EJs Drawings

A quote from the book, “Original Self by Thomas Moore”:
“Poetry in the larger sense of the word – poems, stories, myths, painting, dances, dreams – is the most exhilarating and transporting vehicle for travel there is. More effective than space shuttles, more penetrating than warp speed starships, and more probing than mars rovers, poetry takes us far far away to a reality that is at once our own and absolutely alien.. This would be a trite observation unless perhaps we recalled many ancient teachings that tell of the soul’s journeys.”

A colleague of mine showed me two drawings made by her 5 year old son, EJ. I was struck at how devoid of self-consciousness the drawings were. The lines were drawn with confidence, colors were varied and the style itself was distinctively EJ’s. It was like seeing a part of his world, a world devoid of the “polishing” of society and effects that years of education could impose. On this drawing below, it is a world of insects which EJ is fond of.

I have always admired, envious perhaps is a nearer word, the imagination of children. Often, I find my imagination being encumbered by whatever I have learned and absorbed in the past (which at that time were useful). The nearest thing to imagination that I could “brag” about now is on how I could “imaginatively” think up of ways to lessen my housework. It’s interesting to think that we spend the first half of our lives absorbing almost everything that comes our way – to survive, and spend the other half, unloading the “un-useful” things we have collected along that same way – also to survive (and possibly, to remain sane). It does feel like I am constantly sifting, shaking, swirling - removing the sands and rocks to get to the gold.

In art, it’s not an easy task, finding ones style. But it does look quite easy when I look at EJ’s drawings. Style comes so naturally for him (and children in general) — without much thought. Here is another of EJ’s drawing, his mom told me there is a story behind it. I’ll try to convey it as best as I can, although having transferred from one adult to another adult, I don’t think I’m doing justice to EJ’s original version of the story.

These are Wagee and Mooga. They are brothers.

The one above is their mom.

And they all ended up being eaten by a fierce monster. And that was the end of Waggee, Mooga and their mom. (I tried to looking for the fierce monster – to find if justice had prevailed and the monster was locked up somewhere, like any adult would like this story to end, but I was told that it had escaped to another country called “Trash”).

(It just strikes me, that the word adulterated – as in adulterated drinks and which means substances that should not be contained within other substances are present – has the root word “adult”. Why not “substantiated” or chemicaliated? Whoever had thought of this word may have been running along similar line of thinking on adults..)

I attempted to draw my adult(erated) version of his story.

Magee and Wooga are mothers searching for their children. But they fell into the river and got eaten by a school of hungry piranhas. Magee, Wooga and their lost children have met the same end.

P.S. (And the piranhas ended up being caught by exotic fish poachers and shipped to “Trash” country where they were fed to the greedy fierce monster, which got choked to death by one of Magee’s big earrings).

Thank you EJ for letting me travel with you. It was fun!