Illustration Friday
Word: Aging
Meaning: To get older without wanting to. Usually a bad connotation especially by today's society or rather by today's media and commercialism.
I wish I had thought more about this word as I would have done something with consumer's and how women are primarily portrayed. I'd especially show this on most TV sitcoms...women are under 40, mostly 20's, thin and white. But since I don't watch TV (just films, sometimes) I don't feel like I can really comment on this in a meaningful way. And really it's kind of boring when you think about it. I know because I found a US magazine in the bathroom left by some of my relatives and boy is that freaky. All white, rich, young people...with very little to say and not even that good to look at (unless one is into plastic, lots o'makeup and bones).
So, I did this illustration friday on my great aunt Myrt. She is 91 years old and is a most interesting and odd person. She has outlived all her siblings, her only daughter (who had down syndrome), two husbands and lots of other family. She is a petite woman of 4 ft 5 and has osteoporosis but is amazingly active (though lately there was a scare). What made me want to do an illustration about her is this one story I heard about Myrt. It's one of those stories that made me think...what the heck? This little old lady did what?
Apparently, my great aunt Myrt, who is on my husbands side, can't stand messiness. She is what is known as a very neat and tidy person. In fact, she is so industrious about cleaning at the ripe age of 89 she finally gave up scrubbing her floors on her hands and knees because it was getting to be a bit taxing. Well, actually she was in bed for a week from sore aches and stiff joints.
Well, this gives you the frame of mind she comes from. It so happened that there was a tree next to her house and in that tree were many a bird. So many in fact, every Spring it could be counted on that she would find lots of droppings coming from that tree and these would spread to the roof, pavement, car, etc. Well, Myrt at the age of 70 or so left something out and the next day the birds weren't in the tree any more. Around a dozen (possibly three dozen, so the legend goes) birds lay at the bottom of the tree. To hear Myrt recall this, you'd think this was a great battle. Her second husband was not pleased. After she cleaned up the fallen, Myrt was still unrepentant. To this day, she tells the story as though she had won a great victory against nature. And to me, now that I've gotten past the shock of it all and can look Myrt in the eye, I just have to smile. Who would think this little ancient woman would kill a bird? And for that matter, raise a down syndrome daughter and survive so many people leaving her forever and still see the humor of life. I hope I age a bit like that...maybe minus the dead birds, though.
Meaning: To get older without wanting to. Usually a bad connotation especially by today's society or rather by today's media and commercialism.
I wish I had thought more about this word as I would have done something with consumer's and how women are primarily portrayed. I'd especially show this on most TV sitcoms...women are under 40, mostly 20's, thin and white. But since I don't watch TV (just films, sometimes) I don't feel like I can really comment on this in a meaningful way. And really it's kind of boring when you think about it. I know because I found a US magazine in the bathroom left by some of my relatives and boy is that freaky. All white, rich, young people...with very little to say and not even that good to look at (unless one is into plastic, lots o'makeup and bones).
So, I did this illustration friday on my great aunt Myrt. She is 91 years old and is a most interesting and odd person. She has outlived all her siblings, her only daughter (who had down syndrome), two husbands and lots of other family. She is a petite woman of 4 ft 5 and has osteoporosis but is amazingly active (though lately there was a scare). What made me want to do an illustration about her is this one story I heard about Myrt. It's one of those stories that made me think...what the heck? This little old lady did what?
Apparently, my great aunt Myrt, who is on my husbands side, can't stand messiness. She is what is known as a very neat and tidy person. In fact, she is so industrious about cleaning at the ripe age of 89 she finally gave up scrubbing her floors on her hands and knees because it was getting to be a bit taxing. Well, actually she was in bed for a week from sore aches and stiff joints.
Well, this gives you the frame of mind she comes from. It so happened that there was a tree next to her house and in that tree were many a bird. So many in fact, every Spring it could be counted on that she would find lots of droppings coming from that tree and these would spread to the roof, pavement, car, etc. Well, Myrt at the age of 70 or so left something out and the next day the birds weren't in the tree any more. Around a dozen (possibly three dozen, so the legend goes) birds lay at the bottom of the tree. To hear Myrt recall this, you'd think this was a great battle. Her second husband was not pleased. After she cleaned up the fallen, Myrt was still unrepentant. To this day, she tells the story as though she had won a great victory against nature. And to me, now that I've gotten past the shock of it all and can look Myrt in the eye, I just have to smile. Who would think this little ancient woman would kill a bird? And for that matter, raise a down syndrome daughter and survive so many people leaving her forever and still see the humor of life. I hope I age a bit like that...maybe minus the dead birds, though.
Comments
cheers,
kerry
Er, minus the birds! *G*
And the illustration is wonderful! I like the colors and the look on her face.