Serbian tennis star and former World No. 1 Ana Ivanovic lost only 21 games last week at the Aegon Classic in Birmingham to win her first grass court title. The 26 year old won the French Open in 2008 and is currently 11th in the WTA rankings.
Ana signed this quick sketch after her victory in the final at Edgebaston over unseeded Czech Barbora Zahlavova – Strycova. She heads to Wimbledon next week with plenty of confidence to challenge for the title at SW19.
Anne Hathaway is the same height as me, so theoretically that should be a perfect symmetry to get a siggy – no adjusting up or down, straight forward. However, add in the Westfield shopping complex , a gazillion dealers and collectors, and the symmetry plus a few bones can be broken.
For a split second I was in the perfect position at the One Day premiere at the Vue Cinema in August 2011. The 28 year old (as she was then) was happily signing everything – as she does – moving quickly down the line. A moment of symmetry in front of me, but it was no ordered structure. No harmony, no proportion and certainly no balance! She did see the sketch, albeit briefly as a cascade of virgins items arrived waiting for her mark, covering my artwork.
However, a fraction of my A4 paper was exposed and she quickly initialed the sketch. Whether she connected the paper with the drawing is a matter of conjecture. It’s certainly an ‘autograph’ (self writing) but not a common signature (the usual way people sign their name).
I got an ‘A’ and a ‘y’ in the most abbreviated graph I’ve ever seen. Still, it’s the beginning and the end of her name and I was in the middle. Perfect symmetry. As I always say to disappointed collectors who get a hurried scrawl, you need to get variations of the person’s signature to have a balanced collection.
PS – at the Les Misérables premiere I did get a beautiful graph and dedicated in much more convivial surrounds.
Annette O’Toole, the vivacious red-haired American actress, dancer and singer-songwriter, with English, Irish and Bohemian (Czech) ancestry. Described by entertainment website Fandango as having a, “…. teasing allure, with a girl-next-door magnetism that served her impeccably.”
Perhaps best known to a wider audience as Martha Kent in Smallville (2001), the TV series about a young Clark Kent and Superman. She was nominated for an Oscar along with her husband Michael McKean for the Original Song “A Kiss At The End Of The Rainbow, from the film A Mighty Wind in 2004.
This is an example of the patience required for collecting ‘graphs. I mailed it to Annette’s LA agent’s address in late 2008 and received it in 2012 , accompanied by a note “sorry for the delay”.
I’ve had the privilege of meeting the great Ralph Steadman on a number of occasions. One of the three British S’s – Gerald Scarfe and Ronald Searle being the other two – of the satirical drawing trinity. I was strongly influenced by his style and his content – exaggerated, distorted, splattered, sharp, gritty and irreverent. Indeed it was Steadman and Jethro Tull who shaped parts of me during my formative years.
On New Year’s day, 1989 I visited Ralph at his home in the village of Loose, a couple of miles south of Maidstone in Kent. Initially reluctant to have visitors, due to the previous squatters – a couple of Spaniards who camped on his front lawn for an age. I told him I was short, so I would only take up a short amount of time. Three hours later I emerged with reams of notes for my newspaper article, signed books and posters and some great photos. He generously produced some artwork for a New Zealand children’s cancer charity I was involved in.
My wife suggested that I draw Ralph and get him to sign it. I always think it’s kinda weird, sketching artists and getting them to sign your artwork, but they’re entertainers like the others, so why not?
He was attending a Q+A after the screening of his documentary For No Good Reason – narrated by Johnny Depp – at the Curzon Soho in London. Friday night, 6.30pm screening, no other collectors or dealers circling, no dramas.
It must have been a long day… nay, week for Ralph. The Curzon people were also trying to tell me to wait until after the event to ask for an autograph. When I approached him as he arrived I made small talk about previous encounters, blah blah blah. Not a good idea. Skip intros and get straight to the point. Would he sign my sketch? I showed him and he agreed. Find a flat surface.
“Sorry, I’m tired,” he warned. He could remember the day and month, but not the year, hence the correction. As a parting gesture he inked in the pupils of his eyes. How metaphorical. I shook his hand, thanked him and bid him adieu.
Now I only have to get Johnny to ‘graph it.
