evil empire

Three sketches in conte crayon on black paper started outside and finished at home, stimulated by the recent life drawings of Rosie Scribblah.

Here are the original sketches, the first from my bike on the footbridge over the ford by the watermill, the other two on foot while my dog sat patiently by.

These drawings are a small respite, but with a pandemic uncontrolled by active choice of those with power, democracy devalued and the world moving to the tipping point for massive climate change, there seems small comfort in art. We are on the brink of knowing whether democracy can have a small win against careless self-serving misgovernment, a little step towards the next struggle, or whether the full force of devastation and destruction is to be unleashed on us at this time.

Make up

On a Saturday afternoon … what to do?

Make up your face as Coraline’s other mother

Skull mask, button eyes

The Beldam.

Enough just to be itself

Kerfe (method two madness) says “I like that you create a world that exists outside of humanity here. Serene. Enough just to be itself”.

I had not thought before that was what I was doing, but, this time, I cycled out to the woods in the nature reserve with that thought in mind.

Night was falling as I drew.

There is poetry in the rhythm of the trees. The poetry I am reading treasures the moments of warmth against the oncoming darkness.

No rant today

No rant today

And not many pictures

Just charcoal and water

Within the limits of a dog’s patience