A story about Father’s day.
It’s Father’s day tomorrow, which got me thinking about my Dad and how he has affected my life, and particularly my art. To talk about the former would take much longer than we have here, so I thought I’d share a little about the latter.
My Dad is a scientist (MSc, PhD, DSc, FRPharmS, FIBiol and Professor of Microbiology if we’re going to be precise). But despite being such an academic, when I was growing up he always said, “There’s more to education than school”. Which gave us a license to occasionally bunk off school if we were doing something interesting, like seeing a play, or an art exhibition.
Books are another big thing for my parents. We always had pocket money as children, but buying books was always separate. Dad said we could have as many books as we wanted – whatever book we liked, he’d buy it. He particularly loves poetry and often gives poetry books as presents. I can remember one birthday I received a volume of “Romanian women poets”. I was around thirteen years old. I may not have appreciated it at the time, but I love poetry now, and often use it to inspire my paintings and painting titles. My recent series of paintings, ‘Flying Low‘, based on a Mary Oliver poem is a case in point.
My Dad loves the sea and walking – particularly in wild settings. We lived for many years in Birmingham, where we didn’t have easy access to the sea. But I remember weekend adventures camping and walking in the Black Mountains, and the wilds of Snowdonia. My love of travel and adventure probably stems from those times. When I’m painting big sweeping marks, I’m sure there are echoes of those childhood expeditions flashing across the canvas.
But my favourite thing has always been art. Even though I took a circuitous route into fine art, starting with a German degree and then various office jobs, I know my Dad is proud of me for having the courage to go back to my first love – painting.
Happy Father’s Day Dad.
Till next time.
Jess.
PS I would be delighted if you forwarded this
to any friends ds or contacts you think may like my work.
Thank you!