The slinky Australian cabaret diva and crowd-surfing queen Meow Meow made her Wonderground Kamikaze Festival debut at London’s Southwark Centre last month. Critic Lyn Gardner described her voice “like honeyed cream studded with razor blades… deliciously wayward and smartly funny deconstruction of the traditional female cabaret artist.”
Entitled Feline Intimate, the Festival website states. “expect sexiness, sequins, satire and possibly even the splits.” Meow Meow’s off-stage name, Melissa Madden Gray, won the 2010 Edinburgh International Festival Fringe Prize. She is a regular guest in the Olivier Award Winning La Clique and La Soirée on the West End and created the role of the Maitresse in the musical adaption of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg at the Giegud Theatre in 2011.
The Telegraph’s Charles Spencer gave the Young Vic’s recent production of A View From The Bridge five stars, stating, “this superb production of Arthur Miller’s modern classic, A View From The Bridge is one of the most powerful Miller productions (he) has ever seen.” He was not the only critic to award a five star rating.
The story of Brooklyn longshore man Eddie Carbone’s pride and unhealthy obsession with his niece leads him towards betrayal of his family and his community. Mark Strong, Nicola Walker and Phoebe Fox all excel according to The Guardian.
As Mark put it, “it’s… stark and bare and brutal” on an almost bare stage, similar to a minimalist art gallery. According to Spencer, he plays one of the greatest roles in modern drama, with “raw pain, inarticulate passion and emotional and physical violence. His eyes in Miller’s phrase, really like tunnels, a thousand mile stare of loss, dread and sexual confusion.”
A View From The Bridge finished its season on 7 June 2014.
Athletics star Mohamed “Mo” Farah is targeting a third triple gold at next month’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. The double World and Olympic Champion will make middle distance running history if he wins the 5,000 and 10,000 metre events.
‘The Mobot’, his signature victory celebration, was suggested by TV presenter Clare Balding on James Corden‘s A League of Their Own. It represents the ‘M’ in Mo inspired by the Village People’s YMCA. Virgin Media then promised to donate £2 to the Mo Farah Foundation for every YouTube video uploaded with someone doing The Mobot.
I missed getting Mo to sign my sketch as he passed through Greenwich. Mind you, at the time he was running his first London Marathon, not the most appropriate time to ask for a ‘graph. He was mobbed at the BAFTA TV Awards at Covent Garden, so I missed him there too. I sent it to his London agent and third time lucky…. here it is! Go Mo for the triple!
Tom Conti has always been one of my favourite actors. In fact, I’m not alone. In 2002 he was voted Favourite West End Actor in the last 25 years by a theatregoers’ poll. I had the privilege of working with Tom many years ago when he narrated one of my short animated films.
It was great to briefly catch up again last week. He replaced Martin Shaw as Juror No.8 in the extended run of Twelve Angry Men at the Garrick Theatre which finishes this Saturday (14 June 2014). He signed this sketch after an evening performance.
“So, what’s next?” I asked.
“I’m going to complete my book,” Tom replied.
His debut novel The Doctor was described by the Sunday Express as an ideal ‘Hollywood epic’. He will be appearing at the Borders Book Festival on June 25.
Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine are Britain’s favourite fashionistas. Their cutting comments and no-nonsense approach made them household names during the early noughties. The small screen makeover Queens ‘What Not To Wear’ ran for five seasons with UK viewing figures peaking in 2004 at 7.42million.
They visited the Westfield Shopping Centre in Albany, Auckland, New Zealand in February 2008, where they signed my black biro sketch.
Jeeves & Wooster: Perfect Nonsense continues with a new cast at the Duke of York’s in London.
Robert Webb is the effervescent, aristocratic fool Bertie Wooster, and Mark Heap is his dutiful valet Jeeves, replacing original cast members Stephen Mangan and Matthew Macfadyen. It won the best comedy at this year’s Olivier Awards.
BAFTA winning Robert is one half of the double act Mitchell and Webb, alongside David Mitchell, best known for the successful and long running TV series Peep Show.
Mark is well known to TV audiences as the pompous Dr Alan Statham in Green Wing and a variety of other appearances, including Skins, Hotel Babylon and Miranda.
The Daily Telegraph gave the new cast a four star review, saying, “this production remains as big a hoot as before”. Robert and Mark continue until 28 June.
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