Ashima Bawa's Faves

Ink and paint on paper

THE BOOK from Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day by Ben Loory. "THE WOMAN RETURNS FROM THE STORE WITH AN armload of books. She reads them quickly, one by one, over the course of the next few weeks. But when she opens the last one, the woman frowns in surprise. All the pages in the book are blank. Every single one. The woman takes the book back to the store, but the manager won’t let her return it. Right there on the cover, the manager says, This book has no words and is non-returnable." https://www.instagram.com/p/Cf61DnhO1NL/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Morning flight. https://www.instagram.com/p/CfbuerpOWcP/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Don't bother me. I am reading. https://www.instagram.com/p/CfZvDdtpzfh/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

THE TUNNEL from Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day by Ben Loory. " TWO BOYS ARE WALKING HOME FROM SCHOOL WHEN ONE of them sees a drainpipe set back in the woods. " https://www.instagram.com/p/CgEs7eqOFAz/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

THE WELL from Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day by Ben Loory. "But there is no way up. There is no way up. There is no way up. There is no way up. There is no way up. " #dailydrawing #ink #benloory @benloory #nowayup #well #flyalready

UFO: A LOVE STORY from Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day by Ben Loory. "One night the two are parked down by the lake, when something comes floating in over the water. The something is round, pulsing, and bright. It hovers right over their car." https://www.instagram.com/p/CgjsLi4Ou7u/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

THE HAT from Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day by Ben Loory. "THE YOUNG MAN HAS NEVER BEEN AFRAID OF HATS before.." https://www.instagram.com/p/CgmCFiyu0oH/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

THE SHIELD from Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day by Ben Loory. "And the remembrance of that place seems to spur him on, and suddenly he’s picking up the pace. Suddenly he’s jogging down the middle of the road, and then he breaks into a run. And then he’s running as fast as he can, and it feels like he’s about to take off. By the time the man gets to the cheap side of town, he’s never felt so good in his life. And he blows right by that dingy apartment and off into wide open space." https://www.instagram.com/p/CguFREoucBj/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

THE MARTIAN from Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day by Ben Loory. "The three of them sit down to dinner. Halfway through the soup course, a Martian enters the room. It takes the astronaut’s napkin and lays it across his lap. Then it turns around and walks out. I thought you said you didn’t see any Martians, says the woman. Not on the moon, says the astronaut, no." https://www.instagram.com/p/CgwTsoXOVln/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

https://www.instagram.com/p/Ch2WzyDLoeq/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link The futility of cages.

THE LITTLE GIRL AND THE BALLOON by Ben Loory. "That night the mother had a terrible dream. In the dream, Annie was a balloon. She floated up out of her bed and through the open window and away across the sky toward the moon." https://www.instagram.com/p/CgzLv_COUat/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

The Gloomy Mood of Ah Mei on a Sunny Day from Dialogues in Paradise by Can Xue. Da-Gou is playing with firecrackers at the other side of the yard. He inserts one into a hole in the tree and sticks out his big hips as he bends over to light it. His bottom is huge, like his father's. "Hey," I call. "Are you crazy? Can't you stop shooting those things?" https://www.instagram.com/p/CiLF34POeB-/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Four eyes are just better. Everyone can see.

Skylight from Dialogues in Paradise by Can Xue. The light shrank back into two dots. A dark shadow brushed by, a clumsy night bird that shrieked and swooped toward the skylight, its huge wings tapping the roof fiercely, echoing like thunder.

Dream of the Yellow Chrysanthemum from Dialogues in Paradise by Can Xue. I was hiding behind the window aiming my air gun at a squirrel on a roof in the distance. I had been taking aim for two hours. But when I finally shot, full of confidence, the steel pellet zinged right into Old Jiang's arm. God knows why I lost my mind at the crucial moment, I was born with the impulsive personality. Immediately he jumped up and dashed into the room, shouting, "Murder! Murder!" I was totally embarrassed.

Dialogues in Paradise (one)by Can Xue. The tree was full of tiny bells. When the bells sparkled, they jingled in splendor. I moved my left toe and heard the wind outside the door blowing away somebody's garbage can. It is always the god-damned south wind.

The Grandpa Knee from Rooster's Wife by Russell Edson An old man who was old enough to be his own grandfather said to himself, Grandpa, may I sit on your knee? And replied, Sit on your own knee, you're old enough to be your own grandpa. https://www.instagram.com/p/Cj0e-8FOTPX/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

The Jack Story from Rooster's Wife by Russell Edson. There was the Jack of the beanstalk story, and a Jack Sprat who could eat no fat. And there was Jack-in-a-box who used to spring out of a box for no reason at all. And Jack who broke his crown fetching water with a certain Jill. Not to forget little Jack Horner, or the jack who jumped over a candlestick... Theirs is a club of Jacks. https://www.instagram.com/p/CjniuMsuDWM/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Paint and paper

Ink, charcoal and carbon pencil on paper