Erskine Writers

 Tuesday 6th October

There was an excellent turn out for our meeting on Tuesday - fourteen members, the majority of whom reading their creations based on the recent visit to MoMA. Those who couldn’t actually make the trip were happy to base it on photographs from the art gallery’s website.

Opening proceedings was John Mac who provided us with a rarity - one of his poems. This was stimulated by the gallery’s displays on Domestic Bliss it was entitled MoMA. Written in the Glasgow vernacular, it benefitted from his dry wit and humour as he was influenced by the crockery - especially the mugs which made up the majority of the exhibits. Sandra R followed and she had been drawn by the photograph and handbag artefacts drawn from the Seventies by one Frances Gordon. She saw a lot of herself in the exhibit especially in the fact that she had a photograph of herself posed in similar fashion to that adopted by Frances . They frequented the same shops and Sandra was amazed that a particular ticket stub proved that they had both attended a particular concerts at the same time, on the same day! They must have been in very close proximity at the time!.

Andrew was reminded of a particular painful episode when the display on the fire place, especially the gas fire, forced him to recall drying his wet feet and shoes, on his return from school, in front of a similar fire. Unfortunately he got too close and suffered a burn and melting plastic - the scenario worsened by his placing his wound under the tap and cooling it with hot water!! Brian was influenced by the painting of an old man by Edinburgh artist Henry Kondracky  It made him smile and brought back happy memories. I thought it looked a little like Alfred Hitchcock. Jacky was also taken by a reknowned artist, this time Grayson Perry, and a large ceramic made by him and decorated with scenes remembered from his boyhood. I liked it too. Jackie went on to give a warm appreciation of the artist.

Jane gave us a poem based on the Cat and Mouse Act poster produced by the Suffragettes which was very insightful as was the poem written by John H based on a picture from the Burrell Collection. It was called the Beggar’s Generosity and painted by Gustav Courbet and his work was both warm and optimistic. Morag was also influence by Kondracky’s as well as a particularly abstract piece based on energy. This encouraged her to write on Ode to GoMA. 

Rob followed Jane’s lead and took something from the Suffragette exhibits - this time a sketch of a prison door which adorned the cover of ‘Holloway Jingles’ an anthology written by inmates of the prison in the Spring of 1912 - Holloway Writers! This was followed by Hilary who had been affected by the portrait of a woman’s crying entitled ‘Power of Tears’ and she interpreted it as a picture of resilience, defiance and hope. She also drew our attention to how with modern ‘cropping’ techniques, the whole message behind a picture can be altered considerably. Sandra finished proceedings with her interpretation of  what looked like a hole in a muddy river bank - similar to Winnie the Pooh’s home. She, however, saw as the eye of a wise old elephant which was blessed with wisdom and perception.

We finished the afternoon with a taster of the first competition of the season - the short story but more of that next week!.

A couple of house keeping matters - when your turn comes around on the tea rota can you please come armed with a tea cloth from home to help with the washing up? Thanks. Finally, if anyone would like to take on the role of the club’s SAW representative can they please let me know? Details of their duties can be gained from Sandra.