Fixing life by drawing

This poem that appeared in Saturday 2nd May Guardian makes me want to find a Chinese bowl and some persimmons to draw. The message is so in keeping with the attitude I have about drawing as a way of fixing something... similar to what my friend Jeni Smith says about keeping a journal. What do you think?

Persimmons

(for Tom)

you must've


loved
those three globes of gorgeous orange


dense and glowing in our winter kitchen


enough


to put coloured-pencil and biro to the


reddest page left in your rainbow sketchbook


and make this drawing of


three persimmons in that Chinese bowl.

the supermarket flagged them up as


this season's sharon fruit


but we prefer persimmon (for


didn't it seem the rose of


their other name


would neither taste or sound as sweet,


would be a fruit of quite


another colour?)

such strange fruit ... we bit and ate,


enjoyed.


before we did you drew them.


- oh you'd say so what ?


(drawing, to you, is as everyday as apples)


but I know


they'd have come and gone like Christmas


if you'd not put them down


and made them worth more than the paper


they're inscibed on - see


those deft strokes of


aquamarine and white that


make our table-top lie flat, the fruits


plump out real and round and 


perfectly persimmon-coloured


upon their lilac shadows in the bowl's deep-


still life


still life, sweetheart,
in what's already eaten and done with.

now, looking, I can taste again.


Liz Lochhead

In terms of drawing I haven't made enough space to do it regularly (again). Last night I was particularly tired but caught a glimpse of these three swans that my mother (rather tongue in cheek) collected for me because I wanted to bring an object back with me from my trip that I took there - to celebrate/commemorate/remind me. Swans are what I observed most, so it seemed to be the obvious reminder.

I include the sketch as an invitation to everyone to send us more examples of what you are creating. It is the sort of thing I would probably tear out of my sketch book so I wouldn't have to look at it any more... but something is better than nothing and who knows where it will lead?

Objects in other settings

Two of my objects traveled with me to West Sussex and Dartmoor last week. I wondered about what I would learn from taking them on holiday. In both of the places we stayed I found an object which seemed to be a companion piece to my blue and gold demitasse. In Sackville house on the windowsill of the smoky dining room was the pitcher above.  I placed my demitasse beside it and was amazed by the repetition of form and colour.

Again at Higher Lettaford (this time in my bedroom), I found a parent(?) Another jug, a guide to the National Park and our precious game of flummoxed created a credible still life.

My other object was the inkwell. Perhaps its presence had a subtle impact too...  Freddie has taken to pen and ink!  And I have some ideas for how to use his images, and the inkwell in the future.

traveling and objects

We have been traveling and Freddie (age 8) has been working in pen and ink to capture life in England. He is visiting from California and his picasa website has wonderful detailed drawings of lego characters.  Now using a quill pen, Freddie has directed his keen observational skills to find the essence of subjects he finds interesting. The addition of watercolour adds another dimension to what he has found on the kitchen table.

Dominic's portrait

Dominic shared a portrait he has been working on.  The relationship between people and objects could add an exciting dimension.  Figgy's vanity table objects conjure up a different scenario to Freddie's lego people.  Mmm. Another direction to explore!

Bulbs and other stuff

I had this idea that I would project an image of an object that one of you sent me and incorporate it in an arrangement of some of my own objects.  But it was  typical weekend day and time was at a premium, so I opted for an arrangement that already exists.  This profusion of stuff is more indicative of my life and my house than last week's drawing.  There is little stillness around here.  

Finding my way in the chaos of colour, movement, shape and object was a challenge and it had to fit in with renovating a willow hedge, doing the laundry, the ironing, a trip to Ipswich, not to mention breakfast, lunch and dinner and all that cleaning up. This isn't the final version.  I have put a bit of lavender on the left of the yellow ginger jar to suggest a different edge, and to the left  of the banana is lighter and bluer and more interesting.

Less clutter when I draw again next, I think. When will that be?  

2face and layers

Queenie saw Freddie's drawings on his picasa site and incorporated 2face in her image.  She is experimenting with layers.  That makes me want to incorporate other people's objects alongside my own in my drawing.  I will play with that idea this weekend...

Freddie's objects

Freddie has chosen lego pieces as his objects.  You can see them on his picasa site. There are some other fabulous drawings of Mario, Luigi, Harry Potter, Mut Williams and 2 Face.