I have three main reasons for writing this Substack of imaginary encounters with surrealist art by women:
I want to make their work better known
I want to give encouragement and permission to anyone who thinks that art is a rarefied world that is closed to them
I love writing in response to works of art that move me!
I saw this amazingly vivid painting by Ithell Colquhoun at an exhibition in London this year and stood arrested in front of it, writing a page of notes in my Moleskine notebook and probably looking very pretentious while doing so! It was inspired by the graining on a painted door.
At home, the notes began to turn into a poem, which is unusual for me. I used a book of oil paint colours to identify the exact shades I saw in the picture. I love the names of colours! As an inveterate online window-shopper for clothes, I think the best part is reading the colours of the garments and when I buy something to wear I always keep a record of the colour as it is described.
I am sure that if you were to sit down and write your own response to Colquhoun’s picture it would come out entirely different to mine and I urge you to try! Some time over the rush of the holidays, in between all the jobs you gladly, or reluctantly do, why not just sit still with a notebook or PC and write down what this suggestive, beautiful shape and its colours means to you? Or click the speech bubble icon at the end and leave a comment with your impressions.
This is a long picture (the door was probably very tall and thin). I have recorded an audio version so that you can listen as you move across the picture from top to bottom.
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-1:28
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published
This is my curved body It is the colour of energy Unignorable Naples yellow and raw umber at the crown which is the mind’s analysis Joining the head to the body are glottal lobes doubled but unequal Sandstone and chrome yellow glow at the heart the hearth of home To connect the torso with the lower body an animal spine segmented At the thighs’ meeting dark violet and cadmium orange heat with a smudge of dark hair I live half in tangerine day and half in brown madder night My aura pulses primrose for self-assertion and red oxide to combat the danger of others The rhythm of my blood is enclosed in a pod of cinnabar green skin bulging at the knee I am a turret reaching upwards I am a plant rooted downwards
My novel about the women surrealists, Swimming with Tigers, is available to buy online and in bookshops. Visit my website https://kathyhopewell.com for details.
It would make a perfect Christmas gift for a reader who enjoys historical fiction or anyone interested in art and the lives of artists.
All best wishes for the season and see you next year!
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