‘Some others by their tenderness
May try to guide your youthfulness,
Myself, I want to rule by fear.’
The Ghost, C Baudelaire

Before I start painting again I thought it would be a good move to get some thoughts together. A prolonged period of drawing/reading/research is coming to an end. Sorting through everything can be a chore without an outlet, this is a good one for me-blogging can help detach me from the work, take a step back and then run for the hills! or not, if I’m lucky.

*Fragments* is a good word for me right now, as I allow fragments of text to slide their way into my practice. There’s a question here though, am I looking for a text to support me or am I looking for a kindred spirit to draw from? Surely its got to be a bit of both but its not about illustrating someone else’s thoughts. Its about feeling less lsolated. I have focused on this over the last few weeks. Feels like giving up a small amount of control but the rewards are more than worth it.

Flapping excitedly, bathing his wings in dust,
And said, with heart possessed by lake he once loved:
‘Water when will you rain? Thunder when will you roar?’
I see this hapless creature, sad and fatal myth,

Stretching the hungry head on his convulsive neck,
Sometimes towards the sky, like the man in Ovids book-
Towards the ironic sky, the sky of cruel blue,
As if he were a soul contesting with his God!
extract. ‘The Swan’ C Baudelaire.

In sinuous coils of the old capitals
Where even horror weaves a magic spell,
Gripped by fatal humours, I observe
Singular beings with appalling charms
extract ‘The Little Old Woman’ C Baudelaire