Threads

This post brought to mind two moments from my day

and a hugely important chunk of my past.

I was talking with my friend Maddy about significant items of clothing -

things I wished I had kept, indeed, thought I had kept

and this jumper was one of them,

preserved only in this unfinished

oil on gesso painting from my art student days in Bristol.

The jumper was a brave purchase by my mother.

She laid it out on my bed as a surprise for me 

when I came home from school.

On first sight I hated it.

It was too loud, too brash, too different.

But I tried it on and it grew on me,

probably because people admired it

and then I wore it a lot...

Jane's post reminded me about 
all the Georgian windows that appeared

in my etchings and paintings and in my final year dissertation.

This one was in the freezing bathroom 

and the pink blobs

are part of an indestructible Bizzy Lizzy 

which I carted around with me from house to house.

The clogs were from Olaf's Daughters.

I longed to have some long green lace up boots like my friend Charlotte,

but could only afford these.

The mirror came from a skip,

and  still hangs in a bathroom.

And just to complete the circle,

the woodcut in the reflection

is by Judy Stevens

who started at  Art college with me

and became a very Fine Artist indeed.