A few weeks ago I was searching for something in the attic
and came across a box which contained some tubes of paint, brushes and some
sketch pads. I recognised them as the remnants of an art course I had taken
during high school. Among the collection of papers I found some things I had
drawn when I was thirteen years of age – I had almost forgotten the girl I was
then and these sketches brought all the memories flooding back.
There was a scraperboard picture – anyone remember scraperboards?
I remember us being given a blank black scraperboard along with a selection of
sharp instruments in Art class in second year at high school. On the back my
name and class was written in handwriting that I hardly recognised as mine –
but which appeared on the fronts of all my exercise books and work from school.
Clearly inspired by a picture or photograph, this is what I produced…
Seeing the picture again after many years boxed away in the
attic seemed to create a resonance in me and I just felt it had to be framed
and put up on a wall sometime.
During high school we lived in Burslem in Stoke-on-Trent,
just down the road from the Royal Doulton factory. It was probably at the
height of the fashion for collecting the delicate and detailed lady figurines
and somehow I must have got my hands on a catalogue of their designs. I seem to
remember having a fancy for clothes design – it was in the era of the Jeff
Banks Clothes Show – and in the box of memories I unearthed my – would you say,
impressionistic? – sketches of some of the figurines. You may recognise some of
them….
So this was my reminiscence therapy – it gave me an insight
into who I was those years ago and brought with it some mixed feelings. Maybe poignant
feelings are a better way to describe them. So every time I look at the picture
on the wall I will remember the happiness I felt when I had finished the
scraperboard and the teacher said it was good.
Have a lovely weekend!
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