‘“They’re called frontal lobes”.I laughed but he did not. It was a simple fact, he said, that the brain had evolved in stages and the parts fit together badly. Thinking caused anxiety the way walking upright caused backache. Our ability to remember the past, imagine the future, and use language, all recent acquisitions, did notContinue reading “The Best Minds, by Jonathan Rosen”
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A poem for Nan
To visit you meant eatingsausage rolls and doughnuts,coffee with milk warmed in a pan,expanding (like my waistline) like a comet heated by the sunlike that one we saw in ‘97from your balcony that Saturdaycame round to watch the lotto made a wish, prayed to heavenMystic Meg would make us winners,Never did tell us those numbers.WeContinue reading “A poem for Nan”
I made some connections
The brain really is fascinating. Yesterday (left) I spent hours trying to paint a rose and wondering how on earth anyone could ever do such a thing. I had no patience for details yet couldn’t figure out how to simplify it. Felt very annoyed and just let myself do whatever. After sleep and 1 hourContinue reading “I made some connections”
Nanny Margaret
Margaret Thomas, my lovely Nan, passed away peacefully in the early hours of 19th October 2024, three days before the first birthday on which I’d receive no call from her. “Hiya Fee, it’s only Nan my love.” No, not ‘only’ Nan. Never ‘only’. How did we lose you both in 6 months? How did IContinue reading “Nanny Margaret”
Poems by Fernando Pessoa
(Okay, so I am reading a book of selected poems by Pessoa and aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah all the feeeeels! No other words right now. Might need to write a poem about all the feels!) Portugese Ocean Salt-laden sea, how much of all your saltIs tears of Portugal!For us to cross you, how many sons have keptVigil inContinue reading “Poems by Fernando Pessoa”
Haus of Holbein
Today I visited Six Lives: The Stories of Henry VIII’s Queens at the National Portrait Gallery. Forgot all about real life while in there. These photos of waxworks by Hiroshi Sugimoto gave me chills! Many Holbein portraits of course, as well as delightful ink drawings of designs for cups and pendants. An early 16th centuryContinue reading “Haus of Holbein”
Dream 21/08/24
I’ve noticed that dreams resemble the concerns of waking life more literally during those 10-15 minute snoozes when you drop straight back into a light dream state, than during those longer and deeper periods of dream sleep. This may seem obvious, and important to keep in mind when indulging in dream interpretation. But perhaps theyContinue reading “Dream 21/08/24”
Edvard Munch (1)
“My fear of life is necessary to me, as is my illness. Without anxiety and illness, I am a ship without a rudder. My art is grounded in reflections over being different from others. My sufferings are part of my self and my art. They are indistinguishable from me, and their destruction would destroy myContinue reading “Edvard Munch (1)”
Holiday art and self-acceptance
I actually painted on holiday! And it would have been okay if I hadn’t. (maybe…) I take pencils, pens, watercolours and brushes whenever I go on holiday, yet it has always been difficult for me to go beyond a quick pencil or pen sketch before giving up and allowing other distractions. Now that I’ve declaredContinue reading “Holiday art and self-acceptance”
Down Below, by Leonora Carrington
“To possess a telescope without its other essential half—the microscope—seems to me a symbol of the darkest incomprehension. The task of the right eye is to peer into the telescope, while the left eye peers into the microscope.”
