From silver to pen

14th January 2021

I’m sure many a tradition had to sit on the bench in 2020, but one particularly sad one for me was the Christmas catch up I have with Rachel. Usually pencilled for the 27th I get to hear of her intensely joyous family tales. A few days of gin fuelled dancing in the kitchen and sibling squabbles in suburban Basingstoke. Then, in a snippet she hops back on a plane to her Berlin nest missing them greatly.

We meet on the South Bank and stroll with the unspoken rule to never re-tread our steps . A circle is fine, but not a path trodden twice. We shoot early before the winter light quickly fades , the sun shyly escaping around 3.  After a playful session we are thirsty. Aiming for Gordon’s we will have our glass of wine (Rach starting on a pint whilst I pace myself) .

 

 

I’ve known her over a decade but this is quite a recent tradition so there is much in the album to fill. This year I decided to draw a portrait and I’m disappointed to say it looks nothing like Rachel. It looks more like a skeletal witch, so I was half tempted not to share it with her in case she thought I was trying to be accurate. I can safely report she does not look like this. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the process. It’s not a replacement but in desperate times we have to find new ways of keeping sacred traditions. Let’s aim for this year Rach xx