Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Fast cars and watercolours

I completed this line drawing this weekend and hope to develop it further in watercolour. Watercolour is a medium that I do work in from time to time and really need more practice with. Years ago when I worked with Tom Greenshields, we would go out in his car and do a little watercolour painting of a variety of scenes. He competently, me, hit and miss. He had an E-type Jaguar which everyone used to envy. Tom's reason for keeping it was that it had a 'lovely little shelf that folds down on the dash' that he could balance his water bottle on when painting from inside the car on damp or cold days.

I was never a car snob, but enjoyed good looking cars, the Jaguar being no exception. I owned several sports cars myself, the first being an MGB convertible here in Newfoundland. It was a perfect little two seater that worked like a charm most of the time. Of course it developed some charms of its own with age. Like the fact that the headlights would come on when you closed the door. I cut my teeth on mechanics with that car too, mastering all sorts of things before my ability dwindled and I let the professionals take over.

In the UK, I had my second MBG, the GT model and that car survived kids and dogs stuffed into the tiny seat behind the front seats and I loved the car. The photo shows my youngest daughter with the car outside my house in England.

That car provided my first excursion into crime.

I stole it.

Well, it was mine at the time, but a soon to be ex husband decided to borrow it and never return it, so in the predawn one morning I 'recovered' it with the help of a tow truck, had all the locks changed on the doors and life went on beautifully with my car. When I finally had to sell it to accomodate growing children and life, even the license plates were profitable. They had a certain letter/number sequence that was wanted by people and a company in London bought the plates from me for 450 pounds sterling. I believe the landlord of a pub in Sussex bought them.

I still rather wish I had that car again...

5 comments:

Mary said...

Interesting Jeanette! You are amazing and I am looking forward to seeing the waterdolor.

"JeanneG" said...

Drats. You took the picture just high enough I can't see the plate. lol I have never had a sports car. I did have a competition orange RoadRimmer car my first couple years of marriage. It was cool and had lots of power too.

Jeanette Jobson said...

Thanks Mary. We all have parts of life that provide interesting memoirs I think.

Jeanne, the number plate was 660 AAA. Everyone should have a sports car at some point in their life. Competition orange RoadRimmmer..you devil you..:)

Anonymous said...

That's the best excuse for owning an E-type I've every heard! Those old MGs were fun weren't they...apart from their annoying habit of breaking down, that is!

Jeanette Jobson said...

That was Tom for you Dave. lol

Yes I loved the MG's but not the bills that went along with them!