Sunday 3 May 2015

Memory Doodles - A Child's Imagination

Hello again!

I'm so sorry to have missed my Saturday post - blame the migraine fairy! Ugh!  Belated Beltane  blessings to any fellow pagan types out there...it's officially summer! And we have a new Royal princess to welcome the sunshine, which is a nice thing.

For today's Sunday post I thought I'd share a few more of my memory doodles with you, so without further ado, here we go!

I was feeling a little sad that I'd had to dispose of a lot of my baby toys when I moved home. I mean - it WAS necessary...we can't keep EVERYTHING, right? I DO have some precious things that you'd have to pry out of my cold, dead hands of course, but sometimes emotions can over-balance the sentimentality scales. So I decided to doodle a collection of some of my favourite remembered baby toys.....from left to right -

There's Gloria,the very first doll my mum made for me and gave me on my first birthday, which I remember very clearly. Mum didn't believe me when I said that I remembered the day until I described my 'party' in minute detail! (Don't ask me what I did last Friday, though! Accursed memory...) My Grandpa named her 'Gloria' and I remember being righteously pissed off but didn't have any words to say that I wanted another name! (In all honesty I'd probably have called her 'Anna'....I called most dolls 'Anna'....no idea why).  There's my little wind-up 'Blue Bird of Hoppiness' which mum bought for Christmas after I saw it and liked it in a shop earlier that year. I was terrified of clockwork as a toddler so she leapt at the chance to divert and disperse my fears.  There's 'Owlie', who was filled with jingly bells and clanged mightily when he rocked, then 'Baby Beans', a bright pink baby doll filled with tiny plastic beans, hence her name. Teddy Edward was a fabulous and much loved gift bear - from my Grandparents I think - and had a handsome blue bow. The dingly bell was a pull apart puzzle, and then there's 'Mmfff' the duck.  I named him when I was about 9 months old so 'Mmfff' was a good as that one was gonna get. I still have Edward and Mmfff!


Mum started having driving lessons when I was about 18 months old, so that she could get a better job with the advertising agency she worked for, who gave her a car to in which to learn. The instructor (who 17 years later taught ME to drive), called to pick her up every week and off they'd go with mum chattering animatedly as always. I'd watch her from the window (we lived with my grandparents) and would CRY to beat the band. I was convinced - with absolutely no good reason whatsoever - that the poor driving instructor was my daddy and was afraid he's take my mum away for good. I was a complete weirdo as a kid! Logic not my forte!


My mum encouraged me to read from a very early age. We didn't have a lot of books, but the ones we had were SO precious and I would gaze at the pages, fascinated, and loved when she or my Grandma would read them to me. As soon as I learned to read for myself, I'd hide away in my room and travel through the books to magical lands and would be oblivious to the 'real' world around me.

A couple of times a month we'd go to the bookshop. It was quite a long bus journey to get there and a proper day out as we'd then go to the beach and have a full, fun day. In the bookshop, mum would take me to the children's book section which was filled with all manner of wondrous and beautiful books and we'd look through them carefully so that I'd know what to ask the fairies for on my birthday.

I LOVED the magical worlds of fantasy, the talking animals, princesses and fairies.....howEVER - right next to the kid's section was the HORROR section! (yeah, I know, go figure....It was still the same when I went to work there when I was 16!)  And OOOOOOOOO I loved the monsters!! Mum would despair as I'd swing on my kiddy harness, desperate to get to the werewolves! THEY WERE SO FLUFFY! As I grew older my love of monsters and scary stuff was fed by the cool movies - Universal Studios and RKO ones - that were repeated endelessly on tv. Monsters = cool. Fact.


When I was three years old, my Grandpa helped mum get a little council flat. Other that my nan's house, which was the best place in the world ever, this was the happiest place we lived in. When I was four, she the fairies made me a multi-coloured ballgown with a gold bodice and with a matching tiara and little wings. 'The fairies' were very inventive and talented! Although I was never much of a 'dress-up' child, I wore that thing TO DEATH! Mum would put records of polkas and waltzes on her big old turntable and we'd dance around the room until it felt like we were flying. Wouldn't life be the best thing ever if we felt that free all the time?


My mum and uncle had both been 'dress-up' kids - aside from the ballgown I really didn't do that at all. BUT - that's because IN MY HEAD I totally saw myself as whatever character I wanted to be. I wasn't hugely good at being 'girlie' - I had dolls but they kind of sat on a shelf and looked nice. Well...apart from my Barbie. I accidentally set fire to her an had to extinguish her in the loo! Poor thing. I PROMISE it was [mostly] an accident.

I LOVED old tv shows and movies. I'd watch as much as I was allowed - Zorro, Flash Gordon, Tarzan, King Of The Rocket Men, King Kong, King Solomon's Mines... I was totally captivated by these heroic dramas and would rush out to my Grandpa's workshop and hammer-up a wooden sword or a 'ray-gun' (which would mysteriously disappear as soon as I went to bed) then play in the garden, battling evil villains, robot men and whole armies, triumphing every time. I didn't need a costume - after all, I WAS Zorro...I WAS Flash Gordon! And not ONCE did I ever want to be a princess - they needed rescuing and the frocks were hugely impractical for climbing or fighting! I was never good at being a traditional girl, but I was a kick-ass hero!


Imagination - where would we be without it? I'm glad my life was filled with monsters, talking animals, trolls and fairy folk. It would have been a whole lot more dull without them!

