Anyway, I did another. While doing this it gave me time to think, I used another piece of charcoal and started a drawing with vertical straight lines, then naturally I put in a horizontal line, a bit of shade and another vertical line, and so on.

Good god! I was drawing edges of buildings, they looked familiar, it was a scene of about anywhere in London, any “alley way”, or terrace house rear. I was at home. I now had a theme, and caught a feeling. While drawing I realised that from all of London’s billions of chaotically placed bricks, drain pipes, windows, curtains, outside toilet cisterns; like in any established city, there was order. A tranquillity has come from variety of chaos, which over years had found its own order. I have started putting them up on my website now, you can see first four at bottom of my “projects” page on my website www.alecellis.com - these are first, as I mentioned above, but ones I have yet to put up are more intense, and more tranquil. It shows how happy I am with my new discovery, I have already had these four mounted and framed for my wall in studio. I am off up to Sydney next week to take allot of alley way shots, sketch some close views of bricks and drain pipes. The dirtier, uglier, and seedier better.

I love way front of house is a face, yet alley ways, in which people are not expected to venture or observe, nor rears of terrace housing, are given any real attention. Drain pipes, dirty walls, bins, old fencing, little side windows that still retain fifties or even thirties original curtains, curtains that came with house.

A million pieces of chaos come to order... lovely.

I was discussing this very subject with a colleague from work. He actually agreed with points I was making and told me about an argument he had with one of his teachers when he was at school. He had overheard this particular teacher, discussing his sisters previous years examination results, with another teacher. They were being very critical about her, basically saying how badly she had done. My colleague knew how much effort his sister had put in and told teacher as much, stating that in his eyes she had passed every one of those exams.

Whatever you do in life, as long as you try your best, your can do no more.

Stephen Hill

Stephen Hill has a couple of websites at http://www.stutter-stuttering.com and at http://www.lasik-laser-surgery.co.uk.