Like Wish you were here, this series of postcard-sized drawings was inspired by the HB Drawing project As I Walked Out, where we took day-trips by train to a destination chosen by chance. You can read more about it here.

Sometimes a splash of colour would catch my eye. Over the past few months, during the CoVid19 lockdown, I needed that reminder of happier days: outings with friends, the freedom to travel where you liked, to spend time how you liked and to take in what surrounds us everyday.

The title comes from lines from The Madwoman of Chaillot  by Jean Giraudoux:

Sadness flies on the wings of the morning and out of the heart of darkness comes the light.

Joseph Conrad drew on the same lines for the title of his novel Heart of Darkness, but I wanted these works to draw attention to the lightness, the pleasure that can be found anywhere and that is always waiting for us to find it.

I framed them in pairs, like a short story.

Please click on an image to expand it.

‘yellow flowers, Woolwich’ 2020: coloured pencil; 20cm x 15cm

‘footpath sign, Mucking Creek’ 2020: coloured pencil; 20cm x 15cm

‘yellow flowers, Woolwich and footpath sign, Mucking Creek’ 2020: coloured pencil; each drawing 20cm x 15cm; framed diptych 58cm x 28cm

‘red pedalo, High Wycombe’ 2020: coloured pencil; 20cm x 15cm

‘gravel path, Eltham’ 2020: coloured pencil; 20cm x 15cm

‘pedalo, High Wycombe and gravel path, Eltham’ 2020: coloured pencil; each drawing 20cm x 15cm; framed diptych 58cm x 28cm

‘yellow flats, Trinity Buoy Wharf’ 2020: coloured pencil; 20cm x 15cm

‘flags, Trinity Buoy Wharf’ 2020: coloured pencil; 20cm x 15cm

‘yellow flats and flags, Trinity Buoy Wharf’ 2020: coloured pencil; each drawing 20cm x 15cm; framed diptych 58cm x 28cm

‘orange capstan, Trinity Buoy Wharf’ 2020′: coloured pencil; 20cm x 15cm

‘dead flowers, West Drayton’ 2020: coloured pencil; 20cm x 15cm

‘orange capstan, Trinity Buoy Wharf and dead flowers, West Drayton’ 2020: coloured pencil; each drawing 20cm x 15cm; framed diptych 58cm x 28cm