Pretty, Girly Things

Above: The Adultress

Above: Savoy

Both of these mixed media pieces are by Elizabeth McGrath. I love where she takes me. The artists and writers whom I respect make statements that I feel have already been growing inside me. They fertilize these ideas, incubate them, and coax them out. Then they know how to dress them up in paint or words. Occasionally I feel this way about my own work. That there are old words that ripen into poems every once in a while. Mostly, though, I am surprised at what I write and say. It's discovery. I didn't know that was in there! Either way, I get proud sometimes. And then sometimes I am impotent. The words go away unsatisfied, and I become embarrassed.

Harlot, the first piece is for you!

The second piece makes me want to be a ghost of the sea. Booing into bubbles and swimming right through sharks. Skipping inside the belly of the whale. Drinking invisible tea. Searching for the Water Babies.

I had a big crush on Tom!

When I was 7 I was really into the Flower Fairies.

I played matchmaker with the different plants and flowers--I have my old books to prove it. I wrote the name of the new love on the page of the mate. For example, I might pair a female rose with a male berry. I've always been such a girl!