Urban Sketch

123-3571 – Flight of the langoustine

Image | | Art-Chap-Enjoin

On our first day in Hove we went for a nice long walk into Brighton. It was roasting hot and sunny – so we stopped several times to rest (also avoiding the little Victorian cast-iron shelters which although lovely shaded spots, mostly smelt of urine and were clearly sadly occupied regularly by rough sleepers).

In the background of this sketch is a circus and the famous beach huts, with a sculpture in the foreground (as per the title of this sketch) by Pierre Diamantopoulo. It is inspired by a broken lobster pot found on the beach, with the sea creatures that escaped translating into a human story of exodus …dashing for freedom.

Tue-28-Jul-2026

123-3565 – Thistle cottage

Image | | Art-Chap-Enjoin

This day we had a slap up barbecue at my sisters house to celebrate my daughters birthday and belatedly, my wife’s birthday. My sister asked me to sketch her house (Thistle cottage) as a memento for her, as they are hoping to sell it and move soon. I had intended to capture more of the house in my sketch but only managed to include the front door…so a few days later I did a second one.

Fri-24-Jul-2026

123-3564 – Platform one cafe

Image | | Art-Chap-Enjoin

Our eldest daughter’s birthday started with lunch with my mum, followed by a walk in Clare Castle Country Park. We first looked at the castle remains (mostly crumbly old walls), then hiked through the park and into very dry farmers fields where our daughters stopped every few steps for photograph bugs and weeds….so only after a quarter of our planned route we took a detour (not hacking across a farmers fields as I proposed), sticking to a bridle path and back into the village along a road. We stopped at this cafe which is housed in an old train station for a refreshing drink and then had a take-away Bangladeshi dinner.

Thu-23-Jul-2026