Urban Sketchers Fleurieu: The story of our guests that become part of the family

Mark and his friends and family have joined us at a number of our venues and classes and he is local to the Fleurieu which we love. When this happens we are privileged to share and learn more about their journey on the Fleurieu. Mark doesn’t just love food, he is a passionate artist as well.

This is the story of Urban Sketchers Fleurieu, the people who draw the Fleurieu as it is.

It started at our bench. Mark has come to four of our classes, and along the way he gave Jackie a Fleurieu sketcher badge. She wears it on her apron, and it is how we came to know his group. We have always felt that we meet and connect to the stories of the Fleurieu through our local guests, the people who roll pasta and share lunch with us. This is one of those stories, and it belongs to them far more than to us.

What is urban sketching, and who are the Fleurieu sketchers?

Urban sketching is drawing on location, from whatever is in front of you. The worldwide community behind the name, Urban Sketchers, brings together people around the world who draw the places where they live and the places they visit. It began on Flickr in 2007 with journalist Gabriel Campanero and became a nonprofit in 2009. In our own words, its approach comes down to three things: draw on location from direct observation, tell the story of your surroundings, and treat each drawing as a record of a time and a place.

Urban Sketchers Fleurieu is the local group. It is a public Facebook group of about 320 members, based at Port Elliot and set up in January 2024, and it says it is a formal chapter of the worldwide Urban Sketchers community. Mark runs it with other admins. Everyone is welcome, whether you have never drawn before or have filled sketchbooks for years, which is exactly how we like our own bench.

The group draws on location, from what is in front of them rather than from photos or memory, and shares the drawings online. Over time their sketchbooks become a record of the Fleurieu at a particular time and place. In 2026 alone they have drawn:

• Saubier House at Port Noarlunga
• Ashbourne
• Middleton main street
• The Armfield slipway and boatshed at Goolwa, in June, the biggest turnout in the group’s short history
• A collectable classic cars and bikes display
• Macclesfield RSL Hall
• Coral and Ocean Streets in Victor Harbor
• Willunga main street

Read that list again and it is a map of the region’s everyday life: halls, main streets, a boatshed, old cars. Nothing staged, just the Fleurieu as it is on a Sunday morning.

How do I join the Yankalilla sketch meet?

The group meets to draw together on the second Sunday of each month at 10am, at a place the admins choose with the members. Invitations go out as Facebook events, so the first step is to join the Urban Sketchers Fleurieu group and watch for the event.

The next Sketch Meet is at Bungala House, 34 Main Street, Yankalilla, on Sunday 8 November 2026 at 10am. It is a historic house near Normanville and one of the places we teach: hibachi steak, sausage making, paella, pizza and native cooking. The South Australian Tourism Commission listing describes an old bakehouse cottage in grounds with ponds, arbours and pathways. That is a lot of rooflines, garden paths and old walls for a sketchbook.

• Join first: become a member of the Facebook group and look for the 8 November event. Not on Facebook? Email the organisers at fleurieu.usg@gmail.com.
• It costs nothing: there is no joining fee and no cost to come along. The only exception is the rare meet at a venue that charges its own entry fee.
• Check the event on the morning: plans can change, and the event page is where the group will say so.
• Come as you are: beginners are welcome, so a lack of confidence is no reason to stay home.

Coming from further away? Normanville is 77 km south of Adelaide, according to the Yankalilla & District Historical Society. The Fleurieu Coast Visitor Centre is at 163 Main South Road, Yankalilla, open weekdays 9am to 5pm, on 08 8558 0240 or 1300 965 842. Check its site for weekend hours before you rely on them.

Where to eat, swim and learn the story of Normanville and Yankalilla

We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land where we cook and where the sketchers will gather, and we pay our respects to their Elders past and present.

The Yankalilla & District Historical Society tells the settler story of Normanville: Robert Norman was granted the land in 1840 and divided it into town blocks around 1850. The first jetty was built between 1853 and 1856, the town was declared a port called Port Yankalilla in 1865, and shipping fell away by the late 1870s. It is worth reading before you sit down to draw, because a street looks different once you know its story.

After the meet, walk down to Normanville Beach. Beaches, birdlife and wildlife are what bring most people to this stretch of coast. The Normanville Surf Life Saving Club patrol season starts in early November and ends at Easter. In the 2023 to 2024 season, patrols ran 1pm to 5pm on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, and 1pm to 6pm in January, so check this season’s times on the club’s page. The club building also houses a commercial café and kiosk.

Why drawing a place slowly sits so well beside cooking together

A sketch cannot be rushed, and neither can a good dough. You stand still, you look, you notice the line of a verandah or the way the light sits on a tin roof, and the place starts telling you things a quick photo never would. It is the same thing that happens at our bench when a guest’s hands finally feel the dough come together. Slow attention turns a town into a story you carry home.

That is why the sketchers feel like kindred spirits. They draw the Fleurieu, we cook it, and both of us end up knowing it better. There are seats at Lot 50, 64 Main Street, Yankalilla, a community venue that seats 24 for pasta and dumplings. Mastering Gnocchi from Scratch on Sunday 6 December at 11:00 has 16 seats left and The Ultimate Dumpling Making Experience on Sunday 13 December at 11:00 has 7, both $125 per person.

Closest to the meet is Pasta like Nonna Makes at Lot 50 on Sunday 1 November at 11:00, $125 per person, with 8 seats left. Spend one Sunday with flour on your hands and the next with a pen in them, and you will know this corner of the coast the way locals do. Book your spot, and bring your sketchbook to the table if you like: there is a seat at our bench waiting for you.