Toddling turtles and bubbly birds

Dear Sarah - Day 143 of our daily drawing exchange

May 23, 2025
Hi Nikki,

In the morning I went for a long walk along the Gorge with a friend, and in the afternoon I was with Kai. Now I'm tired and need a shower and dinner, so I'm attaching a "cheater"--a page of goofy birds using watercolour blobs and ink pen that I did yesterday. I like them a lot, and ended up turning them into a birthday card for a friend. Very cheery.

Hope you have recovered from your adventure. Let me know about whether we can Zoom on the weekend.

XO S

Hello Sarah!! I’m baaaack!

The birds are delightful! Not cheatery at all :) I also really like the peony from yesterday - I’m so sorry I was a bit out of it for a couple of days and couldn’t reply more promptly. Slow as a turtle, are these responses…

Dani and I have been intrigued by various references to flâneurs wandering around Paris with turtles on leashes. We were speculating whether or not that was ever actually a thing. Presumably, following your ambling turtle was meant to signify just how wealthy (and therefore, idle) you could be. Clearly, one had nowhere to go in a hurry if one had time to amble through the streets following the whims of your reptile.

Anyway, Dani found a lovely article about flâneurs and their pet-walking proclivities and it seems that in truth it’s unlikely this pastime was ever widely enjoyed by anyone.

I, however, owed you three drawings… I started with a turtle (I thought that practicing with that would help when I tackled the flâneur out strolling). Turns out, the simple shapes of a turtle were a little trickier than anticipated. They did not get any easier when I attached them to leashes and provided them with a flâneur (left) or flâneuse (right).

I love this idea, though, of meandering ever so slowly wherever the whims of the turtle might take you…

Talk soon -
Nikki

(p.s. would 4 pm Sunday work for a writing session?)