Friday 30 December 2011

A Very Special Christmas Present

A true free spirit of wise words

Nothing is nicer than a gift which has been made with time and attention, especially for you. My sister commissioned our resident artist (Ty) to do this drawing of Snufkin for me, which they framed and gave to me as a Christmas present.

I love this drawing for many reasons. Firstly I love Snufkin. I completely understand why Little My decides they must date. Were Snufkin a real man I would have ensnared him too-hat and harmonica included. I don't usually feel much for cartoons and I can take or leave the Moomins cartoon as a whole (I struggle with the American accent. I just cannot bear to hear an American accent come out of the mouth of a northern European wanderer. It just doesn't work as I imagine Snufkin-lilting, soft and with a Finnish accent are much more how he speaks in my head). Snufkin is the only cartoon character I've really liked and wished I could suspend disbelief and believe he really existed outside of the television.

Neil asked why I was drawn to Snufkin. In answer to your question, yes it is mainly about the whole adventurous spirit, but also his love of music, his appreciation of nature, his wiseness, celebration of the seasonal differences and lack of material pretensions. And I yes, I guess I do love his hat too!

Here are some of my favourite Snufkin quotes, in case you are not familar with them already

"I own everything I see and everything that pleases me. I own the entire world."

'You aren't by any chance - er - a painter?' asked Moomintroll rather shyly.
'Or perhaps a poet?' suggested Sniff.
'I am everything!' said Snufkin.


"One can never be truly free, if one admires someone else too much."

"Today we must do something very special, for it will be a glorious day."

"I’ll come when it suits me” said Snufkin, “perhaps I shan’t come at all. I just may set off in another direction entirely.”
And I cannot resist sharing something visual too



The second reason why I love this drawing is because it has reminded me how much I want to be able to draw. I've struggled with a belief that I cannot draw so have never bothered to try. Instead I have stood back and admired other people's works and felt sick with envy. Perhaps I will never be able to get down on paper what I see in my head but thus far I have never tried and pushed myself.

In January I signed up for the 365 Day Project. I've had to take a photo every day this year. I've missed about 15 days in total but I'm still a little proud of myself. I won't provide the link for that just yet-although I have been tenacious about taking the photos every day, uploading them has proven to be more difficult. So what will next year's challenge be? Well, inspired by the Snufkin drawing I will be doing this project instead:

http://www.drawspace.com/

I hope I can complete it. I make no promises but that is half the fun of resolutions. Still, paper and pencils are in my possession and I've had a little fire to do something about my drawing skills for quite some time. I will chart my progress (or lack of) here.

I hope everybody has a wonderful New Year and sees it as an excellent opportunity to change things they don't like or be grateful for those they do like xxx

No comments:

Post a Comment