Private Lives

My mother had a flair for the dramatic, and carried herself in style. Even well into her old age, she was concerned enough about her appearance that she liked to know well in advance when people were going to visit so she could get herself ready. She had a real keen clothing sense and a good eye for what she could wear. A casual observer could be forgiven for thinking that Mom was all about show; what was easily seen and noticed by others.

But there you would be wrong. There was much about my mother that she kept to herself. For all her dramatic flair she was a very private person. The pictures on this page are evidence of that. Of course we knew for years that Mom liked to do needlework; many of her generation did. And of course that needle work had to be based on a picture of something. Needlework often comes with a printed pattern to follow. But what we didn’t know was that Mom actually drew her own sketches, and not all of them appeared in needle work.

These are just some of the artistic sketches that were found among her possessions when my sister collected them from Mom’s little flat in North Hykeham. None of us knew of their existence until this sketchbook came to light. It shows that no matter how well you think you know someone, there is always more to know. The naiveté and innocence reflected in choice of colour and theme in these sketches strikes me as remarkable for one so weathered in years and worn by physical limitations. Her body may have been old, but her spirit, as evidenced by these pictures, was as young and light as a child’s. What a remarkable find!