It's on the theme of 'I Remember You' and is a sort of biography of my mother. She is lost to me now in the final stages of Alzheimer's and her personality has been stripped away by that horrible disease, but she was a very singular person with many wonderful talents and also many character traits which coloured my own childhood (and of course my whole relationship with her) and which, in turn, had been formed by her own relationship with her parents.
Well, it's a very affectionate tribute to her but perhaps not as sugary as some people might expect. I don't really do sugary. Also, you can't really do justice to all the subtleties of a person's life in 32 small pages. I enjoyed doing it immensely and am pleased that I forced myself to step outside my comfort zone by sometimes making myself do drawing where it would have been easier to go for collage or photos.
9 comments:
This is the most wonderful, original book I've seen celebrating someone's life. I'll share it with my colleagues when I return to work x
I cannot put into words what I felt as I read and looked at this, absorbing the images and the words. I applaud you........
Dear Jane, each and every page is simply brilliant. I have just sat, taking in every page, learning about your mother's life. You have done so well to avoid the sugary sweet version of motherhood, and have shown us this flawed (just like the rest of us) and much more interesting reality. It is, of course, a tragedy that who she was has been taken by the ghastly Alzheimer's disease (everyone's nightmare, surely).
This sketchbook is from the heart, thank you for showing it to us.
Like Cathy, I'm almost lost for words. A wonderful piece of work, Jane - such a moving and vivid picture of your mum. Just extraordinary...
(Also, I think you look a lot like your Aunty Marjorie!)
What a testament to an extraordinary life, lived large Jane. It's certainly not sugary, but it's crucially honest. It does the wonderful job of recording the memories that Mum can no longer recall for herself.It's far more than a sketchbook. Having poured it all onto paper I wonder how you can bear to send it off to Brooklyn but know it will enrich anyone who reads it in the future.
Every page looks wonderful Jane. What a fabulous tribute to your Mum. Lovely photo of you there in the middle!
You have done your Mum proud, You are a beautiful person.
Truly a work of art Jane - and I too have been totally absorbed by every page. How wonderful that this memory of your mother will be sent off into the world and how brave of you to launch it.
This is fabulous, phantastic great work and a very creative way to take us on a journay about your mothers life! Thank you for sharing this!
Barbara
P.S. I didn't even start with my sketchbook! Yieks.
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