Hello Everyone,
I hope you have had a good week. This has been a particularly busy time for me. A week with lots going on behind the scenes (all good) plus lots happening on my work table. When there are moments of anxiety, or just needing to decompress, I am so grateful to have my sketchbooks - so let’s start with those this week.
photo: small sketchbook pages
These pages are in an A6 book (the pages are about 14.5cm tall) and yes I am slowly filling the book with abstract collage. I say abstract, but there’s a lot of figurative bits to anchor things, or to remind me of things.
photo: small sketchbook pages
Sketchbooks are for me a place for play but also they are their own artworks - not grand, gallery pieces - though one day, if I had to write a list of ‘last wishes’ it would be to see my sketchbooks displayed in a small(ish) gallery space.
The opportunity for people to flip through my sketchbooks might be a bit problematic - to be honest I don’t trust people generally to simply invite anyone to flip through my books. It feels almost, well, grubby to think about.
No, I would have the books in glass cabinets. I would have the sketchbooks open at my favourite pages, or standing so that you can see glimpses of pages. Years ago I did have something of this experience - a selection of my sketchbooks were included in a group exhibition and they were in a glass case for people to see. It looked good, if I can say so myself. Now I want to find the photographs and report back some time.
photo: sketchbook pages (in progress)
Here’s another sketchbook with the pages still in progress- and all I have done here is add two sketches to the pages - but I want to develop these pages more. Sometimes I might layer up and then add any main image, but here I want to do something more akin to framing. I made these sketches separately as a warm-up to the tiny portraits I have painted in the past few days…
Which leads me on to show you - new tiny portraits.
After taking a break from painting on this, my tiny size of 88mm x 56mm (about the size of a bridge playing card) here I am back again, happily painting tiny. It was good to paint on a larger scale and I won’t stop. But the tiny’s were calling for attention.
So I have six new tiny portraits
Shop News
I will update my shop today at 7pm UK time with a selection of tiny portraits - you can preview them all now. Thanks always for your interest.
My next update after this will be: Wednesday 24th September - a selection of new drawings / monoprint artworks.
Just a reminder for US customers: yes, I am able to sell to you again, thank you. I am happy to send my artwork to you - and you will not have to pay any additional fees on receipt of your package.
**
Poetry
This week I am sharing with you a selection of small poems. I have been inspired recently by reading Stevie Smith and other favourites. Also, autumn is a time of year when I feel a natural inclination toward writing snippets in a poem form - something to do with the reflective mood, the proclivity of ghosts, the finding a moment to write… I keep several notebooks. Sometimes a poem can inspire a drawing, sometimes a drawing inspires a poem. I don’t often think of illustrating my poems - but now and then think I might. Then I type up the poems. They seem to be ever-evolving. The first two are ghost-themed.
Stamped Addressed Envelope
My prettiest ghost asks:
What's a stamped addressed envelope?
So I tell her: it’s what you arrived with,
it is how you’ll be sent back.
But I hold her close with no dream
of saying goodbye
regardless of how letter-thin
she might be.
**
2B
Are you running away from me?
the little ghost asks the stub of a pencil
as it rolls off the table.
I can’t believe you were running away from me!
The little ghost laughs, so happy for eternity.
**
Yellow Duster
There are people at the top of the church tower.
I can see them from my kitchen window.
Why are there people at the top of the church tower?
Am I supposed to wave a yellow duster?
I ask my son to come and see:
yes they are there, he says, and walks away.The people wander about the ancient tower
looking out but ignoring my yellow duster. ** Thank you for reading. Here are more smaller sketchbook pages - made very quickly - and inspired by recent writing.
Would anyone be interested in a (free) poetry writing workshop - online? If so, please leave a comment or email me. The theme for this workshop would be: writing for yourself. I am thinking about hosting such a workshop early next year. We shall see. **
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Oh Ma’am, I would be thrilled to be a part of such a class! Why would you not chsrge for it?
I read your three poems to my 93 yesr old mother, who is holding a magnifying glass over her phone doing a Wordle puzzle. She smiled and said, “Oh, she sees the world differently!”
Sorry I forgot to include the link to my shop!
www.cathycullis.bigcartel.com - thank you