Taking a pencil for a walk across a large page

Friday 27th February.

Morning session in Cherry Tree Hospital, creating a line along side conversation about over the counter remedies.

Taking a pencil for a walk across a large page... created a line that reminded the lady I was working with of a hill. Although she had never lived by hills or had any strong memories about this, we created a landscape with sheep and a castle that she filled with expensive objects. It is hard to tell if this imagined land sparked off personal thoughts or if they were there already, but she began to tell me about her mother’s corner shop. Her mother worked there during the First World War, selling bacon, butter and cheese, as she sneakily played with coal in the cellar (and how she never got caught still makes her laugh). I liked that this imagined scenery lead her to a personal place in her life, as she took me on a tour down the street of shops. I’m always drawn to categorised forms and lists. I think I find comfort is ordering things. Perhaps because of that, I have become interested in how the imagination spills out between the boxes and rigid forms. I enjoyed this morning’s conversation as it gave us a chance to play and freedom to take me to another place and time.

Anneke Kuipers.