Bones stripped bare of flesh
Pumping blood
The organs and cartilage and gristle
Wetness, slipperiness and mess
Leaving a dry clean purity
The bare bones of a woman
Dream Tide
I came to the end of the city and there was the sea
The sea where it shouldn’t have been.
I started walking down the slope of sand towards it.
When I looked up, the tide was coming in from where I had just been walking.
I was walking towards the sea, yet it was behind me
And rushing down the slope to sweep me away.
I saw a large rocky outcrop of brown sandstone.
I could run under that and hope that the water would pour over the top
Keeping me safe underneath.
What a mad, hopeless idea if it was a real sea!
But dream seas are unpredictable that way.
watercolour drawing
Pink
The Tarot had the Devil, the Moon and the Tower all in one reading, shattering the pink sweetness.
watercolour on paper
Deadly Nightshade
Swallowing just one black berry from deadly nightshade, the unsuspecting victim could die.
Belladonna, broomsticks and brain chemistry, RSC Education
Indian ink on paper
The poison circle
Witches inhaling the smoke from smouldering henbane seeds in mediaeval times reputedly caused the sensation of flying.
Ink on Japanese paper
Alternative Sleeping Beauty
I listened to Neil Gaiman’s The Sleeper and the Spindle on the radio. I love how he mixed the magic of a fairytale with grisly realism and a practical down to earthness. I can imagine storytellers of the past telling these stories in the same living, breathing way.
Watercolour on paper