Drawing group makes collaborative effort of showing Memphis to world

Published December 15, 2011 in the Commercial Appeal

Drawing in a notebook might seem like a solitary endeavor, but not to the Memphis Urban Sketchers.

The group regularly gathers in a predetermined spot to draw together.

"Urban sketching is drawing on location and capturing what you see from direct observation. It's a way to record what you see while telling a little bit of a story about where you are, who else is there, etc.," explains local artist Elizabeth Alley.

Alley attended a sketching symposium in 2010 organized by the international group Urban Sketchers. The symposium, held in Portland, Ore., was three days of sketching among a group of people. Alley says, "After sketching as a solitary endeavor for most of my life, I wanted to share that feeling of camaraderie and shared interest with others."

Urban Sketchers is an online community and nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering the art of onsite drawing. It was founded two years ago by Gabi Campanario, a Spanish-born journalist and illustrator best known for his award-winning Seattle Times blog and weekly column, Seattle Sketcher.

After seeing an increasing number of people sharing their location drawings in the blogosphere, Campanario started a Flickr group in November 2007 to showcase urban sketches. A year later, he decided to expand the Flickr initiative with a by-invitation group blog where correspondents would commit to posting on a regular basis and sharing the stories behind the sketches.

Alley says people around the world became interested in Campanario's blog, and now there are 30 or more communities around the world with sketch groups.

Inspired by the symposium, Alley decided to found a local chapter of Urban Sketchers in Memphis upon her return.

The Memphis Urban Sketchers meet once a month in a public place, where they draw for a period of time, then gather to look at their collective work.

In choosing sites, Alley usually thinks about places that would be interesting to sketch, such as The Peabody and Elmwood Cemetery, or places that she has always wanted to sketch, like the most recent location for an outing at the corner of Central and Cooper.

"I live close by, so I go through that intersection at least once a day. It is a fascinating place, with three train trestles (one with public art on it), a nursery on one corner, old buildings on another, an old building repurposed into a nice store on another, and on the fourth is the world's busiest Mapco," she says.

Sometimes, as with that outing, they encounter obstacles like the St. Jude Memphis Marathon, which went right through that intersection and made it more difficult for the people attending the sketch group to get in and out. But Alley says that is all part of living in a city and sketching the urban landscape.

Alley, who was recently elected to the board of Urban Sketchers, has big plans for the Memphis chapter. She would like for the group to do both more "event" sketching, as it did when it sketched at the India Fest this year and the Metal Museum's Repair Days last year, and more documenting of Memphis people and places.

"Urban Sketchers has a manifesto, the last part of which is, 'We show the world, one drawing at a time,' and I want us to show more of Memphis, one drawing at a time," she says.

The group has attracted many local artists. Lindsey Overbey has a BFA in painting from the University of Memphis and has lived in Memphis all of her life. She followed Alley's blog, Sketchwork (sketchwork.blogspot.com), for a few years.

"I saw her post about the Urban Sketchers Symposium in Portland, and I thought it sounded awesome," she says. Shortly after that, when she saw on Facebook that Alley was starting a group in Memphis, she knew she wanted to be a part of it.

Now she looks forward to meeting up with a group of local people with the same interest, while also being a part of a global group.

"It's really interesting to see everyone's sketches and how we interpret the same location with our own artistic styles," she says.

Carl Fox, who is a web designer at Hilton Worldwide, says he has always been an artist and is always looking to hone his skills. He follows Alley on Twitter, and when she posted about the Memphis Urban Sketchers meeting at the Memphis Farmers Market in late fall of last year, he decided to go.

"It was a beautiful day. I went, met Elizabeth and the group, and got hooked," he says.

Because Fox is in front of a screen most of the time, he says it is a relief to take in the outside world with other sketchers.

"To feel the environment around me and then to draw what I see is always surprising and usually captures some emotion I experienced in that place," he says. "Being able to share that with others and see the same thing from them is what it's all about. It helps me notice things I'd have missed otherwise."

Mary Jo Karimnia works in a variety of media, including drawing, painting, wire and both traditional and multimedia mosaic. She shows her work regularly at Lisa Kurts Gallery, teaches at Flicker Street Studio and is also an artist in residence at Page Robbins Adult Daycare Center in Collierville, where she does art with dementia clients. Drawing has been a regular practice for her for years.

"When I heard about the Memphis Urban Sketchers, I thought it might be another good, regular excuse to put marks on paper and practice getting in that creative place," she says.

Her favorite outings include sessions at the Downtown Farmers Market and the old Sears building, which she helped organize.

"Urban sketching hones a unique set of skills outside of drawing, like working while someone looks over your shoulder and paring materials down to a carry-able amount," she says. "The regular artists in the group have a wide variety of styles, and all levels are welcome, encouraged and respected."

Alley says each meeting is different and often full of surprises. At the Dixon Gallery and Gardens, the group ran into an artist who was there to see the current exhibit.

"She sat with us, and we had a nice talk about studio habits and what being an artist means," Alley says.

In March, they were due to meet at Court Square, but it was so rainy and cold that they went into the Blue Plate Café and took over one of its big round tables. "We all sketched, and we would talk and then lapse into silence, then talk some more. It was so cozy and fun."

All skill levels are welcome at the meetings. To get started, you just show up with your sketchbook. For the Memphis Urban Sketchers sketch groups (and other Saturday adventures) Alley carries a 5-inch-by-8-inch Moleskine. She uses pencil mostly, some colored pencil, some pen or markers, and occasionally watercolors.

"Basically anything that is portable," she says.

It's a very casual group. The only rule is that you have to let Alley see what you draw. For those who may be feeling shy, Alley also teaches sketchbook classes at Flicker Street Studio.

Alley says, "The purpose of these classes is to get people comfortable with the idea of using a sketchbook, of getting it dirty and allowing it to be an imperfect thing, and getting them used to drawing in front of other people."

Someday, Alley hopes to have a show of the group's work. "The goal to achieving that is to have enough people attending meetings regularly enough that I would feel comfortable putting a show up somewhere."

Upcoming Sketch Groups for 2012

(The meetings are usually at 10 or 11 a.m., depending on the location.)

Jan. 7 -- Memphis Brooks Museum of Art

Feb. 4 -- The Peabody

Mar. 3 -- The riverfront

April 7 -- Memphis Botanic Garden

May 5 -- Beale Street (during but not at Music Festival)

June 2 -- Central Library

July 7 -- Mississippi River Museum (to be confirmed)

Aug 4 -- Young Avenue Deli

Sept. 2 -- Collierville Town Square

Locations for the other monthly meetings are not set yet.

Urban Sketchers Manifesto

1. We draw on location, indoors or out, capturing what we see from direct observation.

2. Our drawings tell the story of our surroundings, the places we live and where we travel.

3. Our drawings are a record of time and place.

4. We are truthful to the scenes we witness.

5. We use any kind of media and cherish our individual styles.

6. We support each other and draw together.

7. We share our drawings online.

8. We show the world, one drawing at a time.

More information

Memphis Urban Sketchers: urbansketchers-memphis.blogspot.com

Urban Sketchers: urbansketchers.org

Flicker Street Sketching Classes: flickerstreetstudio.com

Elizabeth Alley: sketchwork.blogspot.com or urbansketchers-memphis.blogspot.com

Seattle Sketcher by Gabriel Campanario: seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/seattlesketcher