There is a lovely balance between the loose and colourful watercolours and the very delicate pen lines.

Later in the month, Liz went to London so on the back is a drawing of St. Pauls with a cup of tea from Fortnum & Mason's tea room in the foreground. The colourful stamps and the lovely handwriting enhance these wonderful, vibrant images. Thank you so much Liz, for this amazing card!

From Liz in Australia to Pat in USA

I received Liz and Borromini Bear's postcard a few days ago and have been trying to figure out the best way of posting the image.  My camera just hasn't done it justice so I am posting it anyway with a disclaimer that...In real life it is much much better.  You will have to come to my house for tea and a rest in the garden to see the real thing though.  It felt so special when my husband handed me the mail saying you will be happy about the mail today.  Sure enough Liz's postcard has put a smile on my face for days.




Having a Cuppa in Nanna's China

Watercolor, ink postcard



  

I love the back of the card with all the wonderful
stamps and of course Liz's perfect handwriting. 





These areas were so wonderful I wanted to highlight them.
Especially the tea cozy keeping Liz's
 tea warm and ready for the second cuppa.



I want to thank you, Liz, for this wonderful addition to my growing collection of precious art from around the world.

Toasty Warm at T2 - from Liz

Though Liz and I are experiencing similiar freezing cold weather on our southern side of the globe, her postcard arrived full of the warmth of her beloved T2 tearoom, a place I think I could walk into and feel perfectly at home after getting to know the cups, teapots, decor and even the menu through Liz's sketches. She was sitting next to a South African man as she sipped her delicious sounding tea - "a green oolong base swathed in sublime notes of nougat & almonds to warm the coolest of nights." (and boy, are we having the coolest of nights!) and sketched this card. I love seeing close up her confident lines and washes, and on the other side her amazing architect's handwriting plus the famous Borromini Bear stamp.

I'm so looking forward to meeting them both, and seeing lots more sketches, when we join the Urban Sketchers in Lisbon next month!

Gallery-May postcards

The round-up of our May postcards.

Oolong Berry Tea and BB's Stamp!

How wonderful it is to receive a "real card" from an artist whose work you've admired but only seen online. Photos can't make up for actually being able to hold her card and of seeing up close how Liz uses pen and watercolour in her own personal style to record her much loved tea and scones. I am full of admiration for her drawing skills, her vibrant colours and the way she composes her sketches and makes the whole tea drinking experience one I wish I was participating in. One day please Liz - if I ever go to Sydney !!

Liz has seemingly tried 57 T2 teas and has only 89 to go!! This one is a new tea Oolong Berry described as "Raspberries combined with green oolong and intense yet delicately flavoured". Who could resist that - especially served in these beautiful teacups - shared with her friend after a rainy day's sketching in a Tearoom called Cockatoo Island.

And I'm now the proud owner of one of BB's stamps.

A crazy day in Sydney

I’ve received this incredible annotated map of a day in the life of Liz Steel. It makes me feel like a complete slacker, but I love this postcard! Here’s her numbered guide to the whole extravaganza:

1. walk south along/across the Sydney Harbour bridge

2. visit Tara Tearoom with sketching buddy Alissa

3. walk past the building I intend to draw and take photo as the sun is in the right location, then walk through the city to get to the gardens for Sketchabout Week I – after great time sketching and afternoon tea with 8 fellow sketchers, leave garden

4. walk around circular quay, dodge tourists

5. sketch for you (that would be me!) looking into the sun

6. too late for Parker’s Art Store this week

7. back across the bridge, including sketch

Liz describes it as an unusually crazy day, but if you follow her blog, you will know she does this sort of thing ALL THE TIME!

Sidney Harbour Bridge - my February postcard from Liz Steel

Sidney Harbour Bridge and Borromini Bear stamps, postcard from Liz Steel

The postcard from Liz dropped through the letterbox and it's absolutely delightful - Borromini's cheerful face peers out from the stamp - what a fantastic idea!

There is a lovely loose but beautifully observed view of the bridge and opera house - an iconic Australian scene :>)

Such beautiful writing too.

And of course there is talk of cosy cafes and Earl Grey :>)

Gorgeous - and thank you Liz.

High Tea with Liz Steel

This gorgeous postcard is iconic because it is impossible to have a cup of tea without thinking of Liz Steel and her beautiful sketches from tea shops around the world. Now I have one of these to treasure myself and it is particularly special because it was sketched on location in the T2 Teahouse at the Macquarie Centre in my home town, Sydney.

The envelope is a prize in itself with its genuine Australian postage stamp featuring none other than the famous little Borromini Bear.

Thank you, Liz I love my postcard.