TIM BAKER

So I turned 50 and a friend gave me a Rubber Duck Neon t-shirt for my birthday, and I felt with a Duckie Day + Night (2pm-2am) coming up at the Eagle shortly after (they were shunted from the Royal Vauxhall Tavern back in July) I decided to make it’s debut there (well second debut, I wore it on my actual birthday with my Wicker Man tshirt which was 1st of May 1973, so near enough).

I hadn’t been to the Duckie at the Eagle, I’d meant to, but certain things (money, health) had stopped me. The space is lovely – Eagle has done a lot of work since I was there last, especially in the garden – and I although I miss Duckie at the RVT, it feels like maybe a better match for what Duckie is good at. Namely being access for all so there were queer elders and people in wheelchairs and much more diversity on show – and also the crafty/fun stuff they used to do a lot more of in the early days but lack of space stopped them.

So not only did I come to dance, I also came to art! As it was a day and night event, I brought my A5 sketchbook, my pens (dumbly not my water bottle which came to bite me later).

After I arrived I settled in the garden and drew the palm trees. Not many opportunities to draw palm trees, and fascinated how they were against the painted wall and the stools in front which I didn’t get to draw.

As it was still quiet and the music was good but it was a gloriously sunny day, I could pass out so went out for a few hours and explored Vauxhall.

The part I usually go to on the river has been shut off due to works in front of the MI5 building and on the other side, so I went the other way to see if I could walk back cos the Thames Path at Vauxhall Bridge was blocked on that side, and didn’t fancy the horror of the massive square blocks of the new developments around Nine Elms.

I have been there, but bar the small marina, it’s pretty soulless, reminding me of Chelsea Harbour in the 90’s.

So I ended up on Albert Embankment, not an area I’ve spent much time in – and found I couldn’t walk back anyway. I was just starting thinking I had to stand using the wall as an easel, and some tourists taking photos of each other on one of the old cast-iron ended benches left and I swooped. So I had a grandstand view and a bench!

So I did a drawing of the view from the bench but gave the Houses of Parliament the respect they deserve – i.e. none. They looked like bundles of sticks to me, so hence I drew them like that and called the piece that. I was more interested in the ornate cast iron lamp post, the crane and the London Eye than any of that mess. The Hero 395 pen tends to blob and ‘burp’ ink in heat, but when you’ve got the ornate Victoriana of that lamp, it’s perfect.

Talking of ornate cast iron, I also drew the Ancient Egyptian style bench endings, shaped not like a mythical creature like a sphinx or griffon but a swan. Love the artistry in this, as someone who has drawn real life swans, I can see they really studied swans to do this.

Sadly my water brush ran out during that piece, and not the first time that night that water became an issue. I went back to Duckie and it was rather more busy and Reader’s Wifes were on and started dancing….Later I saw some painting in the corner, turns out it was Self Portraits with Jane Suck, and I did one – this is just five minutes and there was only two colours (red and green) left so I did a self portrait as the green man – as it was a few days before May Day.

So what was supposed to be a club day ended up a really creative art day as well! I had a really good kebab – but sadly without a water bottle, got rather wet trying to drink from the bottle fountain in Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens. I do think those refill stations are a massive step forward, but they still need a bottle…the older idea of water fountains were better for the environment cos if there are enough, you need no bottle at all.

And I even drew an abstract on the bus back, despite being on the top deck! It is possible, if a little chaotic.