Sunday 21 February 2016

Brentford

Our next project is going to be 'A Sense Of Place'.  

I've been thinking about it a lot... I would like to base it on an area that always feels like 'my home' (oddly - I only lived there a few years).  I suppose a lot of my formative experiences were made there.  

I found this film which I love - showing Brentford in 1960, in all it's post-industrial scuzzy glory.  The canal and gasworks figure highly, and the flats I remember dominating my school are just being built.  The high street, park, and police station all look just the same, as does the building at the end of Green Dragon Lane with the huge tower.  The details are all there - the tiles on the local pub, the walls and structures.

The place in Glasgow that most reminds me of it is Tradeston, with all the bridges, tunnels and railway arches.  I'm planning to do some drawing there (if it ever stops raining!)

Anyway, enjoy the film.

http://player.bfi.org.uk/film/watch-kingston-college-of-arts-students-union-film-society-what-and-where-is-paradise-brentford-1960s-1960/