Have you tried drawing your life yet? Have you doodled a memory? I'd love to know - and I'd recommend having a go! I bet you'll have fun. AND now, as I've rambled away QUITE enough for one day, I'll bid you a very fond farewell and send you some summer sunshine to brighten your day. Love and hugs from Shroo :) xxx

16 comments:

  1. I say again, what a wonderful childrens illustrator you would make, or do you already do that?? And what great memories. I have my very first teddy bear but that's all I have left from from my childhood. He is so old he's stuffed with straw ( they all were then) and he has a green flowery patch on his belly where my friends dog tried to eat him and I mende him. His name is Co-Co, apparently there was a famous Panda at London Zoo called Co-Co when I was a child. Anyway..........lovely post, I really enjoy your writings and little drawings, ever thought of collecting them all together and putting them into a book. I'm sure you could find a publisher. :-)

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  2. Thank you bajillions for your extremely kind comments! *Sigh* I'd love to be a children's illustrator- that would be so awesome....It's a bugger of a thing to break into though. I've been humming and hah-ing over an illustrator's course that the local college runs... I think the next one's in August. It's only ten weeks, but promises a step onto the ladder. I'll have a good think.

    I'll eventually bind these into a book so I can keep them (I know I'll lose them if they all stay floating about loose).

    I'm glad you have Co-Co! I have just rescued a little group of very wobbly looking bears from mum's - her old bear, my uncle's my Grandma's and HER brother's little teddy, They're all straw and darning and one poor soul is missing his paw pads thanks to some moth attack at some point...li'l old bear. Thank you again for commenty loveliness - big hugs from Shroo:)xxx

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  3. What wonderful posts you have here the past few days...it is obvious that you had a wonderful childhood, as your memories are so crisp! Yes...you should be an illustrator!!!

    I had but a few to us as a child. Though I was clueless at the time, we were apparently poor. The fact that I did not realize this until my adult years is proof that my parents gave me and my siblings a wonderful childhood! I did have one Barbie....she had blonde hair cut in a page boy type hair do. I remember the date stamp on her tush was 1957! I received that Barbie on my 5th birthday in 1965. I wish I had her now...I could probably fetch a pretty penny for her...antique! :). (Just kidding)! My mother has always been an excellent seamstress. I had more handmade Barbie clothes, including a faux fur coat and matching pillbox hat!

    Thanks for bringing back good memories that I forgot about!

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    1. See now, that's an AWESOME Barbie! I wouldn't have set fire to that one! Mine was flambeed by accident after wafting her extremely flammable hair too close to the living room fire. Oops. When she was extinguished she'd melted quite some very lots and her eyes were on her chest. Creepy. I buried her in the garden!
      I'm glad you remembered your fabulous doll and the even more fabulous clothes that your mum made for her :) Making these memory doodles has jogged my brain uite a bit - it's surprising how much is coming back to me! Sending you hugs and sparkles - Shroo :) xxx

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  4. Your childhood doodles are wonderful. Hope you will be making more! Have a good week, hugs, Valerie

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    1. I'm working on it! There'll be more of them veeeeeeeeery soon - I promise! Hugs to you from me xxx

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  5. Another set of wonderful doodles. I love the ones of you and Zorro, and you and Flash Gordon.
    I was always a "Man from Uncle" girl myself

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    1. Ah but were you team Solo or team Kuryakyn? Mum nabbed the former while I gazed doe-eyed at the latter! *sigh* hee hee :) xxx

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  6. Definitely try to be an illustrator these are fabulous, I 'read' the drawings before I read the words! Brilliant catch up for me to come back to your blog too :)

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    1. Aaww! Thank you lovely lady! Sending thanks and great big welcome back hugs from me! xxx

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  7. Have you illustrated books? that would be awesome

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    1. oops just saw that Loretta asked the same thing-how awesome you have those little family teddies-I love that!!

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    2. Ya know, I used to spend hours and hours sitting at my Grandparents' table copying out poems and illustrating them, just for fun. I used to love that. It'd be nice to be a professional illustrator, but I'm quite happy really just playing about for my own benefit and for postyness up here on the blog. Still considering that illustrator course though.... just for curiosity.

      I must take piccies of the teddies - they're adorable! Hope you're both ok - love and hugs from me xxxx

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  8. I read this the other night on my swanky new phone. But am useless at commenting on that thing - it keeps trying to correct me, like I don't talk propah! But anyway - I literally snorted at the image of you trying to get to the monsters. I relate, I so relate! I used to hide under my blankets with my night light reading the books I wasn't supposed to be reading :D I love monsters! Not human monsters but zombies and werewolves and such. My bestest buddies at times!

    Shall I say it again? YES - you should be in books! Do the course! Do the course! Do the course! I didn't realise there were short courses like that - the illustrator degree course I wanted to do is to far away hence me maybe trying for Fine Art but I would buy your books. ALL your books.

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    1. New phone! New phone! Are you doing that thing where you find ANY excuse to look stuff up in an obvious fashion when out in the midst of the public? Heh heh heh....Teach your phone to speak normal. Why do they expect people to speak like a BBC presenter from the 1950s? *tsch*...

      Yep - Monsters are so awesome. Mum was convinced they'd give me nightmares and I was never ever ever able to convince her that the monsters were cuddly - my nightmares are usually about PEOPLE! Monsters and robots and spaceships and stuff made me completely giddy with happiness as a kid - and they still do. I am SUCH a child!

      I am looking into the local course. It might be crap, but worth a try I s'pose. I'll have to 'mingle'. Ugh. Does your art course have illustration as a part of it? I bet you're excited... Have you got tummy squirbles yet? It'll be awesome - you'll learn SUCH good stuff! And you can start wearing patchouli oil and wearing fingerless gloves in summer ----OO and you can ask for student discount everywhere you go!!! Hell yeah!!! You're awesome. xxxxx

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  9. When I became a primary school teacher I fell in love with children's books. I only wish I'd known you then! My students would have loved your illustrations as much as I do! These glimpses into your childhood are beautiful. Thank you for sharing them.

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