A great deal of upheaval in my personal life, including making steps to better my mental health as well as reflecting on changes in my work life (potentially) and also my living situation, have dominated my headspace as of late.
Long story short, Buddha reminding us all to still any madness in life got me to work here as did the obvious itch to get some drawing done!
I grew up drawing and illustrating, but 20+ years later, it hit me with force. I haven't looked back since. These are the first two practice sketches I made when I decided finally that I want to be an artist.
Filling my belly with the remnants of the night prior’s takeaway (almost always on Sunday mornings) before the day job starts is fast becoming a ritual of mine’s lately, hence the name of this one. The joys, eh?
Today’s drawing gets it’s name from something I overheard someone declare at lunch yesterday afternoon. I’ve had kale often enough and yet, I’m not convinced it tastes *entirely* like grass... I could be wrong though. Thoughts?
I keep coming back to this Vice headline I saw and took a screenshot of this time last week, which inspired the title of this piece. Seems like a relevant metaphor to me (and others I know) for so many reasons right now! Thankfully nothing too traumatic in my case...
Reminds me of a Buddhist proverb: Patiently I will bear harsh words as the elephant bears arrows on the battlefield. Words are powerful. They stir emotions. We are the managers of our emotions. It is not what happens to us that is the issue, it is our opinion of what happens to us that is the issue. Peace.
An attempt at organizing my 'why' for making drawing the center of my curriculum, and selling the idea to my students. Suggestions for refinements welcome.
Currently reading ‘Nina Simone’s Gum’ by Warren Ellis at long last. What a phenomenal bit of work this is, and inspiring to boot most importantly as you can see. Thanks for sharing your stories with us all Warren!
Many years back, I watched that documentary ‘The Boy Whose Skin Fell Off’ about a fellow called Jonny Kennedy who lived with the skin condition EB. There’s a bit in that film where he talks about what he hopes his afterlife would be like and, for whatever reason, a couple of coffees as I was re-reading the Wikipedia article about it triggered an idea I had to scribble down...
He was passionate about the idea that art in schools is for the growth and development of children, not about the end product. "Drawing makes the mind", he would say. Froebel, the inventor of kindergarten, is the father of art education in schools. Give kids gifts (art supplies), and occupations (assignments), and watch them grow! Fare well Dr. Baker.
1979’s The Tin Drum is one of those films I’ve been itching to see for a long time, but haven’t got round to yet for some reason. The main character in that film’s played by a guy called David Bennent. Not a household name for most, but you’ve seen Ridley Scott’s Legend, you’ll recognise him when he played Honeythorn Gump, Tom Cruise/Jack’s elfin pal.
Not sure why the idea to name this piece after D.B. occurred to me, but it did!
Apparently, Blixa Bargeld of Einsturzende Neubaten and Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds fame actually did this to his school back when he was a lad! I needed an idea for a convoluted weird-as-they-come title, and after reading that story I knew I had something, heheheh :)
