I planned to draw things related to my mother whilst on holiday in France. I took photos of a silver tea and a few other things to work from with me.
I worked on A3, new for me as I tend to draw on A4. Scaling was interesting. Making handles look correct was a challenge.
Other drawing included a red cross. Here I was thinking about my mother’s illustrious but short nursing career. She was the top performing nurse of her group and received three medals which were often referred to. “I was a nurse you know” she reminded us and told the staff in her nursing home at the end of her life. Shortly before she died a visiting nurse said “Thank you Sheila for being a nurse”.
This was a time consuming but satisfying piece of work. As I stitched I was able to think about mum’s life. Its vicissitudes. Loss of professional career. Career exchanged for mother hood and being a wife. Marriage and family. Why she made the decisions she did is a constant query. She was a disappointed woman. She would have made a fabulous Matron or progressed even further. Women need choices. Why is this still a battle? I call this piece “loose ends” – I decided not to finish the ends of the thread. I like the loose ends. Perhaps this is what my final piece is all about since I’ll never know what was what from my mother’s point of view.
Sue makes marks 