Art - almost

Now that A has his keyboard hobby, I’ve been on the lookout for something I can do while he’s twiddling his knobs and thunking his keys. One of my mother’s friends that we met last week is an artist and we got to talking, me eventually despairing of ever being able to create anything on paper as I had the drawing talent of a cat. But Lynne wouldn’t have that and said that everyone could learn, you just needed to put a bit of effort into it. So there’s me, back in the UK and hammering Amazon for sketch pads, pencils and ‘how to draw’ books. They turned up, I set to, and the cat would have used the paper more artistically. I was doing nothing more than scribbling. It was risible. It wasn’t even very good scribbling. So there came that Rubicon moment of, Shall I just give this up as a bad idea and say no more about it, or, Shall I buck my bloody ideas up and take some time and care and do it properly?

Well, unusually for me I opted for the latter and I have to say that I’m delighted I did. My most recent efforts have actually been recognisable as something and I’m enjoying sussing out all the various techniques you can use. I don’t think the Royal Academy will come calling any time soon but I’m having fun, which is the main thing. And I could always try my hand at installation art a la Tracey Emin. How about Dog Beds, a unique construction illustrating a dog’s complex relationship with a stinky pillow smeared with peanut butter? At ten grand, it’s a steal....