Dear Intimacy,
What would you have me know today?
this morning after my water walking workout, i was in the changing room and i saw an older woman who looked like my mom. it was the hair. this woman was a bit unsteady with her movements, and as a result, was moving slowly and deliberately to get dressed. my first thought was how incredible it is that grief can come out of nowhere. then i wondered if my mom’s movements would have been shaky if she made it out of the hospital. in the spring of 2023, when my mom was in the hospital, i remember my dad telling me that when she gets out, things during the summer (when we visit) would be different because it may take my mom a while to recover. i took a second look at this woman and her hair and had to look away because i didn’t want to cry in public again.
this morning, betty edwards asked us to practice drawing a profile portrait by copying john singer sargent’s mme. pierre gautreau. betty suggests by copying master drawings, we can better train our eyes (i think this happens in photography too, a strategy or way to identify your photographic voice). this profile portrait took me a long time! i had to walk away when i was trying to draw the lips! i ended up using betty’s suggestion to see the negative space around the lips and draw the negative space instead of the positive form (the actual lips). i also surprised myself with the eye! by focusing on drawing one line and then the next line, and not being overwhelmed with the thought of drawing an eye, i did it!
miles and margot also drew this morning, but wanted nothing to do with mme. pierre gautreau’s beautiful profile portrait. our friends (my physiotherapist!) recently introduced miles to my neighbour totoro by bringing him back a cute totoro bath towel from their trip to japan. miles is obsessed! so he drew totoro. so cute! margot drew on pink sticky notes.