Monday, January 26, 2009

Back in the Saddle


I'm trying to get back into the mood for drawing, but it's been hard lately with the stuff going on in my family combined with working an 8-hour per day job and trying to spend time with my boyfriend and friends. Still, I'm happy that I did something productive tonight, and I like the result very much. (That might change tomorrow when I look at it with fresh eyes.)

Materials: 9 x 12 inch pastel paper, Prismacolor colored pencils.

Monday, January 19, 2009

A Poem for My Grandfather

I don't think that art is relegated to only the visual (does anyone?), which is why I decided to share this poem with you on my art blog. I used to be a voracious writer, but I haven't kept up with it very much in the past few years, and only occasionally do I sit down to write something.

My grandfather has had Alzheimer's for a while now, but it has gotten to the point where he must be sent to a nursing home. I don't think I need to tell you how devastating that has been for the entire family. Alzheimer's is the cruelest of diseases, stripping the mind of memory and logic. It has been a drawn-out and sad experience to watch my grandfather slowly disappear, and I felt like penning something about it.

Sometimes
His mind shutters
And blinks
Before settling on a soft, ribbony cusion of Nothing.

To watch him crumble,
Stripped away of memory and dignity,
An endless loop of questions ever-present on his lips,
The shadow of who he used to be
Captured forever inside a faded photograph,
Is almost unbearable.

And he will be locked away,
Confused and isolated,
Unable to fumble with buttons or smile at his wife.
I wonder
If he will know his pain
--if only for a second--
As a helping hand raises a spoon to his mouth.

Liquid eyes
A mind of Blank
Seasons past lost forever
Leaving only a searing string of ache.