Ted & Golly

After several decades painting .... 

One builds up a stock of photographs, gazillions probably..  I carry at least two cameras with me at all times, three if I count my mobile...   You also build up a stock of bric a brac, objects d'art, all manner of 'things' - buttons, beads, ribbons, cotton, tins, anything that delights the eye, the curiosity, and kick starts the creative juices.

Then there is your personal stuff.

I for one, overlook my personal stuff.  Well, it's personal isn't it?  Did I really want to share the remains of Old Ted, long tired out and worn out, yet still up for a cuddle without falling apart, then poor Golly, always smiling, bright and shiny whatever the weather.  Even if the dog did swing him around by his legs ....  Still smiling.  Now I adore smiley folk, so I wouldn't want to be doing anything to upset Golly. Or Old Ted. Especially Old Ted in fact.  He's eons older than me, and at 61 years 11 months and 28 days, I am cantankerous enough when taken for granted.

So, it was a big decision. 

I wanted to illustrate them as the inseparable friends they are.  Always together, perched in the old fireplace I converted into bookshelves. Old Ted giving 

 that unimpressed sideways glance, almost as if he is just tolerating Golly's young whippersnapper ways.  Old Ted's faded, twisted and a little bit dishevelled ribbon being shown off like a war medal.  It is the original bow tied into the ribbon. I have never been able to figure why it is so loose. It just is, always has been.  Old Ted has posable arms and legs, held together throughout by tiny little hand stitches.  The pads on his hands and feet attached in the same way.  His eyes are made up of a number of French knots, and his funny little expression made up from more hand stitching.

Golly, on the other hand, has more of a modern feel about him.  Machine stitched, he is now going a little grey and fading, but his smile goes on and on.  How can you be having a bad day when you have Golly to share it with?  

So, on the day, when even a gazillion photographs were not enough, when the bric a brac was uninviting clutter, the buttons seemed boring , the beads fiddly, the ribbons bland, there, in a flash, were Old Ted & Golly.  

My old friends and I spent a glorious few hours chittering while I painted away, determined to capture Old Ted's very strange ageing fur, and Golly's over stuffed stiffness and ridiculously large bow tie.

Sometimes, it is the things we take for granted that we need to get to know again, isn't it?

Ted & Golly © Kate Lomax 2017 All Rights Reserved