THE PEN AND PLASTIC

All my life I have had terrible hand writing, so much in fact that teachers complained incessantly in school reports and parents made me do courses in learning how to write. Despite all of this my hand writing is still shite, so shite in fact I have difficulty in reading what I have written. It is awful, has always been awful and for all I know may well remain so for as long as I am writing. That is the reason why I learnt how to type, I can read what I type pretty easily, there is no muddling between identifying that letter and another letter and questioning what the hell does that say? There is one small problem I do not carry a keyboard around with me all the time and I like to jot things down in a notebook, I am quite old fashioned like that and despite lugging one around I have not got used to using my smart phone to record things that are on my mind, I certainly can’t draw with one and that is the reason why I carry a pen and paper around with me. (usually) Pens or at least ball point pens are also practical as artists tools. You can draw reasonably well, quickly and almost without stopping for hours on end, except to turn the page. No rubbing out, sharpening, just draw, draw and draw some more. When it is empty, chuck it in the bin, get another one and start again. Don’t worry about the plastic tube, or if you want write in and ask that they make a refillable/ eco friendly version, made of plant fibres. it will be creative at least and possibly assuage any guilty feelings you have regarding using plastic and landfill and the rest of it.

Plastics are an absolute scourge, they do not break down, except into smaller bits of plastic. They choke up and kill wildlife large and small, clog up water ways and poison and pollute our water and food. Supermarkets have the temerity to wrap everything in the stuff, then have the cheek to charge you for a plastic carrier bag, in a bid to cut down on the use of the stuff. On the bright side you can make fantastic model tanks, planes, cars and anything else you can think of out of the stuff. Using the glue and paint in confined spaces can also get pretty hectic and what would our ball point pens be made of? Plant fibres?

In other news I have recently been drawing quite a lot, the gardening is quite slow right now. taking inspiration from a variety of sources; mainly Nazi Germany, Adolf Hitler and The Third Reich and their supporters namely Leni Riefenstahl. There are a couple of unconnected bits, but don’t let that worry your head, Some of it is fantastical, improbable or something from an alternate reality. What if scenario’s: Adolf Hitler the failed politician who became a successful artist, who instead of writing a boring and interminable political tract in Landsberg prison, spent his time painting instead. The first portion of Mein Kampf ( In the house of my parents) is actually pretty interesting. In all honesty I find almost anything on Adolf Hitler to be interesting. The same can be said for The Third Reich and Nazi germany and their supporters including Leni Riefenstahl.