52-Week Illustration Challenge, Week 11

Week 11: Architecture

Watercolours on white acrylic gesso primed canvas sheet, with fine-point, waterproof, black Sharpie outlining, and miniature signage in Word (and further reduced on photocopier). As I was inking in the pencil lines, I decided to do an "architectural caricature" of the building, such as seen in those artistic interpretations in pamphlets, hand-drawn maps and prospectuses.

My third ever serious attempt at watercolour: the Number 96 building, Paddington locale of the hit Australian TV soap opera of the 70s. The actual building, Moncur Flats, is at 83 Moncur Street, Woollahra. I sketched and painted this on Saturday evening, after hearing of the passing of Australian actress Wendy Hughes. First thing I saw her in was Number 96, when she played Lucy Sutcliffe's niece, Vanessa Harrison. She shared a very funny bathtub scene with Arnold Feather. After many wonderful stage and screen adventures, she became one of only a handful of Aussie actors to appear in Star Trek: The Next Generation, as Picard's girlfriend, Nella Daren (below) in Lessons.

R.I.P. Wendy Hughes

Star Trek: the Aussie connection

Today, on TrekBBS, someone asked why none of the Star Trek series or movies featured a ridgie didge Australian character.



However, the poster had forgotten Wendy Hughes (left), aka Lt Cmdr Nella Daren, love interest of Captain Picard in "Lessons" (Star Trek: The Next Generation), is Australian, albeit without a strong accent. Born in Melbourne, Ms Hughes speaks (in most of her many TV, stage and movie roles Down Under, such as Lucy Sutcliffe's niece, Vanessa Harrison, on Number 96) with very cultivated English pronunciations, similar to many Aussie actresses working in Australia in the 70s. So, anyway, there's at least one Australian Starfleet officer.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Liam Bilby ("Honor Among Thieves") is also played by an Australian, Nick Tate (right), previously of Space: 1999 fame - and Holiday Island infamy! Since Bilby and his family reside at the New Sydney Colony - and a bilby is an Australian marsupial - I assume his character is also supposed to be of Australian origin (despite his American accent).

Tate was also a shuttle pilot called Dirgo on TNG ("Final Mission"), but that character is an early Michael Westmore humanoid "forehead alien". Bilby in DS9, though, definitely pays homage to Nick's human Aussie roots.

These two actors are certainly not the only Aussies to have worked on Star Trek, but Dame Judith Anderson (as Vulcan High Priestess T'Lar on ST III) and ex-Neighbours' Alan Dale (as Romulan Praetor Hiren in "Nemesis") both appeared on the silver screen in pointed latex ears!

Onya guys!