In the News

Tears are everywhere,
soundless questions revealing
no reply

My little sketchbook “in the news” was one of the spurs to create this blog.  I started drawing and I wanted to show Nina.  She wanted to show me what she was doing.  We both wanted motivation to do more.  Emailing was a clumsy way to do all this.  So I thought: we could share a blog to exchange art, comments, ideas.

But why did I finally pick up a pencil and start drawing regularly again?  We had certainly been talking about it for some time.

My friend Dee gave me a beautiful box of pencils for my birthday.

I looked at them for a few months.  They WERE beautiful.

Then I noticed a photo of hands in the newspaper.  I’ve always liked to use newspaper photos as art sources.  I love to draw hands.  I found an unused sketchbook, wrote “in the news 2014” on the first page, opened the lovely pencil box, and began.  Inspired by the article that went with the photo and the haikus I had been reading, I wrote a haiku too.

hold enhanced vision
I reach for mechanical eyes
I see you seeing

This is my 37th drawing.

Thanks to the journalists and photographers of The New York Times, and to the Times itself for still printing those grainy newsprint photos that inspire me.  Thanks to Dee for the gift of pencils that came with the implied assumption I would put them to good use.  I wouldn’t be posting at all if it weren’t for Nina.  And to those reading this, another motivation to keep working.  Thanks everyone!