Even though I had three nights in Bathurst I didn’t have a lot of time to sketch there. But what I saw I liked a lot! So it’s a city that I definitely want to return to.

Lots to share today… so let’s get going.

Arriving in Bathurst (Thursday late afternoon)

The first thing we did on arrival in Bathurst after our day at Mayfield Gardens (around 4pm in the afternoon) was to go to the station so Chris could sort out her train ride home. Just opposite the station was this magnificent old flour mill – Tremains Mill.

Oh! I had so much fun doing this – great volumes and strong lighting/shadow shapes. Funny that the paper didn’t bother me at all for this sketch!

We returned to the location the next morning and the adjacent terrace house was gorgeous in morning light.

BTW so many buildings in my sojourn so far have been painted in a Naples Yellow colour.

Sheep Farm

Chris got an invitation from friends – Georgina and Lloyd – to visit their sheep farm which is located a 25-minute drive south of Bathurst – near Tarana. Of course I was keen for it!

We had a good view of the sheep (and lambs!) near the dam on the drive in – so cute! We had the intention to sketch them later.

On arrival Georgie gave me a cup of tea in a Royal Doulton china cup! Oh – so special.

I also drew a map of their property later that day.

We were told that they had ruins of 100 year old mining works on their property – processing Molybdenum (Element 42 on the periodic table) which was mined over the hill. Would we like to sketch the ruins? Yes! absolutely!

This photo (of a special mug) is for my nephew – if you don’t know the significance plus refer here for more.

To get there we had a fun but bumpy ride on the back of the truck (sitting down in the tray on the way there, standing up on the way back).

And BTW it was another beautiful day – and warm at about 20C!

Another truck view!

Here is an overall photo of the ruins. BTW when white settlement in your country only began a little over 200 years ago, 100 year old ruins are ‘old’.

Oh! look here is a rare photo of me carrying my gear – which includes a stool as well as my back joy (more here). I find the Backjoy more comfortable but if I’m not walking too far have been taking my stool as well. (The benefits of a road trip – everything is the car!)

I did three quick sketches (probably about 10 minutes each?) to capture different views. Lloyd did a great job of explaining everything to us!

He picked up a rock to show us a tiny speck of Molybdenum(MO) and then Chris immediately found this fantastic sample (the best Lloyd had ever seen). The MO is the shiny bits.

Next we visited an old cart/dray which was used for the mining. Does anyone know the difference between a cart and a dray? Let me know in the comments.

Here is my finished spread with some notes and a super quick continuous line drawing of the cart.

It was time to leave but we still had to sketch some sheep… sadly they were not still at the dam and too far away! Impossible to draw so we settled for an overall scene of the property.

You would think that sitting on the side of a private driveway would be peaceful… no! Lots of dust when this went past.

Here are two versions of the scene – fighting the paper again!

(BTW I’m really getting used to the paper now – in Week 2 – so it’s all okay!)

Thanks Georgina and Lloyd for a wonderful day!

Back in Bathurst

Two late afternoon sketches (Saturday evening) of the grand Courthouse (by James Barnet) which was sadly under scaffolding and the ANZAC Carillon which was rather topical. (It was Anzac Day (our war Memorial Day) the next day – Sunday.)

This was the last sketch I did with Chris who left the next morning…

The temperature was -1C when I dropped her off at the station. Of course I had to take a photo to record the moment as it’s the coldest temp reading on a car I’ve ever had in Australia.

On Monday morning (after my day of rest) I did a few quick sketches before leaving Bathurst. A number of big churches in the city centre was the feature that struck me the most so I did this quick sketch of the Pressie church from my car.

BTW this is the start of Sketchbook #2. Yes, I filled the first book in 6 days!

Sketching a coffee shop in a shipping container – Doppio – while waiting for my coffee. Even though it was 3C when I left the house there was no breeze. So it felt comfortably warm sitting in the sun at 8am.

I then did a few other quick sketches while waiting for the local art store to open which you will see below…

My final stop in Bathurst was the Gaol (Jail) – Bathurst Correctional Centre – to sketch the gate. It was another building by James Barnet and I really enjoyed doing a grand classical building after more simpler buildings in the last week!

I left Bathurst at 10am so I had a very good final 2.5 hours in the city.

And here are the finished pages (including a preview of where I was headed!)