Calle El Conde

Calle El Conde, the main pedestrian shopping street in the Colonial Zone of Santo Domingo, is interesting not only for its colourful shops and its even more colourful street characters but for the row of ornate street lamps that run down the centre of it way into the distance. Today I also included a photo that my Australian friend and symposium instructor Liz Steel sent me. It’s a remarkable image that I wanted to include because it captures a rare event! That’s me cutting a sketch out of one of my books — a sacrilege in sketchbook circles. The setting was the final night of the symposium, a night where close to 100 sketchers from around the world exhibited their work on long tables, bid on works in a silent auction, and said their goodbyes. In back of me, smiling his sneaky smile, is Jim Richards — sketcher extraordinaire from Texas. The reason for that smile? He has just successfully dared me to cut a sketch out of my book and donate it to the auction (all proceeds going to fund scholarship students for next year’s event). The drawing is the banana seller and his buddies posted on July 13.