Re-assessing with a contemplative walk on the beach

Dear Nikki/Dear Sarah--day 443 of our art adventure

Hi Nikki,

I’m reading a really interesting book called The Heart-shaped Tin: Love, Loss and Kitchen Objects by Bee Wilson. She’s a British food writer and journalist, and I’ve been a big fan since I read Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook and Eat many years ago. The Heart-shaped Tin is about “the way that kitchen objects have the power to move, soothe and even reproach us.” (The Guardian). It’s a memoir but also an anthropological look at the everyday objects we cherish. Like the small wooden spatula that I drew a while ago. And my mother’s wedding china, which isn’t china at all. And the Foley food mill. And the silver ladle. And now—a cookie cutter.

I was cleaning out the kids’ art supplies at their house yesterday and found one of my mother’s cookie cutters in amongst the pebbles of Play-Doh. It was one of my favourites as a child— I was allowed to wield it when my mother made her delicate sugar cookies. It is fluted (like a pie crust) and has a bulbous red handle. It demanded to be drawn—five different ways. And may be drawn five more. The blind contour drawing looks like Santa and the pen and ink one looks like a clown!

It astonishes me how much affection I have for these things, and how memories (real or imagined) flood me when I hold them or draw them.

XO S

PS I changed the title from “daily drawing exchange” to “art adventure” since, as you pointed out, we often wander from drawing to … painting, collaging, stamping, etc.

Hi Sarah!

oh, you read my mind re. the name of our daily art adventure. Daily art adventure feels much more appropriate! And, yes - so funny how simple objects will elicit a flood of memories… It’s a marvel our brains can fathom creating more when so many are already crammed in our noggins somewhere.

Another image transfer experiment from me today. This time, a LOT of clear acrylic matte medium was spread on the surface of the blank page before placing a photo of myself printed on my inkjet printer (on photo paper procured in bulk at the thrift store) upside down on the now-wet-with-medium page. Not sure if you followed all that, but after smoothing the back of the facedown photo paper, I did a cautious test lift of one corner to see that the ink was transferring well and quickly!

Tissue paper and some textured Gesso followed along with some acrylic paint mixed with more textured Gesso, and voila, there’s a memory of me on a Caribbean beach.

The mountains that surround me in real life are glorious, but yes, I do miss walking barefoot in the sand, listening to the ocean lapping at the shore, the breeze hot against the backs of my legs.

Until tomorrow’s adventure…
Nikki