I've done so little work today that it's hardly worth showing you what I've done. Instead I thought I'd include one of my old pictures.This is part of a series of illustrations based on a song by Genesis from their album 'And then there were three' . The song in question is 'Scenes from a night's dream' which tells the story of 'Little Nemo' who eats 'all kinds of food so close to bedtime 'to make himself have dreams. I liked the idea of friendly Dragons, so drew the above pic. I since found out that 'Little Nemo in Slumberland' is actually a little heard of newspaper cartoon strip!Have you lain down with a friendly Dragon?(OK husbands..please refrain from the obvious!)..I think Christmas is such a beast. The commercial pressure we find our senses bombarded with in my eyes assume the size of a hungry creature ready to devour my money and time..to render my belief that what it is really all about is the Christ Child coming into the world as a pointless dream because what I should be worried about is if my children all have equal amounts of money and presents under the tree in time for 25Th.
But the Dragon is not hate filled, and actually..the real nature of the beast is not what others would have you believe..it's about the things we do as a family, as a community that make the difference. This evening we went out carol singing with residents of our Avenue. We have done it now for around 5 years..so it's a bit of a tradition. We ended up back at Nigel and Amanda's for mulled wine and mince pies..it was lovely to meet people from the neighbouring houses who we never normally get to meet.
So the trappings in this case (a futile hope that chestnuts roasting on an open fire and wide eyed children with faces pressed up against toyshop windows in a Dickensian street lit with gas lamps in the snow) are about finding traditions..traditions that draw us together and light the cold dark nights of Christmas with the sound of friends laughing and futures being made.
I am therefore happy that tonight the Dragon is a friendly one.
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3 comments:
I absolutely love the expression on his face. It's almost jolly and very warm and welcoming.
I loved the picture.It has such a fairy-tale-magic feel to it.I also liked the analogy between Christmas and the dragon.Do you use only black rotring for these black and white pictures that you do?
Coinicidentally, yesterday a neighbour (who celebrates christmas.Many in my country especially the rural parts dont even know what christmas is all about, as it is not THE main festival here) who dropped in mentioned the very same things that you did.She spoke about how the true spirit of christmas is getting diluted and christmas is so commercialised.She doesnt surf the net,else I would have definitely told her to read your blog.
The Christmas Dragon is breathing down my neck...
I had a hard year with my family this year. My older son was very sick for quite a while. And SO MANY people were so lovely to us, really supportive and helpful, and I feel very thankful to them all for their support. Now that my son is better, and I am recuperating from the stress of it all, I really want to acknowledge all of those people and thank them again, and remember them for the holidays.
I am most afraid that I will forget someone, or that I will miss something that I wanted to do -- it's a checklist that's a mile long -- Christmas cards bought, photos taken, poem written, addressed and mailed to 65 families, check; cookies baked for doctors and nurses at the hospital, check; small gifts for doctors who have everything, check; gifts for family, check; appropriate gifts for friends, check; food cooked and parties hosted -- not finished yet....
But all in all, most things are done now, and hopefully I can be less focused on the check list and more focused on the spirit. I'm thankful that we got through last year, and I'm really looking forward to next year!
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